Day 16, Monday April 18, 2016, (side trip to Cedar Island NWR)

Day 16, Monday April 18, 2016, (side trip to Cedar Island NWR)

 The weather has been excellent since we arrived in North Carolina and it keeps getting better. Today was the high 70’s and again blue skies all day. The wind finally slowed to a crawl so the birds began to appear more than they had. Much more!

The day was spent going to and returning from the furthest northern/eastern point on Carteret County . That meant a 60 mile drive to get to the end of the road.  Our objective was to find the NWR  HQ. and get a good map of the area with suggestions on where the best birding might be. That can save much time when you are not familiar with the area . Although I always seek out the internet information  ahed of time. The locals always can give you more than you already have. Especially the government employees in Forestry, Wildlife  or Recreation.

5,000  acres of continuous marsh.

These two shots are of the Great Marsh at Cedar Island NWR

Ti swas the Red throated Loon (white face) .We saw at least one .

Along the way there were three stoppages for road construction and paving in particular. One stop was for 20 minutes but the others a short delay. Getting to the Hq of the NWR on NC 12, one has to cross the “Great Marsh”. (See photo) . Those I believe are the second largest  continuous marsh in North America. (Louisiana leads the nation ). This marsh has 5,000 continuous acres and on the Island NWR there are 11,000 acres of marsh. There has been no fires in 100 years which means the marsh is not very productive for wildlife as there are only three grass types left in it.  Ideally, fires every three years balances the grasses for wildlife . We saw no birds flying in the marsh.

The birding on the coastal areas, (beaches and lagoons)  was superb. We tallied 43 species today and most of them near the coastal areas. Two Loon species (Red Throated and Common) were seen with more than 30 loons in the ditches on the side of the great marsh as we drove back home.

Three boat launches brought more shore birds, and a side trip to Harker’s Island. (home of the Core Sound Decoy Association) Their  28th annual Festival will be held on Saturday, December 5th and Sunday, December 6th at the Harkers Island Elementary School.  This stop on Harker’s Island allowed us to see and get a photo of Cape lookout lighthouse on the Outer Banks across the water.

No one was at the HQ  for the NWR  and being a Monday in the “off” season, it was easy to understand. There was much information inside the locked doors. But we continued on our way.

Jim took a video of an Osprey hovering over the ocean, Ruth had one taken of a Snowy Egret dashing about looking for fish. Some of the Loons were photographed as they were quite close.

These were the  new birds added to the trip list today. Namely: PURLE MARTIN, FISH CROW, AMERICAN AVOCET, LESSER SCAUP, EASTERN KINGBIRD, BARN SWALLOW, NORTHERN FLICKER, RED THROATED LOON, AND THE TREE SWALLOW. 

We celebrated  this very good day on the way  home with a Magnum ice cream bar (And all the calories from fat) and hamburgers on the grill at our trailer. It was 78 degrees, so why not? 

Tomorrow we travel to Matamuskeet and some Pocosin pines.(I thought you'd never ask)

The Common Loon of which we saw mre than 20.

That Snowy Egret chashing the invertebrates and fish.

A cmp visitor was the Brown Thrasher  of which there are quite a few.

The Seashore habitat also includes high Bush blueberry
whichwere in blossom already.(about 7 feet tall)

Black Swallowtail

Morehead is a main port for the central part of NC
These are storage bins for all kinds of materials.

More of the Port facilities in Morehead.

Plaque at Cedar Island Ferry Dock.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse
We did not take this photo.

Ruth's attempt to photograph an Osprey in flight.