Snowy Owl at Cape Hatteras

From here, we took US-264 to US-64 and crossed over to the Outer Banks. Heading south on NC-12 we crossed Pea Island and on to Hatteras Island. Allie had told us that the snowy owl was last spotted in the Buxton Woods area in Cape Hatteras National Seashore near the Lighthouse so that’s where we headed. Finding the owl would be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. A single bird among the thousands of sea gulls and other birds across miles of sandy beaches and dunes would be very tough to find. Almost immediately, we saw a deer in the Cape Point Campground here, but she was not our target.

We felt a bit hopeless. How would we ever manage to find it? But soon, we saw a group of people heading back from the beach with lots of camera gear. Talking to these folks, we learned that we were in the right area.

The owl was along the beach near the dunes in between the 44 and 45 beach access ramps. We headed to the beach and started looking. We weren’t having any luck and saw someone walking their dogs towards the shore and suspected the dogs spooked the owl. We met several other people on the beach who were also looking for the owl, but none of us were having luck. Walking up and down and all around the beach for well over an hour, finally we caught a glimpse of the owl.

She was resting on the beach with her eyes closed, but not totally asleep. We got some pictures before some sea gulls started harassing her and she flew to another spot on the beach.

I think a few of these gulls may have made a recent meal for her. She is a mighty hunter, but quite outnumbered by the gulls. With the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in the background, this made for the perfect photo opportunity.

We got many pictures of her at different angles and then headed back to the car. As we were heading back, I jokingly said that I don’t think I could be more surprised if a tiger jumped out from behind the dunes. This beautiful owl was much further south than they normally migrate and being able to see her was a wonderful surprise. I later learned that this season is looking to have a significant irruption of snowy owls traveling much further south than usual. Three have been spotted in North Carolina, as well as many other places in the United States where they are not normally seen. One was even spotted in Bermuda! We had spent quite a bit of time looking for her and taking pictures and were getting rather hungry. So as we made our way back to the mainland, we stopped at Subway in Avon for a sandwich and then crossed the bridge back to the mainland. But we had one more stop to make in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge before making the drive home. Despite my numerous trips to the Smokies and elsewhere in the mountains, I have never seen a black bear in the wild. Fortunately, a bear sighting during a visit to Alligator River is almost guaranteed. And sure enough, after only a couple of minutes in the refuge and we spotted a very large bear rummaging around for food, just off Long Curve Road.

He was at last a quarter-mile away so I couldn’t get a great picture from that distance, but I finally saw my first wild bear. The sun was starting to go down, so we left the refuge and made our way back to Raleigh. Stopping for gas in Columbia, we told the lady at the gas station about our exciting day. She wasn’t too impressed with the bear – she sees bears three times a week on her street – but was really excited about the owl. Definitely not a common sight. We made the drive back to Raleigh, getting home at about 830. Having been up for almost 20 hours, I was exhausted and went to bed almost immediately.

Sunrise at Lake Mattamuskeet

Saturday, I headed out to eastern North Carolina for some wildlife photography. Chris was going out there and invited me to join him and Mel. It’s a three-hour drive from Raleigh and we wanted to make it there by sunrise, so that meant a very early morning. We left Raleigh at about 330 and headed east on US-64 and US-264 towards the coastal region, driving the entire way under darkness. Our first stop was Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. After passing through Swan Quarter on US-264, we turned onto NC-94 and headed towards the overlook in the middle of the lake. It was just starting to get light out and the sun would be up soon. But it was extremely cold, especially with the wind blowing off the lake.

We bundled up as we set up our cameras and got a few pictures of geese on the water and a beautiful sunrise over the lake.

From here, we turned around and parked along NC-94 across from Headquarters Road facing the west side of the lake. In the water were many tundra swans, Canada geese, and ducks.

Many of the tundra swans appeared to be sleeping with their heads resting under their wings. As early morning light began moving westward and started illuminating the lake, the birds began to wake. However, it was still too early for the sunlight to provide much warmth. After this stop, we headed down Headquarters Road. Almost immediately, we made a quick stop (without even getting out of the warm car) to get a couple shots of an egret and a great blue heron wading in the canal.

Then we drove a little further, parking about halfway down at another overlook facing south towards the wetland impoundment.

The lake was to the north, but hidden from view by dense trees and brush on the other side of the canal, but to the south, the impoundment was filled a tremendous number of birds.

It’s still early in the season and most of the migratory waterfowl that overwinter in the lake have not yet arrived. But still, the number of birds in the lake was amazing.

