In Old North Carolina

Bodie Island Lighthouse (ca. 1872)

From Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, another birder and I caught a plane to Norfolk, VA where we were poised to start yet another week of birding; this time on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Nowhere I've been, and probably few places in the world, surpass the coastal habitat and birding opportunities of the Outer Banks. The southeastern forests meet Atlantic salt marshes and duney beaches here, bringing together the most interesting of both. Arriving late seemed to be a trend, but we were able to get cleaned up and ready to meet the rest of our crew the next day; another birder from Arkansas and a former camper of mine, who has become quite the birder/naturalist himself.

Not only are the Outer Banks naturally interesting, they're also very historically interesting. On the way south to stay with some local birders with long-held ties to Arkansas, we passed Roanoke Island (site of the lost English colony), Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk (where the Wright Brothers took flight), Bodie Island (home to one of the Outer Banks' famed 19th-century lighthouses), Rodanthe, and finally Hatteras. And of course, we stopped to bird along the way! Oregon Inlet was the coolest stop of the day. Here we found nesting colonies of Least Tern, Black Skimmer, American Oystercatcher, Piping Plover, and one Red Knot in brilliant breeding plumage. Since our Red Knot has recently been listed as "threatened", it made the sighting that much cooler. Pretty much ending the day with this, we arrived in Frisco to stay with our birder friends and ready ourselves for the next day's adventure.

This adventure came in the form of a pelagic trip. This might not mean much to most people, but to a birder it's a rite of passage involving all day on a boat looking for birds that never come to the mainland. Most of the time, they cannot even be seen from land. Our day started with a 5:30am departure and several hours of nothing until we were about 35 miles offshore. Here at the Gulf Stream, we hit it big with Cory's Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater and Wilson's Storm-Petrel.

Great Shearwater: medium-sized with a dark back and cap.

Multiple flocks fed in the warm currents, usually allowing the boat in close proximity and providing great views. Before this trip, I was under the impression that all the pelagic species looked the same and it was impossible for the land-lubbing birder to identify them without guides. At first it was, but only because of our unfamiliarity with them. Once you notice differences in size and color (as in shearwaters) or tail length (as in storm-petrels), it wasn't so bad! The day brought more birds: Long-tailed Jaeger, Pomarine Jaeger, Audubon's Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Leach's Storm-Petrel, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, the sought-after Black-capped Petrel, Bridled Tern, and Arctic Tern. With these species, nothing was left to the imagination other than what rare seabird might be lurking just over the horizon. The first five hours went by in a flash with all the heavy birding, but the second half of the day just rolled by with the waves. After lunch, exhaustion had set in. I stayed pretty much glued to a bench for the rest of the day, dozing off, but still listening intently for anything good to be announced over the loudspeaker. Our party was all in the same boat! I fully expected to arrive in Africa before the afternoon was up. Some notes to those birders thinking of doing a pelagic:

1. If you have to use the restroom, just do it. There's no good time to go with the constant fear of missing something. When our first Black-capped Petrel was announced, I was in the head and had to quickly finish and throw the door open. I set a personal record and almost knocked another passenger off the boat, but I saw AND photographed the bird! If you have to, cast modesty overboard and open that door when something good is announced! The rest of us will forgive you.
2. Suck up the sea sickness. The only seasick birder on board was in our elite Arkansas group. We're land-lubbers through and through. He powered through it though, leaning off the boat to heave and coming back up firing the camera and finishing his conversations! When you're out there for 12 hours, you don't have a choice but to make the most of it. Also, eat ginger snaps, I hear they taste the same on the way out as they do on the way in. Or opt for a more seabird friendly choice like tuna/other seafood...help out with the chumming process. The captain will thank you.

My lifer Black-capped (Pee)trel.

We arrived back shaky and sunburned at 5:30pm, exactly TWELVE hours after we embarked. It was worth every penny, but I won't be doing it again very soon!

It's amazing something no larger than a swallow can survive such an extreme environment. Wilson's Storm-Petrel.

