February 2 (Friday evening)

borrow pits near Roper and fields west of Lake Pettigrew

habitats -- ponds, agricultural fields, patches of woodland

weather -- chilly, overcast, light wind

February 3 (Saturday)

Pungo Lake (Pocosin Lakes NWR) 7:50--11:30 AM

boating access and new pier (Swanquarter NWR12:00

Lake Mattamuskeet (Mattamuskeet NWR) 12:30-3:00 PM

Swanquarter-Ocracoke ferry (Swanquarter NWR) 4:00-6:30 PM

habitats -- low pocosin, lakes, forest edge, open sound

weather -- chilly, overcast or cloudy, light wind

February 4 (Sunday)

Silver Lake (Ocracoke) 7:15-7:30 AM

Ocracoke ferry terminal 8:50-8:00

Hatteras Inlet ferry 8:00-8:30 AM

ponds and beach near Cape Hatteras (Cape Hatteras NS) 9:00-12:00 PM

Pea Island NWR (especially New Fields south of North Pond)

Long Curve Road (Alligator River NWR)

habitats -- beach, ponds, inlets, ocean, woodland, agricultural fields, waterfowl impoundments, pocosin

weather -- chilly, sunny with cirrus clouds

THIS TRIP visited five national wildlife refuges administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service and one national seashore administered by the National Park Service.   Together they make the Pamilco Peninsula and the Outer Banks one of the great wild places in North America (especially in January!).

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• great looks at a male American Kestrel (by some of us!)
• 4000 Tundra Swans in a green and black field of winter wheat
• Barn Owl calling in the dark over vast black fields along B Canal
• 100K or more Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Brown-headed Cowbirds in fields at Pungo
• adult Bald Eagle flushed from a freshly killed Snow Goose
• 60K Snow Geese indecisively circling overhead (perhaps spooked earlier by the eagle's kill)
• two Ross's Geese (one for every 30K Snows!)
• banding 28 Tundra Swans
• flock of chickadees, titmice, Orange-crowned Warbler and two Black-and-white Warblers
• 150 Rusty Blackbirds -- a declining species
• 600 Surf Scoters (plus other scoters and loons) from the ferry
• female Common Eider in the middle of Hatteras Inlet
• at least 400 Brant behind Hatteras Island
• zillions of Bottle-nose Dophins in calm water off Cape Hatteras
• two Lesser Black-backed Gulls (great looks!)
• lion's mane jelly, clear-nosed skate on the beach
• spectacular multiple cloud-bows in sheets of cirrus under a blue sky over Cape Hatteras
• tame Brown Pelicans and a (very cute!) Ruddy Turnstone begging from fishermen
• 9000 Reheads (minimum in several careful estimates) in New Field at Pea Island NWR
• Bobcat crossing the road and a canal at Alligator River NWR (a first in 19 years of coastal field trips!)
• countless (but at least 30) Northern Harriers at Alligator River NWR including 2 adult males