There were countless ducks, geese, and swans in the lake as well as a few other birds. I even saw a beautiful bald eagle soaring across the sky, but he was a little too quick for me to get a good picture.

Far across the wetland, we could see some juvenile bald eagles perched in a tree.

We spent quite some time here getting photos of the birds, despite the bitter cold.

When we were done, we continued on Headquarters Road to the refuge office. Even here, there were great birding opportunities.

We same some black-crowned night herons hiding in the trees above our heads and there was a tree right at the parking lot covered with turkey vultures, extending their wings to dry them off in the sun.

After getting some pictures, we headed into the refuge office. We talked to Allie, one of the refuge staff, for quite some time about the wildlife and photography opportunities. She had taken a fabulous picture of a baby bobcat during one of her patrols around the refuge. Allie also told us about a once-in-a-lifetime birding opportunity – there was a snowy owl in Cape Hatteras. That was something we just couldn’t pass up. But before we headed for the beach, we had one more stop here. Back on US-264, we pulled off at Lake Landing and parked for a few more pictures.

There were quite a few ibises in the area and I got a good shot of two of them on a railing. Then, it was time to head to the beach and try to see the snowy owl.

Weymouth Woods

Our next stop was Weymouth Woods in Southern Pines. It took a little over a half-hour to make the drive over and we got ready for our next hike. Weymouth Woods is a small park, actually a nature preserve and there are fewer amenities than parks. There are only about 4.5 miles of trails in the preserve, so this would take up the rest of our day until we had to go eat turkey with the family. From the visitor center, we took the Pine Barrens Trail through a lovely forest of longleaf pines.

At the intersection, we turned left to get on Gum Swamp Trail. At a couple of point along this trail, we saw some holly growing; it was just starting to produce red berries. At the next intersection, we turned left again to cross a footbridge and turned left yet again to get on Holly Road Trail.

Ultimately, this path would make a big loop around the preserve, hiking all or parts of the five trails in the preserve. Holly Road is the longest trail in the preserve and intersects with several service roads and bridle trails. I had picked up a map at the visitor center. Although the preserve is not big, having a map was helpful with the many trail intersections. We stayed on Holly Road Trail most of the way around the loop, turning left to get on Pine Island Trail, which leads through a very swampy area with several small streams and creeks together.

Three-quarters of the way through this loop, we turned left to get on Lighter Stump Trail heading back towards the visitor center. This trail is the only one in the preserve that is not a loop. I was surprised to see that there was actually a little bit of elevation gain on this trail. All the trails had been so flat today, even the mild climb on this trail was unexpected. At the end of this trail, we turned left one last time and took Bower’s Bog Trail back to the visitor center.

It was still a little too early to head over from dinner, so we did one last short hike, doing the entire Pine Barrens Trail. About half-way through the loop, we stopped to see a woodpecker. He was quite a ways away up in a tree and by the time I got the telephoto lens attached, he had flown off. I couldn’t get a good enough look to tell what kind he was, but he was definitely a woodpecker, possibly the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. After the last loop, we had worked up quite an appetite and it was about time to head over for Thanksgiving dinner and eat lots of turkey, stuffing, and pie. We changed into more appropriate clothes in the bathrooms at the visitor center and then made our way to Vass to eat with the family.

NC's Newest State Park

For Thanksgiving, Sandy and I were heading down to the Fayetteville area for dinner with family. Dinner wasn’t until 4, so we had some time to go hiking and work up an appetite beforehand. In September, North Carolina’s newest state park opened to the public – Carvers Creek State Park. Since I hadn’t visited this park yet, this would make a perfect opportunity. We left around 9 or so and got to the park around 11. Currently, only a small portion of the park is open to the public. The Long Valley Farm property was given to the park by The Nature Conservancy and has a mile or so of trails for hiking. From the parking lot at the visitor center, the James S. Rockefeller Trail goes through a fence and follows an old road towards the historic farmhouse of the trail’s namesake.

Along the way, it passes through an interesting landscape with a pine forest to the left and an open field to the right. After about a half-mile, the trail ends at the Rockefeller House, a beautiful old farmhouse on a millpond.

The farm was the former winter estate of James Stillman Rockefeller. The house was built in 1938, overlooking the 100-acre McDiarmid Millpond.

A sign on the fence indicated the park was working to restore the house and eventually open it to the public. After a few pictures, we got on the Cypress Point Loop Trail that meanders along the southwest side of the millpond. There were really nice views across the pond of the house and pavilion.

We also hiked down a peninsula in the millpond with many cypress trees growing in the shallow water.

