Southeastern Coast and Croatan National Forest -- 2009

April 24 (Friday evening)

North River bridge (US 70 north of Beaufort), 5:00-6:30 PM

habitats -- salt marsh (Spartina and Scirpus)

weather -- cool, sunny

April 25 (Saturday)

Oyster Point Campground (Croatan National Forest) on Newport River
Beaufort airport and vicinity
Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve (Carrot Island, Bird Shoal), 9:30 AM-1:00 PM
Croatan National Forest (Pringle Road, Millis Road)

habitats -- dense coastal shrubs and pines, beach, inlet and ocean, dredge spoil dunes, mud flats with oyster bars, longleaf pine/wiregrass savannas last burned within the past several years

weather -- cool, sunny
high tide at Duke Marine Lab opposite Beaufort, about 9:00 AM

THIS TRIP visited a state game land and a state estuarine reserve adminstered by the NC Division of Coastal Management and a national forest administered by the National Forest Service -- and we could see a national seashore (Shackleford Banks Wilderness Area in the Cape Lookout National Seashore) administered by the National Park Service.

The avian highlights of the trip were the rails in the North River Marshes and the shorebirds on Bird Shoal.

See some notes about the birds at the bottom of this page!

PELICANIFORMES
Brown Pelican 4
Double-crested Cormorant 12
CICONIIFORMES
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 25
Snowy Egret 6
Tricolor Heron 2
Cattle Egret 60 feeding in a harvested field east of Havelock
White Ibis 30 including birds with scarlet faces and legs -- preparing to breed
ANSERIFORMES
Canada Goose 4
Red-breasted Merganser 1
FALCONIFORMES
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 20 scattered everywhere except the beach
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
GALLIFORMES
Northern Bobwhite 2
GRUIFORMES
Clapper Rail 22 seen and heard in the North River marshes, several at close range!
King Rail 1 called along Newport River
Sora 2 flushed at close range in North River Marshes
CHARADRIIFORMES
Black-bellied Plover 20 including some with a lot of black below (but none in full breeding plumage)
Wilson's Plover 2 on Bird Shoal -- fewer than in previous years!
Semipalmated Plover 40 in several flocks
Piping Plover 2 on dry sand on Bird Shoal
Killdeer 1
American Oystercatcher 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Greater Yellowlegs 8 scattered on Bird Shoal
Willet 40 in marshes, on mudflats and beaches, often with Whimbrels, beginning to defend nesting territories in the marshes
Whimbrel 20
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Sanderling 60
Least Sandpiper 25 in grassy pools on Bird Shoal
Dunlin 160 in small flocks on Bird Shoal, some with partial summer plumage
Short-billed Dowitcher 100
Wilson's Snipe 2 flushed from a pool on the North River marshes
Laughing Gull 60
Ring-billed Gull 60 inland and along the coast
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Royal Tern 8
Forster's Tern 18
Least Tern 6
Black Skimmer 80 in a large flock -- migrating northward
COLUMBIFORMES
Rock Pigeon many especially near bridges and docks
Mourning Dove 100 scattered
Eurasian Collared-Dove 4 in Beaufort -- an invasive species, like European Starlings and House Sparrows -- arrived in N.C. in the past decade
STRIGIFORMES
Barred Owl 1 at dawn at Oyster Point
CAPRIMULGIFORMES
PICIFORMES
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 1 near Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities!
Red-cockaded Woodpecker 3 at close range chipping bark from long-leaf pines in Croatan NF -- also several well-maintained cavities
Northern Flicker 1
PASSERIFORMES
NEW WORLD FLYCATCHER FAMILY (TYRANNIDAE)
Acadian Flycatcher 2 at Oyster Point
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2 at Oyster Point
Great Crested Flycatcher 15 heard at Oyster Point and in Croatan NF
VIREO FAMILY (VIREONIDAE)
White-eyed Vireo 1
JAY AND CROW FAMILY (CORVIDAE)
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 10 inland
Fish Crow 10 near the coast
SWALLOW FAMILY (HIRUNDINIDAE)
Purple Martin 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Cliff Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 12
TITMOUSE FAMILY (PARIDAE)
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 1 singing at Oyster Point
NUTHATCH FAMILY (SITTIDAE)
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2 at Oyster Point
WREN FAMILY (TROGLODYTIDAE)
Carolina Wren 6 singing everywhere
Winter Wren 1 singing briefly in a pile of brush at Croatan NF -- late!
Sedge Wren 6 flushed in the salt marsh -- stubby tails, weak flight, very elusive -- but one provided clear looks in a scope!
GNATCATCHER FAMILY (POLIOPTILIDAE)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
THRUSH FAMILY (TURDIDAE)
Eastern Bluebird 4 on wires and fences in agricultural areas and in longleaf pines
Wood Thrush 1 singing at Oyster Point
American Robin 10 in towns
MIMIC FAMILY (MIMIDAE)
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 30 widespread
Brown Thrasher 4 singing in thickets
WAXWING FAMILY (BOMBYCILIDAE)
Cedar Waxwing many
STARLING FAMILY (STURNIDAE)
European Starling many
WARBLER FAMILY (PARULIDAE)
Northern Parula 1 singing at Oyster Point
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 at Oyster Point
Yellow-throated Warbler 3 singing and seen at Oyster Point
Pine Warbler 8 singing at Oyster Point and in Croatan NF
Prairie Warbler 10 singing in Croatan NF
Prothonotary Warbler 1 singing in a swamp near Oyster Point
Ovenbird 6 singing cher-TEA cher-TEA ... at Oyster Point
Common Yellowthroat 2 in North River marshes
TANAGER FAMILY (THRAUPIDAE)
Summer Tanager 1 at Oyster Point
CARDINAL FAMILY (CARDINALIDAE)
Northern Cardinal 30 scattered in thickets
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
SPARROW (OLD WORLD BUNTING) FAMILY (EMBERIZIDAE)
Eastern Towhee 10
Bachman's Sparrow 6 singing in long-leaf pine savannas in Croatan NF -- including one in plain sight in the scopes!
Chipping Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 2 on grassy mudflats on Bird Shoal
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1 in North River marshes
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 3 flushed from short grass in North River marshes -- plus 3 more unidentified sharp-tailed sparrows
Seaside Sparrow 4 in North River marshes -- no singing!
BLACKBIRD FAMILY (ICTERIDAE)
Red-winged Blackbird 14 including a few on territories in marshes
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Boat-tailed Grackle 35 including males "singing" and displaying
Common Grackle 40 mostly in pairs (male following female) or singles
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
FINCH FAMILY (FRINGILLIDAE)
House Finch 8 in town
OLD WORLD SPARROW FAMILY (PASSERIDAE)
House Sparrow 25 in town