GAVIIFORMES
Red-throated Loon	25	mostly well out in Pamlico Sound
Common Loon	20	on sounds, inlets
PODICIPEDIFORMES
Pied-billed Grebe	22	scattered on ponds, ditches, lakes
Horned Grebe	4	on Pamlico Sound
PELICANIFORMES
Northern Gannet	80	mostly near Cape Hatteras, but a few in Hatteras Inlet, one in Pamlico Sound
American White Pelican	8	North Pond, Pea Island (possible more than 8)
Brown Pelican	80	unusually few in Hatteras Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant	>5000	scattered everywhere, but several thousand roosting on a sandbar in Hatteras Inlet
CICONIIFORMES
Great Blue Heron	15	in ditches, edges of ponds
Great Egret	40	at Lake Mattamuskeet and Pea Island
Tricolor Heron	2	at Pea Island
night-heron (species?)	1	at night on Ocracoke dock
White Ibis	25	at Mattamuskeet and Pea Island
ANSERIFORMES
Tundra Swan	16000	including 4000 feeding on a green and black field of winter wheat northwest of Pettigrew Lake and thousands on Lake Mattamuskeet and on ponds at Pea Island
Snow Goose	60000	in a huge dense flock on Pungo Lake and indecisively circling over fields to the north -- more than ever before -- their indecision, which resulted in spectacular views for us, perhaps resulted from predation by a Bald Eagle early that morning (see below)
Ross' Goose	2	in the huge flock of Snow Geese north of Pungo Lake -- easily lost in the crowd! -- normally winters in California
Brant	450	in several flocks on the sound behind Hatteras
Canada Goose	1000	including several large flocks on fields north of Lake Pettigrew
Wood Duck	7	including a squealing female at Lake Mattamuskeet
Green-winged Teal	400	including some at close range on Cape Point Pond
American Black Duck	60	especially at Cape Point Pond and Pea Island
Mallard	15	mostly in pairs
Northern Pintail	300	on all lakes
Northern Shoveler	45	mostly in pairs with males in full plumage
Blue-winged Teal	2	females on Silver Lake, Ocracoke
Gadwall	250	in small flocks everywhere but lots on ponds near Cape Hatteras
American Wigeon	70	in small groups everywhere
Redhead	9000	pairs on Silver Lake and near Cape Hatteras -- then large dense flocks on New Field at Pea Island -- carefully estimated twice at a minimum of 9000 -- about a thousand times more than usual!
Ring-necked Duck	120	scattered in small groups
Greater Scaup	200	in several flocks onn Pamlico Sound
Lesser Scaup	18	on ponds near Roper, at Mattamuskeet, and Cape Point
Common Eider	1	female in the middle of Hatteras Inlet
Long-tailed Duck (Oldsquaw)	2	the lowest number ever on a February crossing of Pamlico Sound!
Black Scoter	120	on Pamlico Sound (where we could see the orange lumps on their bills) and flying past Cape Hatteras
Surf Scoter	400	also on Pamlico Sound, despite the cloudy weather, we could see the coral red legs and orange and white bills of the males
Bufflehead	900	mostly on Pamlico Sound and behind Hatteras Island
Hooded Merganser	6	on a borrow pit near Tarrboro
Red-breasted Merganser	100	scattered along the ocean and in inlets
Ruddy Duck	40	scattered in small groups
FALCONIFORMES (Most recent opinion of the DNA-sequencers has moved New World vultures back to Falconiiformes!)
Black Vulture	8	near Pungo Lake and Alligator River NWR
Turkey Vulture	120	including several at Cape Point
Bald Eagle	19	including many at Pungo Lake and Lake Mattamuskeet -- a record number for a coastal field trip -- one adult flushed from a freshly killed Snow Goose north of Pungo Lake
Northern Harrier	70	including 3 adult males in gray plumage
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	soaring overhead at Mattamuskeet
Cooper's Hawk	2	at Pungo and Alligator River NWR
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	scattered
Red-tailed Hawk	30	scattered including several pairs
American Kestrel	25	on power lines and fences on the mainland and the banks
Merlin	2	including a male in Frisco and a female at Alligator River NWR
Peregrine	1	one fly-by south of Salvo
GRUIFORMES
American Coot	2000	especially at Mattamuskeet
CHARADRIIFORMES
Black-bellied Plover	20	in their gray plumage (but Grey Plover -- never!)
Semipalmated Plover	1	flying past the Oregon Inlet bridge
Killdeer	6	in wet fields
American Oystercatcher	1	on mudflats in Oregon Inlet
American Avocet	436	at the edge of South Pond, Pea Island, including a few that demonstrated their feeding technique
Greater Yellowlegs	3
Willet	80	on the beach near Cape Hatteras
Whimbrel	1	on the beach near Cape Hatteras
