Birding in The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
Beautiful day with only a slight breeze. Sunny. 45 – brisk!
To begin, just where is The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and what is it like?
The Alligator River NWR is on the easternmost point of the mainland of North Carolina. The Alligator River is the western border of this refuge.
What is this refuge like? The brochure put out by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service states: This NWR encompasses a broad expanse – 160,000 acres – of mysterious wildlands and waters. This is classified as an upland swamp refuge. There are trails and there is a wildlife drive with many short drives radiating from the 7 mile drive.
The brochure continues – I am paraphrasing: And this is a NWR to always respect. It has poison ivy, a lot of ticks, and a lot of insects – including mosquitoes and all sorts of gnats and their annoying brethren. There are also poisonous snakes: rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths. Most trails remind you of that with a sign at the trail head. Many of the trails are wide and strewn with pine needles, so you do have a wide line of sight – just be vigilant. Cleon and I did see our first rattlesnake here about 20 years ago. I liked the way it was expressed in the brochure: “Please enjoy your refuge experience, but handle with care.”
Besides itchy plants, bugs, and snakes, what else is there? Bears! Lots and lots of black bears! And red wolves who are not only endangered, the ranger we spoke to says there is only 20 left in the wild anywhere in the world – all here at Alligator River NWR. And are there alligators in the river? Yes, there are.
Bears. We were thrilled to see 8 – and the folks who were standing with us and were there earlier, saw 12. We were at a turn on the wildlife drive where they evidently like to ‘hang out’ and early morning and dusk are the best times to see them – we were there about 7:30AM. They forage in the huge areas of grasses, millets, amaranths, and reeds, then jump the ditch of water, cross the road and head into the woods filled with pines and thick understory to spend the day.
Red wolves. Endangered almost to the point of no return. We talked to a ranger at the Coastal North Carolina National Wildlife Refuges Gateway Visitor Center and she told us that these wolves were slowly starting to re-establish in this refuge where they did live at one time. But that circumstances have reduced the population on the refuge to 20 – she would not elaborate on “the circumstances”. These are smaller, quite shy animals – closer in size to a fox than a wolf. Reclusive.
Several years ago, Cleon and I spent a day at St. Vincent NWR off the coast of Florida – the coastal town is Apalachicola. We had to arrange for private boat transportation to the island – there is no other way to get there. We spent a lovely day birding and looking at shells. It was just the two of us on this fairly large island the entire day – exactly how we like it. Here is a quote from the brochure for St. Vincent NWR: In 1990, St. Vincent became one of several southeastern coastal islands where endangered red wolves are being bred. When they have weaned, the wild pups raised here are taken to reintroduction sites such as Alligator River NWR in North Carolina. These solitary animals once roamed the entire southeast, but predator control programs and habitat loss decimated their populations.”
It is very difficult to reintroduce populations of animals to where thy once were – even if historically they thrived. It takes some money and habitat control, but what it really takes is dedication by people who understand relationships amongst animals with their habitats and with people. And a whole lot of time. As to whether or not ultimately, the red wolves will survive at Alligator River NWR, it is impossible to predict. They should – this is the habitat in which they should thrive, but no one knows. Nature – and people’s interaction with nature – is unpredictable. If you are interested in more information or want to lend a helping hand, here is an address for you:
Coastal North Carolina NWR Gateway Visitor Center
100 Conservation Way
P.O. Box 1969
Manteo, NC 27954
Birds we saw throughout this refuge:
European Starlings – This is what can happen if you do not monitor your Purple Martin Houses. This is November so there are no Purple Martins using these boxes – all have migrated. So monitoring these houses in November is not important. But notice the entry holes into each nesting compartment – they are small – narrow. Starlings would never be able to fit through these holes. And my guess is House Sparrows also might have trouble – they are smaller birds, but stocky. Notice, these pieces have been added to the original martin houses – probably all three were being overrun by starlings. The slit openings should put a stop to that! Innovative! I have never seen openings so short and wide.
Tundra Swans – We spoke to a local birder who was observing the same time we were and these swans had just come in yesterday – we were very lucky. Right place and right time! We could hear them long before we saw them in this low area with shallow water. Adults and juveniles – all calling to each other – and much preening. And with these hundreds and hundreds of swans were…..
Greater White-fronted Geese – 5 of them on the periphery of this large group of swans, but very much with them. All getting along just fine.
Turkey Vultures soaring all through the skies overhead.
Great-crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Woodpeckers
Northern Flickers
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Song Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Wood Ducks – 5 males. 3 together and 2 alone. In the ditches of water along the road. Simply gorgeous birds!
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Phoebes
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-rumped Warblers – as on The Outer Banks, there were flocks of these throughout this NWR. Some flocks also included Orange-Crowned Warblers and Carolina Chickadees. But some were just the Yellow-rumped.
Orange-crowned Warblers
Carolina Chickadees
Black Vultures – 2
Northern House Wren
Carolina Wrens – many. Some alone, some calling to each other and one or two with Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Swamp Sparrow
American Crows
American Kestrels 2. Skirmishing. Both were males.
American Robins
Rusty Blackbirds – 2 together.
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Bald Eagle – 5 soaring and flapping – not together, but 2 were in sight of each other.
Pileated Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
Seaside Sparrow
Northern Harriers – we saw 4 but heard from other birders there were at least 2 more adults. The first one we saw was the juvenile pictured here. This refuge seems to be almost perfect Northern Harrier Habitat.
Great Blue Heron
And coming back over the bridge after a wonderful morning of birding – and bear-watching – the Great Black-backed Gull to greet us! And Cleon and I challenge you to say Great Black-backed Gull five times FAST!
We both wish you, your families, and all your friends a Happy Thanksgiving!
- *All of these folks with cameras were friendly and all were thrilled with the bears. Some live close to the refuge, but still love to see bears. One person in particular, was very helpful to us. He told us exactly how to get to where he had shot photos of a Barred Owl the day before. Unfortunately, although Cleon and I spent an half hour looking – and ran into him again – no Barred Owl. Isn’t that always the case? But a big shout out to Kevin Chauvaux whose lovely photos can be found on flickr.com.