Birding The OBX – Mid-morning …..
Continuing from where I left off on the previous post ……
It is the same day, only later in the morning. After we finished early morning birding in the park that bordered Pamlico Sound, we needed coffee and some sort of quick breakfast. We turned back on the highway and drove north and saw this coffee house – Beads and Beans OBX. Sometimes wonderful things happen and they certainly did for us at this coffee house. We are both picky about coffee – me especially. I like a full flavor, but lower acidity. This shop had a good selection of coffee and I took the suggestion of the woman behind the counter. And it was one of the best cups of coffee I have had in some time. Cleon also enjoyed his choice. He selected a piece of coffee cake and I took a scone. We sat out on their front porch in the sunshine and enjoyed. The scone was delicious, but Cleon’s coffee cake was one of the best I have ever tasted – so moist. Full of crunchy topping and powdered sugar. He was lucky I only took a sample bite. I went back in to talk to the woman at the counter.
Her name was Saylor and her family owns this small coffee house and gift shop. She and her mother bake everything offered. The scone and the coffee cake were her mother’s creations. If you are ever on The Outer Banks, driving south to Hatteras, stop in Rodanthe at this coffee house and indulge yourself. You will thank me!!
With our last bite and sip, we got back into our car and headed north into Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to South Pond, New Field Pond, and North Pond. There is a small pull off area at the northern end of North Pond and a small raised area for viewing. All three ponds were teeming with birds. Not only many species, but generally dozens and dozens to hundreds and hundreds of each species. And lots of noise – mostly from all the Tundra Swans – more on those in tomorrow’s blog. Unfortunately, you can stop to view the birds only at the north end of North Pond. The southern end of North Pond, New Field Pond, and South Pond can be seen from the highway, but there is no stopping and no pullovers. And this highway is now crowded all year round so even slowing down is not advisable. This is probably great for the birds who are resting and foraging so should not be startled or flushed. But it is tough for us birders who just want to watch. So the following birds represent probably only about 25% or less of what was actually on those 3 ponds. Besides hundreds of Tundra Swans, here is what we saw from that viewing platform:
Great Cormorants – 3. This is a wonderful example of your first impression is often the best impression. It is what strikes you first about the unknown bird you are seeing – what is obvious. Use that to help narrow down your choices of possible species. Cleon was looking into the far distance through the scope and immediately exclaimed, “What are those birds sitting way over there? They look like Wild Turkeys!” Now we both knew this was impossible – of course whenever I say something is impossible in the world of birds, I turn around and there is a bird doing exactly that. However, these 3 birds were sitting on 3 big pilings way out in the water. Wild Turkeys would never be in a place like that. But Cleon was right – these were really big birds.
They were black with some lighter patches and sitting upright – just as turkeys would. We could not see their faces or bills – their backs were toward us. And then one of them stretched and we saw a big, webbed foot. Checking our field guide we identified it – a bird I had forgotten about because it has been many years since I have seen one – and Cleon has never seen one. We were looking at 3 Great Cormorants. And what makes this bird look so big is not its length – it is 36″ and the more common Double-Crested Cormorant – of which we have so many at the large lake near our house – is about 33″. It is the weight that separates these two birds. The Great Cormorant weighs a hefty 7.5 pounds – that is getting close to the weight of a female turkey who is listed as averaging about 9.5 pounds. And like the 3 birds we were observing, turkeys are also quite dark. Double-crested Cormorants are also dark, but are a much slimmer 3.5 pounds. So I can see why Cleon’s immediate, first impression was Wild Turkey – which at first seems totally off the wall, but was actually a good guess. Got us thinking in the right direction in terms of physical traits. After making his initial observation, Cleon immediately added that habitat and where these 3 were perching made Wild Turkeys impossible. But like Wild Turkeys, the Great Cormorant is a dark, big bird – so about that, he was right.
Mute Swans – 6 on the periphery of a large flock of Tundra Swans.
Northern Pintails – we estimated about 75. The park ranger told us that over 1200 were counted only a week ago. Many had moved on.
American Coots – about 20.
Mallards – numerous. Hard to estimate as the Mallards were scattered in small groups throughout our viewing area.
Redheads – 3
Common Mergansers – at least 20.