Ruddy Turnstone	10	including a tame little guy scrounging food while dodging a GBBG
Sanderling	200	on beaches
Dunlin	80	on sandbars in Hatteras Inlet and at Pea Island
Wilson's Snipe	1	at Pungo NWR
Bonaparte's Gull	30	at Lake Mattamuskeet and Cape Hatteras
Ring-billed Gull	30K	everywhere -- in fields on the mainland, along the surf on beaches, following the ferries -- where they fed from our hands
Herring Gull	200	mostly near Cape Hatteras and inlets -- where one fed from our hands -- a first!
Lesser Black-backed Gull	2	including one with an injured wing on Cape Point and one on a pond near the beach in the sunshine
Great Black-backed Gull	100	scattered on Lake Mattamuskeet, the sound, and the banks
Forster's Tern	25	at Lake Mattamuskeet and Cape Point
COLUMBIFORMES
Rock Dove	100	especially near highway overpasses and in towns -- originally a European species often kept in captivity and flown for exercise -- they now live wild in many parts of the world -- a favorite nesting habitat is highway overpasses
Mourning Dove	300	scattered everywhere
STRIGIFORMES
Barn Owl	1	called after sunset over vast dark fields near Wenona
CORACIIFORMES
Belted Kingfisher	4	-- fewer than usual
PICIFORMES
Red-bellied Woodpecker	3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1	near the chickadee flock at Mattamuskeet
Downy Woodpecker	2	including one with the chickadee flocks
Hairy Woodpecker	1	flew across the road west of Plymouth
Northern Flicker	15	scattered everywhere there was a tree
Pileated Woodpecker	3	including two overhead at Mattamuskeet and one calling at Alligator River
PASSERIFORMES
NEW WORLD FLYCATCHER FAMILY (TYRANNIDAE)
Eastern Phoebe	5
SWALLOW FAMILY (HIRUNDINIDAE)
Tree Swallow	250	at Mattamuskeet NWR and especially Alligator River NWR
JAY AND CROW FAMILY (CORVIDAE)
Blue Jay	2	in Frisco
American Crow	50	in family groups on mainland and Outer Banks
Fish Crow	20	scattered on the banks (none at Ocracoke this year)
TITMOUSE FAMILY (PARIDAE)
Carolina Chickadee	8	including 4 in a flock at Mattamuskeet NWR
Tufted Titmouse	4	flying across the highway and at Lake Mattamuskeet
WREN FAMILY (TROGLODYTIDAE)
Carolina Wren	6	including one singing briefly
House Wren	2	at Mattamuskeet and at Cape Point in thickets
Winter Wren	2	calling in thick brush at Mattamuskeet
KINGLET FAMILY (REGULIDAE)
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	at Mattamuskeet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	4	at Mattamuskeet, including at least one in the chickadee flock
THRUSH FAMILY (TURDIDAE)
Eastern Bluebird	25	on wires and fences in agricultural areas
American Robin	5000	especially in pocosins and fields at Pungo Lake and Alligator River NWR
MIMIC FAMILY (MIMIDAE)
Gray Catbird	1	at Mattamuskeet -- scarce in winter
Northern Mockingbird	8	scattered in thickets
Brown Thrasher	1	at Mattamuskeet
STARLING FAMILY (STURNIDAE)
European Starling	2000	including some with flocks of Common Grackles adn Red-winged Blackbirds
WARBLER FAMILY (PARULIDAE)
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	with the chickadee flock, an eastern adult with bright coloration, skulking in dense tangles of greenbrier in low trees
Yellow-rumped Warbler	200	or more, especially in pocosins and myrtles
Black-and-white Warbler	2	-- male and female -- with chickadees but clambering like nuthatches over the trunks of small trees
CARDINAL FAMILY (CARDINALIDAE)
Northern Cardinal	80	at least, scattered in thickets and along roadsides
SPARROW (OLD WORLD BUNTING) FAMILY (EMBERIZIDAE)
Eastern Towhee	10
Savannah Sparrow	20	in grassy fields at Pungo Lake
Song Sparrow	60	or more near thickets
Swamp Sparrow	20	skulking in wet fields and bushes
White-throated Sparrow	100	in shrubby thickets especially along roads
BLACKBIRD FAMILY (ICTERIDAE)
Red-winged Blackbird	100000	including big flocks with Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Eurasian Starlings near Pungo Lake
Eastern Meadowlark	15	in grassy fields
Rusty Blackbird	150	or more in a swamp beside Lake Mattamuskeet
Boat-tailed Grackle	200	mostly in a large flock of both sexes near Swanquarter, just a few scattered on the banks
Common Grackle	20000	including large numbers with other blackbirds and starlings near Pungo Lake
Brown-headed Cowbird	300	including 200 or more with Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles south of Pungo Lake
FINCH FAMILY (FRINGILLIDAE)
House Finch	1	at Ocracoke
American Goldfinch	10	scattered

