Day 18 Wed. April 20, 2016 At Matamuskeet NWR, NC

Where to start. The day dawned beautiful, with a blue sky, moderate temperatures (56-70F), and we had our largest bird total so far.

Matamuskeet NWR is about 5,000 acres , most of which is the Lake itself, but there are many roads, trails and ponds to explore making it a worthwhile NWR to visit for birders and wildlife enthusiast.If you are a duck hunter, this lake is for you.

The port community of Swan Quarter has a fishing fleet
and processing  factories

The British were active in this area during the War of 1812.
They had a great Navy...Right?

The Boardwalk and fishing pier at the Bell Island Unit
 of Matamuskeet NWR. (Atlantic Ocean in background)

The Matamuskeet NWR Headquarters

This is NOT a lighthouse It is the tower
for water pressure for the Pumping station
 (next to it) that was use to drain the lake
in the 1800's. It was short lived.Res-
toration is near!

Yellow Slider turtles n a log on the entry road to the NWR.

A young deer on the canal leading to the Refuge.

     

After visiting the Refuge Headquarters for information (We met Elaine  the volunteer just 3 days on the job from TX) on the three other refuges under their supervision. We took a “reality” Airboat “ ride in the Refuge Center. Earphones and a big TV screen and away we went .No bumps, but it told about the refuge especially the wildlife  and fish of the lake. In the fall over 100,000 snow geese, swan and ducks stay the winter on the Lake.

This is fantastic! Ruth's photo of three
Yellow Sliders on a log with a DB Cormorant!

There were more than a thousand Black Swallowtails
and do they ever love the Thistles.

This fire was about 10 miles away and had burned 5,000
acres already. A north wind today increased the threat
to a small town we visited.

This has to be the epitomy of a birding site. The hummigbirds
at the feeder and the Osprey nest out in the lake on the
Cyress stump. It's a great life!

The roads and trails were not lengthy but productive, for sure.Our first bird was anew one on the trip , the Crested Flycatcher with its rusty tail and yellow under feathers singing away for us. 

That's  a good start and it went on like that all day.  Many Osprey, A Bald Eagle, A Red Shouldered Hawk,  a number of Glossy Ibis on the road into the NWR, and our first (3) Eastern Meadowlarks. A Barn Swallow brought our swallow totals to four, and some Red Breasted Mergansers in the Bay at Swan Quarter. At the water by the Ocean, there were Terns, Egrets, gulls, even some Red Breasted Mergansers. Did I mention Black Swallowtail butteries? We saw thousands if we saw one. They love the thistle flowers.

So it was… marshes, ‘pocosin’ , cypress swamps, canals, deciduous and pine forests, impoundments, and the variety really paid off, passing our 100th bird specie today.

We may  return tomorrow for more of the same and possibly some new birds.