Vertebrates at Pea Island NWR and Mattamuskeet NWR
(also Nags Head, Bodie Island Pond, Alligator River NWR, and en route)

November 14-16, 2008

Weather

  • November 14: steady rain for much of the afternoon, stopped before we reached Alligator River NWR
  • November 15: warm, overcast, intermittent light rain, wind from S at 10-15 mph
  • November 16: chilly, sunny, clear, wind from NW at 10-20 mph
  • Drivers: Emily Bidgood, Allen Hurlbert (guest Kyle Palmquist)

Some highlights and notes ...

  • Wintering waterfowl make the national wildlife refuges in northeastern NC famous.   We found 19 species altogether -- 1 species of swan, 2 species of geese, and 16 species of ducks.   There were a few more species of ducks around in comparison to last weekend, but diving ducks continued to be scarce (aside from large numbers of female and/or young Buffleheads).

  • Skein after skein of Snow Geese arrived to rest on Lake Mattamuskeet after feeding early in the morning in corn fields to the east -- presumably large numbers had arrived from the Arctic during the week.

  • Lake Mattamuskeet on Sunday was speckled with Tundra Swans as far as the eye could see under an immaculate blue sky.   A sight and sound hard to match anywhere!

  • The mammals of the trip were two Humpback Whales surfacing and blowing under a dense congregating of Northern Gannets, not far from shore at Pea Island.

  • The group of American White Pelicans that spend the winter in eastern North Carolina has now reached some 20 individuals.   Before 2006, this species was rarely seen in North Carolina, although some spend the winter on the Gulf coast.   This weekend we had a chance to see how big they really are -- dwarfing the Tundra Swans!

  • Hudsonian Godwit turned up again this week, this time two perfectly healthy birds in winter plumage at Lake Mattamuskeet, soon to continue their migration to Argentina.   Most individuals of this species (nowhere numerous) presumably migrate directly from the Canadian Arctic to southern Argentina.   Small numbers stop on the east coast on their way.

In the lists below . . .

  • F = borrow ponds along US 64 from Tarrboro to Roper (Friday)
  • A = Alligator River NWR
  • N = Nags Head (near the Sea Foam Motel on the beach)
  • P = Pea Island NWR
  • B = Bodie Island Pond
  • O = Oregon Inlet (jetty and nearby beach and dunes)
  • M = Mattamuskeet NWR

Please send additions/corrections to Haven Wiley

Amphibia

Green Treefrog
Hyla cinereafew on wets roads at night (A)

Reptilia

Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina1 large individual (P)
Yellow-bellied Slider Trachemys scriptamany (P, M)
Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina1 (P)