NOTES

The North River marshes yielded many of their elusive treasures!   Well-coordinated sweeps by lines of people flushed many Clapper Rails and two Soras (the former nest in these marshes but the latter, a smaller species of rail, migrates north).   Several of these rails flew close past us.

Also in the North River marshes, we flushed all the elusive little birds that live there -- Seaside Sparrow (preparing to nest there), Sedge Wren (migrating north, one of which allowed many of us to see it in our scopes, almost unheard of!), and two species of Sharp-tailed Sparrows (Nelson's and Saltmarsh), both of which are migrating north, to the Great Plains and New England respectively.

After sunrise in the Oyster Creek Campground, we heard and saw an array of newly arrived warblers, thrushes, tanagers, flycatchers.   Some, like the Yellow-throated Warblers, let us get good looks.

On Bird Shoal we found a wide variety of plovers and sandpipers and their relatives, but the birds were scattered while feeding on the falling tide.   Among them was our first endangered species -- Piping Plover.

In the long-leaf pine and wiregrass forests of Croatan National Forest, we lucked out.   Three Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were located, chipping away at the bark of the pines.   They allowed us to watch them at our leisure while they uttered their funny nasal squeaks.   In contrast at least 6 Bachman's Sparrows sang for us, beautifully if briefly.   The Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were our second endangered species of the day!

Total species of birds -- 108