Hooded Mergansers – at least 20. Both Mergansers were together in a lose group.
Ruddy Ducks – 5
American Avocets – 2 separate flocks of at least 125 in each. Neither Cleon nor I have ever seen that many Avocets together.
Great Egrets – at least 50. Along with White Ibises, these were scattered in groups all along the edges of North Pond.
White Ibises – at least 50 – both adults and juveniles. Along with Great Egrets, these were scattered all along the edges of North Pond.
American Wigeons – at least 40.
Gadwalls – at least 15.
Great Blue Herons – 4.
Northern Shovelers – 3 large groups – in each group there were a few adults and the rest juveniles – we assume these were family units banded together. Each flock was 20-30 Shovelers.
Black Ducks – a group of about 15.
Buffleheads – at least 10.
Swamp Sparrows – several in the tall grasses and reeds around the edge of the pond.
Pied-billed Grebes – hard to tell how many. They were scattered throughout in small groups of 1-3 grebes.
American White Pelicans – at least 150. The birders who were on the viewing platform with us were astonished at how many there were. They were used to big numbers of swans but not these pelicans.
Double-crested Cormorants – at least 75. Many were juveniles. In fact, Cleon and I have never seen as many juvenile cormorants as we have seen here. Many more than adults. We think that is interesting.
And of course, Turkey Vultures!
And amazingly, in the hour or so we stood there watching all these birds, we saw very few skirmishes. Birds of all species were close together – swimming with each other, around each other, past each other. Floating side by side. And no one caused a fuss or started a fight. There was just no skirmishing for dominance. Interesting how all these species – and in such big numbers – simply left each other alone or interacted smoothly.
I have been coming to The Outer Banks since I was a young child with my parents. Living in southeastern PA, we could get here in a day. And I loved the entire area – everything about the barrier islands. From Duck to Okracoke. Back in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s, this was still a rather deserted place in November which has always been my favorite time to come because of the number of migrating ducks, geese, swans, shore birds, and ocean birds – especially once you were south of Nags Head. Rodanthe, in particular, was a charming town filled with folks whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents all lived on these barrier islands. But that started changing the the 1990’s and since I have not been here for over 10 years, I was astounded at even more changes. There have always been high end beach houses, but what were once small enclaves of them scattered here and there, now driving from Nags Head to Rodanthe – except for protected areas – there are tall, large beach houses everywhere. And that is all you can see. Not the dunes, not the sand, not the ocean or sound – just house after house after house, and often at least half a dozen placed between the highway and the ocean. (We were not north of Nags Head this trip – and Nags Head is beginning to feel more like an urban area than a small beach town.) Houses are now simply everywhere you look and they form neighborhoods with no public access to the beach and ocean. Everything is marked private. Gone are the numerous shops selling pottery, textiles, and furniture all made in North Carolina. In their place are shops with tee shirts and stuff made who knows where – but not in North Carolina. And countless shops with high-end sports equipment, lessons, and rentals. It is a whole different Outer Banks.
If you are looking for things like parasailing, extreme water sports, and plane rides, this is the place for you. If you are looking to get away and hear gulls crying, the crash of ocean waves, and solitude, there are better places. The few people who were born and raised on the islands and still live there are simply lovely people – it is just harder and harder to find any. I loved The Outer Banks when there was no Dollar Store, no malls filled with outlet stores, and hardly any traffic lights. However, even with development everywhere you look, there are still plenty of birds to see.
And one more note of caution. There is a Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Gateway Visitor Center just outside Manteo on Roanoke Island – this visitor’s center includes Pea Island NWR. (To get to The Outer Banks, you must cross Roanoke Island.) This is a lovely, large visitors center – more on that in tomorrow’s blog. There is a quite small visitor’s center in Pea Island NWR with very limited parking and two outdoor Job Johnnies. I would rather explode than use one so never have, but Cleon did and he said these were rough. We did talk to several other folks who thought these had not been attended to for at least several weeks. And as this small visitor’s center is generally packed with people and you often have to wait for a space to park, I can just imagine how both looked inside – actually I would rather not. So just be aware, you may not find a place to park and the rest room facilities are sub-par.
However, all that said, the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound are wonderful places to bird in November and the North Pond on Pea Island NWR is superb!