Day 19, April 21, 2016 at Fairfield, NC- (To Pocosin NWR)

“The best laid plans of mice and men…”. or so it goes when what you had thought was a good plan had to be changed. But then, that is life. Be ready for change as it will come and meet you when you least expect it.

The Whipping Creek Fire -14,000 acres . (15% contained.)
Hyde County NC.

The NWR unit was visited today. 45 miles of roads.

The fire , which we showed some of yesterday, overnight, with a sharp NE wind, doubled in size and more, from 5,000 acres to 14,000 acres and closed US 264  that runs west to east and was the one we were to take to the Outer Banks  when we visit Pea Island NWR . The unfortunate part was I drove the 20 miles to the town where the road was closed before we realized it. (Englehard)  That meant reverting to plan “B” and driving n the totally opposite direction to visit the NWR  called Pocosin, or at least one of its units called “Pungo Lake”. There are only 50 fire fighters on the line at the fire, but more are being called in. With the wind shifting today to the  SE and still at 20 mph, it would seem that the 15% containment will not get much better for a few days. In 2008 there was a fire in the same area that burned 40,000 acres and it took 3 months to put it out.

The entry road to Pocosin (Pungo Unit) 2 miles until the first turn.
There are now road signs where there were not, 5 years ago.

These NWR 's are in this Coastal Plain and hence are low, wet and
excellent for wildlife habitat.

The sytem of ditches along the roads is seen easily here.
These are adjusted seasonally for animal habitat. 

But that did not deter us (We will go to Pea Island NWR tomorrow and take a different , more “circuitous” route.) as we backtracked some 40 miles and headed for part pf the Pocosin NWR  where we had been a few years ago, but not in the part of the Refuge. It is a huge refuge wth sandy roads and is mainly used in the fall during  duck hunting season. It is the home to over 100,000 tundra Swan,  Snow Geese and other ducks The hunters have a duck hunting season here in the late fall.  All along the many miles of roads (45 in this unit) there are canals that are always adjusting the water level for the animals and birds.

The National Wildlife supervision allows a “trade off” to farmers to use the land and harvest within the NWR , (corn, mostly, and some winter wheat). As long as the farmer agrees to let some of the crops remain for the birds to feed on, the birds that come to the Refuge. It is a good arrangement and what they call a “win/win. situation.(More below)

Beautiful, but you will have to wait for an ID.

Another of those ubiquitous Black Swallowtail Butterflys

A very large lily pond , which s actually on the old lake bed
of Pungo Lake.

A Yellow Bellied Slider , very common here in the waters.

These daisies will be identified.

The two Tundra Swan were not near the road. A very unusual
sight in April. Most are Looooong gone. Are they injured?

Yes, they are getting the planting done, All the potatoes are
planted already and corn is up at least a few inches.

We were the only vehicle in the Refuge today, so we really had the place to ourselves. The bird count was down somewhat from yesterday, but we did see the Prothonotary Warbler, Rusty Blackbird, some Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, and two Tundra Swan that were in a field by them selves. Now it is a long time since the swan have flown to the north, and we believed that these two (or one them) was injured and could not make the flight north. IT was a treat to see them at this time.

We did a stop again, at Bell Island on the way back, but the water was very rough from the SE wind, so there were a few of yesterday’s birds, but not all. It remained windy throughout the evening and is still blowing at 15-20 mph.

If tomorrow looks good we will head for Pea Island NWR on the Outer Banks.