Birds

Common Loon4 (N, P)
Red-throated Loon3 (N)
Pied-billed Grebe15 (P, M)
Northern Gannet1200 on 11/15 (N, P)
American White Pelican21 including 3 (P) and at least 18 (M), often feeding in small groups while swimming, wintering regularly in NC only since 2006, normally in winter on the Gulf Coast
Brown Pelican100 (P, N)
Double-crested Cormorant300 scattered in small groups (N, P, M)
Great Blue Heron20 both adults and young (F, A, P, M)
Great Egret20 around edges of ponds (A, P, M)
Snowy Egret2 (P)
Tricolored Heron2 (B)
White Ibis20 (P), also 1 immature bird (M)
Tundra Swan400 (P), 15000 (M)
Snow Goose60 white morphs (P), 12000 including first 6000 feeding in a harvested corn field, then huge flocks arriving at the lake for the day, side-slipping to lose altitude before landing on the lake (M)
Canada Goose250 in scattered groups (F, P, M)
Wood Duck8 (A)
Green-winged Teal2000 (P, M)
American Black Duck150 -- some in pairs
Mallard15 including a male whose head glittered like an emerald in the sunshine (P, M)
Northern Pintail800 (P, B), 500 (A), 10000 (M), not in pairs
Northern Shoveler70 not in pairs (P, B, M)
Gadwall50 scattered within flocks of wigeon and other ducks (P, B, M) always in pairs
American Wigeon800 (P), 1000 mostly feeding near upending swans (M)
Ring-necked Duck10 (P)
Greater Scaup3 including 2 flying south with scoters (P)
Lesser Scaup8 (P)
Harlequin Duck3 in female or immature plumage flying southward over the ocean (N)
Black Scoter70 flying southward over the ocean (N, P)
Bufflehead2000 all in female or immature plumage except about 10 adult males (P)
Hooded Merganser3 including 2 males (B)
Ruddy Duck30 (M)
Black Vulture1 (M)
Turkey Vulture25 or more scattered on the mainland
Bald Eagle20 including 2 in the rain near Roper and 1 adult on the ground near the feeding Snow Geese (M)
Northern Harrier18 -- all females both first-years (with tawny underparts) and adults (P, A, M)
Sharp-shinned Hawk2 males, including an immature that almost flew between our legs at the Point (M)
Red-shouldered Hawk1 (A)
Red-tailed Hawk10 (A, M)
American Kestrel10 (A, M)
Merlin2 just glimpsed (A, M)
Northern Bobwhite8 (A)
Clapper Rail1 called once from salt marsh (B)
American Coot1000 including 2 close to the Point (M)
Black-bellied Plover10 (N, P)
Killdeer10 on the way home (F)
American Avocet80 (P), 15 (M) feeding in close ranks with bills sweeping back and forth as they trotted in shallow water
Greater Yellowlegs45 (P, A, M)
Lesser Yellowlegs30 (P)
Willet30 on beaches (N, P)
Hudsonian Godwit2 feeding in deeper water than other sandpipers -- on their way to Argentina! (M)
Red Knot5 in gray winter plumage on beach (P)
Sanderling150 on beaches (N, P)
Western Sandpiper20 among Dunlins (M) -- possibly Semipalmated Sandpipers
Dunlin25 (P), 2000 (M)
Long-billed Dowitcher100 (M) probably this species, which spends the winter along the southeastern coast, rather than Short-billed Dowitcher, which winters farther south
American Woodcock2 at dusk (A)
Bonaparte's Gull4 including one that allowed a direct comparison of sizes with Forster's Tern (M)
Laughing Gull600 (N, P, M) migrating southward and scattered elsewhere
Ring-billed Gull250 scattered (N, P, M) -- most have yet to arrive for the winter
Herring Gull30 scattered (N, P)
Lesser Black-backed Gull1 on the beach in the distance, a stray from Europe (P)
Great Black-backed Gull130 (N, P, M)
Royal Tern10 (N, P)
Forster's Tern60 (N, P, M)
Black Skimmer2 immatures late in departing southward
Rock Doveferal pigeons around highway bridges and piers
Mourning Dove25 scattered on the coast and inland
Great Horned Owl2 (A)
Belted Kingfisher5 scattered (B, M)
Northern Flicker15 (P, M)
Pileated Woodpecker1 (M)
Eastern Phoebe2 (M)
Tree Swallow20 (P), 2000 (M)
American Crowscattered inland
Fish Crowmany (N)
Carolina Chickadee2 (A)
Carolina Wren1 (M)
House Wren3 (A, M)
Marsh Wren2 called in cattails (B)
Eastern Bluebird8 (M)
American Robin150 (M)
Gray Catbird1 (P)
Northern Mockingbird3 (P, M)
European Starlingflocks everywhere!
Yellow-rumped Warbler100 (N, P, B, M)
Common Yellowthroat2 (P, M)
Northern Cardinal3 (M)
Song Sparrow20 (M)
Swamp Sparrow4 beside canals (M)
Dark-eyed Junco6 (P, M)
Red-winged Blackbird500 including both males and females (P, M)
Eastern Meadowlark24 (A, P, M)
Rusty Blackbird60 in two small flocks flying over flooded forest (A)
Boat-tailed Grackle35 (N, P, M)
Common Grackle200 (A, M)
Brown-headed Cowbird20 (M)
House Sparrow3 hiding in machinery at the construction site for the new bridge!
TOTAL SPECIES97

Mammals

Nutria2 swimming in ditches (M)
Gray Squirrel1 (M)
White-tailed Deer4 on the way home
Gray Fox1 on the dunes at the crack of dawn! (N)
Bottlenose Dolphin10 or more leaping entirely out of the water early Saturday morning (N)
Humpback Whale2 surfacing and blowing just beyond the breakers under a dense congregation of Northern Gannets, an adult and a smaller individual, probably a mother and yearling (P)