I started at 4:30 a.m., to get to the calling Chorus Frogs and Peepers. Also tallied four other herps together in one pond. I struck out on all three owl species at my reliable sites, but still did hear both Whip-poor-whills and Chuck-wills-widow’s.
At dawn I saw a lone beaver returning to it’s lodge, and a plethora of bird song. In twenty minutes I was up over 30 bird species including first ever Wildathon record of KENTUCKY WARBLER, and a late singing Hermit Thrush.
Next I checked the lake from Sandling Beach and counted 3 Common Loon and four species of Gulls in one flock on the beach! Added a few more land birds there, then hit the forest while birds were still vocal.
I spent the next few hours deep in the Woodpecker Ridge Management Area. I nearly always find all six Woodpecker Species there, but a Downy eluded me all day. Heard three of the four Vireo species as well in Woodpecker Ridge. Warblers were spread about and in low numbers, but I did find single Palm and Worm-eating Warblers, only the second time ever on a Wildathon.
Probably the most impressive find was at the tip of the Woodpecker Ridge peninsula. There was a flurry of birds and one huge mixed flock of 150+ Swallows roosting in two small willow trees. In one binocular field I quickly keyed out all FIVE possible swallow species in the SAME TREE! This was only the second time I’ve found BANK SWALLOW on my Wildathon.
Since I missed Caspian Tern at Sandling Beach, I drove around to the Rollingview boat beach to find four on the shore line there. The Rollingview peninsula, a good migrant fallout area, yielded a few new warbler species for the day’s list, and a very unexpected American Woodcock!
The bulk of the middle of my Wildathon day is always spent in the Brickhouse Road Waterfowl Impoundment Area. The continuing clouds and cool temps kept the odes and leps from flying, but the birds continued to be around. My list grew over 80 species as I found for the first time on a Wildathon, a flock of BOBOLINK! Checking my PVC pipes in the swamps also yielded several Green Treefrogs. The swamp also held my only reptiles, a Red-bellied Water Snake and Yellow-belly Slider Turtle.
Before dinner I typically try to fill in the gaps, and went to a few Salamander pools and other spots to add some birds. Stopped at my house for a quick snack and heard Acadian Flycatcher and then saw a Broad-winged Hawk cruise through my carport. I love living in the park!
Getting back on schedule I returned to Brickhouse Road for some evening birding. The sun came out for about five minutes, and I saw one dragonfly, an immature male Eastern Pondhawk. With just under a hundred species of birds, my record of 106 was beginning to look unbreakable. I biked fast to cover ground and found first Wildathon records of GREEN HERON, two LESSER YELLOWLEGS and a lone WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. At dusk I was delighted to tie my record at 106 with a fly-over of two American Black Duck! But even more exciting was adding the sixth mammal to my list way down in the swamps, a MARSH RABBIT!!! This was a new park/watershed record. An old 1982 survey showed dots in southern Granville and Durham county, but this coastal plain species is difficult to find even where it’s abundant, let alone on the outer periphery of it’s range. It is darker than a cottontail and lacks any white on it’s tail. On the bike back to my vehicle as it got dark, I heard two Barred Owls start up and my record was broken!
Without many frogs calling there I attempted again to find Great Horned and Screech Owl. After hours of effort in reliable spots, I was still skunked! I turned my final efforts to tallying two species of Fireflies and a paltry 5 species of Moths. I was getting tired, and the night became windy and cool. Flying Squirrels would not be flying, and I was almost out of options, so I called it a night at 1:30 a.m.
21 hours, 150 driving miles, 14 hiking miles, 18 biking miles, 3 liters of water and four meals of PB&J sandwiches and energy snacks brought my Wildathon to a close. A very good day in it’s own right, even while lacking many usual gimme’s.
WILDATHON 2004 RESULTS
MAMMALS: 6 (2003: 11, 2002: 10, 2001: 8)
White-tailed Deer
Raccoon
Virginia Opossum
Eastern Cottontail
MARSH RABBIT (NEW PARK RECORD!)
Eastern Gray Squirrel
American Beaver
REPTILES: 2 (2003: 9, 2002: 11, 2001: 11)
Redbelly Water Snake
Yellowbelly Slider
AMPHIBIANS: 11 (2003: 8, 2002: 13, 2001: 8)
American Toad
Fowlers Toad
Northern Cricket Frog
Gray Treefrog
Bullfrog
Green Frog
Southern Leopard Frog
Spring Peeper
Green Treefrog
UPLAND CHORUS FROG
Eastern Newt
BUTTERFLIES: 1 (2003: 29, 2002: 23, 2001: 23)
Cabbage White
ODONATES: 1 (2003: 21, 2002: 25, 2001: 9)
Eastern Pondhawk
FIREFLIES:2 (2003: 2, 2002: 5, 2001: 6)
Photinus consimilus
P. brimleyi
FISH: 4
Common Carp
Sunfish/Bream/Brim
Large-mouthed Bass
Hickory Shad (In an Ospreys Talons, still alive so countable!)
MOTHS: 5
White Wooly Bear
Grape Leaf Folder
Green Cloverworm
Waved Sphinx
Dogbane Tiger Moth
WILDFLOWERS: 12
Bluets
Spring Beauty
Blue-eyed Grass
Pink Ladies Slipper
May Apple
Verbena sp.
Dandelion
Blackberry
Common Wintercress
White Clover
Evening Primrose
Japanes Honeysuckle
BIRDS: 107! (2003: 96, 2002: 106, 2001: 84)
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
GREEN HERON (1ST)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
American Black Duck (2ND)
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Wild Turkey
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
LESSER YELLOWLEGS (1ST)
American Woodcock
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Laughing Gull (2ND)
Bonaparte’s Gull (2ND)
Caspian Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Barred Owl
Whip-poor-will
Chuck-wills-widow
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
No. Rough-winged Swallow
BANK SWALLOW (2ND)
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Northern Parula
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
PALM WARBLER (2ND)
Black & White Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
WORM EATING WARBLER (2ND)
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
KENTUCKY WARBLER (1ST)
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (1ST)
BOBOLINK (1ST)
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow