Well, today was definitely the day that I had been waiting for all week. A chance to bird the rarely accessible South Pond at Pea Island. Since I didn't get to it yesterday, here's a little bit about the Refuge. Pea Island was established in May 1937 and is a 13 mile long spit of sand along the northern end of Hatteras Island.
I thought that this seemed a substantial bit of land, but the 13 mile length accounts for only 5,800 sq acres of "land". The refuge varies between a quarter mile and a mile wide and is one of the places for wintering waterfowl on the OBX. Pea Island is managed in conjuction with the much larger Alligator River NWR and both of these refuges are under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a federal heading.
South Pond, where I was a fortunate enough guest, is closed to all human traffic and is managed as a waterfowl impoundment during the winter months. Scores of migrating birds use this area and even endangered and threatned species like Peregrine Falcons and Piping Plovers can be seen throughout the year.
On our trip, we had immense success. Life birds on the day for me included Common Loons', Brant (a small black-necked goose pictured above) and even a Eurasian Wigeon, a rare wintering species whose Atlantic population is likely only a few hundred birds. I especially like the orangey-rusty color on the head, compared to the American Wigeon's green.
All told, we ended up with 72 species for the morning and that was just the beginning for my adventures as I locked my keys in the car... sigh.
I thought that this seemed a substantial bit of land, but the 13 mile length accounts for only 5,800 sq acres of "land". The refuge varies between a quarter mile and a mile wide and is one of the places for wintering waterfowl on the OBX. Pea Island is managed in conjuction with the much larger Alligator River NWR and both of these refuges are under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a federal heading.
South Pond, where I was a fortunate enough guest, is closed to all human traffic and is managed as a waterfowl impoundment during the winter months. Scores of migrating birds use this area and even endangered and threatned species like Peregrine Falcons and Piping Plovers can be seen throughout the year.
On our trip, we had immense success. Life birds on the day for me included Common Loons', Brant (a small black-necked goose pictured above) and even a Eurasian Wigeon, a rare wintering species whose Atlantic population is likely only a few hundred birds. I especially like the orangey-rusty color on the head, compared to the American Wigeon's green.
All told, we ended up with 72 species for the morning and that was just the beginning for my adventures as I locked my keys in the car... sigh.
Not only did I lock my keys in the car, but it was at the same
time that the call came in about a Brewer's Blackbird being spotted half a mile away. I had no idea about this, but apparently the Brewer's is a bird that most North Carolinian's haven't seen in their own state, and I was going to miss it.But in my most desperate hour, a rescuer appeared. Clad in the most shimmering samite, she held aloft Excalibur, signifying by divine right that I... sorry, wrong story. No, Sarah appeared atop her ebony 4 cylinder steed and we sped down to find the bird. Even more to my chagrin, Sarah even ended up spotting the blackbird for us, now I owe her times two.
1 comment:
You forgot the part about how your battery way dead when I arrived with keys and we had to use the jumper cables that my dad makes me carry around in my trunk...
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