OTHER VERTEBRATES

Nutria -- 8 or so along the entrance road at Mattamuskeet NWR

Eastern Cottontail -- 2 at dusk along B Canal Road west of Pungo Lake

Bobcat -- one dashed across Long Curve Road, swam a ditch, and stopped for a moment on the other side -- a first in 19 years of coastal field trips! -- plus clear tracks at Pungo Lake and Alligator River NWR

Gray Fox -- tracks at Pungo Lake and Alligator River NWR

Black Bear -- numerous tracks in the road north of Pungo Lake -- a bear party!

Bottle-nose Dolphin -- countless numbers in small groups scattered over the sea just north of Cape Point -- certainly hundreds

White-tailed Deer -- including 3 very laid-back does close to our vehicles near Cape Point

Yellow-bellied Sliders -- 15 or more in ditches at Mattamuskeet -- despite the low temperatures

NOTES

Ducks, geese, and swans are what northeastern North Carolina is famous for.   We found 26 species, almost all of the regulars.

The huge numbers of Snow Geese at Pungo Lake included only a very few "blue" morphs -- perhaps a hundred or so -- on the order of 1 per 1000 "snow" morphs.   We could find no Snow Geese at Pea Island.   The birds we saw are apparently the population of Greater Snow Goose, which breeds in the very high arctic of Canada and Greenland and which has a very low frequency of the "blue" allele.   This winter the birds from Pea Island seem to have joined those at Pungo in one truly enormous flock.   On the lake the flock moved like a gigantic amorphous organism -- the creature from swan lake!

The Bald Eagle that flushed from a recently killed Snow Goose presumably made the kill earlier that morning.   A goose is unusually big prey for a Bald Eagle but the carcass looked like it had no marks on it except from an eagle's talons and bill.   This predation presumably had spooked the remaining geese, so they repeatedly flew from the lake over the field where they would usually feed (but which now reminded them still hungry.   Whatever the reason, the vast flocks of geese wheeling overhead time after time were awesome!

We found several birds way off course from their usual wintering areas.   Wandering from Europe were the adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.   From western North America were the Ross' Geese.   Birds farther north in winter than usual were the Black-and-white Warblers.   A bird farther south than usual was the Common Eider.

The ferry across Pamlico Sound in clear weather allowed us to see the extraordinary colors of the Surf Scoters, with legs and bills loaded with carotenoids.   Many of the dabbling ducks, as well as some scoters and mergansers, seemed paired up already.

The mild winter so far probably explains why we found so many Tree Swallows, as well as the House Wrens and Black-and-white Warblers, all species that normally move farther southward for the winter.   For the same reason, we found few species that normally spend the winter farther north, such as Harlequin Duck, Common Eider, Rough-legged Hawk, Glaucous Gull, or Razorbill.

As usual, we missed some things we expected (or hoped) to find!   Once again a Golden Eagle in the area (or possibly two) gave Avian Biology the slip.   We also failed to find the Swainson's Hawk that has been hanging around Alligator River NWR (a western stray that should be in South America for the winter) .

Also ... even though they were not birds ... nor even vertebrates ... we might not forget some of the other astonishing things that turned up ... the freeze-dried skate on the beach ... the big jelly at the water-line ... and especially the vivid cloud-bows stretching across the sky above Cape Hatteras.

Our total number of species (114 -- remember that nobody saw all of them) is the second highest for a January-February field trip to the coast.