The true seafarer of our crew did a pelagic again the next day, but the rest of us opted out to start several days of productive land birding. We birded Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge with our generous hosts. Shorebirds were plentiful as well as several marsh specialties we were looking for. By lunchtime, we had nailed Clapper Rail and multiple Seaside Sparrows, all desired targets. We also had Gull-billed Tern, Tricolored Heron, and a Red-necked Phalarope in breeding plumage. None of this was a big deal for coastal North Carolina, but us Arkansans were out of sorts from all the "good" birds. The end of the day brought us back to Oregon Inlet where we walked alongside the nesting colonies and observed the birds going to and from the water for food. The Least Terns were my favorite to watch. Both parents took care of the eggs and young. Coming and going from the nest would start a "changing of the guard" process. Methodic and well-rehearsed, the sitting parent stands up to greet the other as if to check their identity. The new arrival then moves to the nest, while the other takes off in search of food. Watching activity around the dunes was mesmerizing. On the sound side of the same barrier island, we found a late White-winged Scoter and a Black Scoter not far away. Black Scoter has been a long-time nemesis of mine, needless to say I was pretty excited when it was spotted. The scoters marked the end of our most productive day.

Least Tern on Eggs. 

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (ca. 1870)

In the morning, we started with a stop at the famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This is a well-known east coast landmark with its black spirals and bright red base. It was actually moved, yes, picked up and MOVED in the late 1990s to save it from a salty death in the encroaching ocean. It was a big to-do. Equipped with seismic sensors and cameras, the move was monitored by a company on the mainland to make sure no new cracks appeared in the antique brick structure. They only moved it a 1/4 mile over the course of several months, but moving it was a good call as a hurricane destroyed its former location not long after. 

From there, our group hopped on a ferry to Ocracoke Island for lunch and an afternoon of birding. What else?!

Birding on Ocracoke was interesting to say the least and netted us nothing new. However, we were fortunate to find yet another nesting colony of birds. Here we were able to walk along the waterline quite a ways before national park ropes protecting the breeding territories came into play. In this colony we had close views of American Oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, and 27 Red Knot! The knots don't breed on the east coast, but lag behind in small numbers through late spring and early summer. For us to see 27 of these newly threatened birds in breeding plumage at close range was something really special. Also on this stretch of beach were hundreds of White Beach Tiger Beetles, another vulnerable species. When it comes to an unlikely duo like the Red Knot and the beetle, it's all about habitat. Habitat, or lack thereof, is almost always what drives a species into being threatened or worse. The Outer Banks and its wide swaths of national park property do a great job as far as protection goes, but it isn't always so simple. Coastal ecosystems, especially barrier islands, can be crippled so by humans that it doesn't take much of a storm for Mother Nature to finish the job. 

White Beach Tiger Beetle (Cicindela dorsalis media)

In an environment that's all about beach-goers and fishing, it's not hard to forget about the little guy in the form of birds like the Piping Plover that vanishes like a ghost in the sand and the even littler guy like the tiger beetle, but everything holds the ecosystem together in some way and we'll be willing them back when they're gone. 

One of the little waterfront ghosts: Piping Plover.

On a happier note, as the sun set on our last day in North Carolina we had no regrets. Our hosts, the state, and the birds had treated us well on our trip. North to Virginia we spent one more day of birding, this time at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, another important coastal refuge. Most of our morning was spent staking out King Rails along marshy boardwalks. A kind volunteer helped us for a while, pointing out other interests along the way including a mass of Eastern Cottonmouths. After nothing but vocalizations I finally saw one, but it was gone too quick for anyone else to get on it. We kept at it until a nasty storm came and pushed us to shelter. With a warm bowl of she-crab soup, a Virginia specialty, we called it quits for the day as the rain continued. The afternoon spent chilling was much needed after a week (two for me) of heavy all day birding. Nobody could complain about that! 

As we headed west to our inland lives, we daydreamed about shearwaters, Red Knots, and lighthouses. I think I even saw one of the tiger beetles crawl by. It's been a great season for me and birding with friends. I can't wait to see what the rest of 2015 brings!

P.S. I had to throw in some trip dragonflies....

Needham's Skimmer (Libellula needhami). Back Bay NWR, Virginia.

Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice). Pea Island NWR, Dare County, North Carolina.

For a complete set of photos from the North Carolina trip, visit: http://www.pbase.com/mpruitt/north_carolina_2015

Enjoy!

~Mitchell