Spring Trip 2012: Wilmington, NC

As many of you know, my wife Hazel and I have become some serious birders.  We love finding new species to add to our "life list" and going new places.  Hazel got some really wonderful pictures from our latest trip for spring to Wilmington, NC.  Check her out on Facebook if you haven't already.

It was a hugely successful trip, resulting in seeing 68 species, 30 of which were new to our list.  God's creation is absolutely beautiful.  Here is an alphabetical list of what we saw:

American Crow

American Oystercatcher

American Robin

Anhinga

Barn Swallow

Belted Kingfisher

Black-bellied Plover

Black Skimmer

Blue Grosbeak

Blue Jay

Boat-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown Pelican

Brown Thrasher

Canada Goose

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Common Grackle

Common Loon

Cooper’s Hawk

Double-crested Cormorant

Dunlin

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Towhee

European Starling

Fish Crow

Forster’s Tern

Gray Catbird

Great Blue Heron

Great Crested Flycatcher

Great Egret

Green Heron

Hermit Thrush

Herring Gull

Horned Grebe

House Sparrow

Laughing Gull

Least Tern

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mallard

Mourning Dove

Mute Swan

Northern Cardinal

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Parula

Osprey

Pied-billed Grebe

Pileated Woodpecker

Pine Warbler

Piping Plover

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged Blackbird

Ring-billed Gull

Royal Tern

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Sandwich Tern

Savannah Sparrow

Semipalmated Plover

Snowy Egret

Tricolored heron

Tufted Titmouse

Whimbrel

White Ibis

Willet

Wood Duck

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Food Review: Gianno's

Tonight I had the pleasure of dining with family at Gianno's, a local Italian restaurant in High Point. This is a review of their dinner special.

The Dish: Blackened chicken with roasted corn relish, served on black bean and corn ravioli, in a red pepper and gouda cheese cream sauce. Paired with an '08 Liberty School Chardonnay.

The View: The vibrant colors of the corn relish - corn, okra, red pepper - were prominent against the pink-orange sauce. Two butterflied chicken breasts atop five large ravioli.

The Taste: "Chicken on some pasta" could easily describe any number of Italian dishes. But Alberto Alvarado, Gianno's executive chef and kitchen manager, has hit upon a delicious southwestern twist to the Italian classic. The chicken being blackened sealed in the juices for a well-cut moist portion. The corn relish was decent, but did not add much, especially considering how well the chicken paired with the ravioli which already contained corn. While the ravioli might have needed an extra minute to really marry the corn and black bean flavors, it still proved to be a surprisingly smart combination of flavors. But it was the red pepper gouda cream sauce that unified the dish. The savory cheese was offset perfectly by the spice of the pepper - a genius combination that should earn itself a permanent placement on the menu. Chef Alvarado's culinary acumen gave the dish a moderate kick that was enough to bring robust flavors, but restrained enough to keep from overpowering the dish.

The Rating: 8/10

A job well done for Chef Alvarado and his crew at Gianno's.