The 26 Fun and Then Woeful Birds of 2014

The Fun Birds this Year and Why
1. Gregory(GREG for short)-I can always count on you to be there no matter the birding debacle. I had no rEgrets.

2. Whimbrel- Closest I could get to a Long-billed Curlew.

3. Orange-crowned Warbler-Do you EVEN have any Orange? You wouldn't be on here if you weren't hard to find in the East.
4.Harlequin Duck- THANK YOU for spending your winter in NC. Prettiest duck I've ever seen.
5. PUSA!-Cool Bird and fun to shout.

6. American Woodcock- Timberdoodling is a fun word and your courtship displays are spectacular.
7. Rufous Hummingbird- Awesome Wake County Bird
8. Western Kingbird- Felt good to just nail this vagrant for the East Coast

My reaction.

9. Swainson's Warbler- Felt good to get a photo of one of the least observed North American birds.

10. Kentucky Warbler- Has side burns like the ones I grow sometimes.

11. Red-necked Grebe- A nice break from Horned Grebes and a great winter for them
12. Band-tailed Pigeon- Fun rarity for NC.

13. Swainson's Thrush- Cool bird and even cooler to see in local park.
14. Veery- Heard a the whole landscape irrupt with their beautiful song.
15. Virginia Rail- If Marsh Pigs are a thing, it would this bird.
16. Swallow-tailed Kite-Surprise fly over driving in SC

I made this one.

17. Black-throated Green Warbler- Wake County lifer!
18. Chestnut-sided Warbler- Saw in the Smokies and Wake County.
19. Least Flycatcher- another empid other than Acadian is always fun. Especially when it gives its ID away with a "Che-bek!".
20. Philadelphia Vireo-Awesome views in Wake county. Lifer.
21. Clay-colored Sparrow-Awesome views and got photos.

22. Common Merganser-Good Wake County bird.
23. Terns- Fun to see 6 species: Least, Gull-billed, Royal, Caspian, Sandwich, and Forster's in ONE day at Huntington Beach State Park, Georgetown County, SC.

Least Tern

Caspian Tern

Royal Tern

Sandwich Tern

24. Least Bittern- did not think I would be able to find one.

25. Blue-headed Vireo- All over 'em Smoky mountains. A nice "write in" for the big day during January in SC.

Not my photo.

26. Orchard Oriole- Trying to catch this bird at Prairie Ridge was quite a challenge because he never wanted to fly anywhere close to a mist net. However, it paided off.

The Woeful-"Y'all need to show yo self!"

1. Canada Warbler- Missed in the mountains of NC
2. Red-breasted Grosebeak
3. Any Pelagic Birds- wished to have seen a Jaeger from shore, a Hurricane, or more time to go on a Pelagic.
4. Willow Flycatcher
5. Bachman's Sparrow
6. Iceland/Glacous Gull
7. Reddish Egret
8. The CUSA that never was. It is a hard one to talk about.
9. Bufflehead and Red-cockaded -Why did you disappear on my January Big Day in SC?
10. I think Black Rails have already gone extinct.