There was also an interesting “bridge to nowhere” here, mostly hidden among the trees. One would have to walk out several feet in the water to get to the bridge and the other end didn’t appear to go anywhere.

There may have been a small island over there, but I couldn't really tell through the trees. We got some pictures and then hiked back from the peninsula and turned right to finish out the loop.

After finishing up the loop, I stopped to get a couple more pictures of the Rockefeller House before heading back to the parking lot.

Although we didn't see anyone in the park during our hike, there were a few people heading in as we were making our way back. I guess we weren't the only ones who wanted to get out for a nice hike on a chilly Thanksgiving.

Birkhead Wilderness Hike

This weekend, I headed to the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness area in Uwharrie National Forest for a nice autumn hike and opportunity to see some of the last of the fall color for the season. The hike was organized by Joe Miller through the GetHiking group and nearly 50 people were attending. Despite being a federally-designated wilderness area, the Birkhead Mountains are a little more developed than other wilderness areas and fortunately there is no group size limit. There are also signs at trailheads and intersections and the trails themselves are well blazed. We carpooled from Durham to the trailhead on Tot Hill Farm Road, just outside of Asheboro. Arriving at the parking, it was completely full and we had to park on the street. Turns out, we weren’t the only ones taking advantage of a nice Saturday to enjoy the outdoors. There were quite a few Boy Scouts hiking in the area and it was the first day of rifle-hunting season. As the wilderness is also state game lands, there were many hunters out and about. After Joe made a few announcements regarding the hike, we took off on the Birkhead Mountain Trail leading south into the wilderness.

The trail is initially pretty flat, but then becomes rather steep as it climbs up Coolers Knob Mountain, the steepest part of our hike today. Reaching the top of the mountain, the trail follows an old road bed along the ridgeline of the mountain. When we reach the top, some people initially went right on the old road bed, but this was not the trail. We got everyone back together and all went left, following the white blazes to stay on the Birkhead Mountain Trail. Up higher, we were starting to see what’s left of the fall color. Most of the leaves were down by now and the majority of those that remained were more of a dull brown. But there were still some very nice patches of red, yellow, and orange.

And without much of the foliage to obscure views, I could see the rolling hills of the Birkhead Mountains through the trees. Mountains is a bit of stretch, considering the highest peaks are less than 1000 feet above sea level. But still, the elevation gains made this hike a bit more strenuous than the usual Piedmont hike and the views were quite nice. We continued on the trail for a little bit over a mile to the intersection with Robbins Branch Trail, where we would finish up the loop later on, and then continued on Birkhead Mountain Trail for about two more miles to the intersection with Hannahs Creek Trail. By this time, our group had really broken up and I was hiking with the faster group. We didn’t really have any idea how far behind everyone else was and since the intersections are well signed, we turned on to Hannahs Creek Trail. Shortly after the turn is the remains of an old chimney, a sign of the human influence of the wilderness’s past.

I was here last year and the chimney was standing, signaling that there used to be a homestead here.

Some time in the past year, however, the chimney had collapsed and all that remained was a pile of stones. We continued along this trail, which follows Hannahs Creek for a ways and then crosses Robbins Branch, ending near the Robbins Branch Trailhead.

Like all the trails in the wilderness, there are many large rocks along the trail that indicate that these were once mighty mountains that have been eroded away by hundreds of millions of years of the elements. We stopped for a break at the intersection of Robbins Branch and Hannahs Creek Trail, had a snack and took a “biology” break.

By this point, we had already gone over six miles and Joe had indicated the total hike was 7.2 miles. Clearly, this was wrong, as we still had more than four miles to get back to the cars. A few people were not so happy about the extra mileage, but I didn't mind. With about 3 hours of round-trip driving for the hike, I wanted to get as much hiking time in as possible, at least more than driving time, and the extra miles would ensure that. 7.2 miles is the correct distance for the loop, but the extra section of Birkhead Mountain Trail adds more than 4 miles to and from the trailhead. A few more stragglers met at the intersection and then we continued on, hiking the Robbins Branch Trail back to Birkhead Mountain Trail.

From here, it was another 2.2 miles back to the parking area, but at least it was mostly downhill on the way back. Back at the parking lot, we saw more hunters with their rifles heading into the woods. I had gotten back to the trailhead with a few others about 20 minutes or so before the others got back. We waited around at the parking area for a while and when Grace and Isabel got back, we took off. On the way home, we stopped at Pisgah Covered Bridge, one of only two covered bridges remaining in North Carolina. It’s a pretty bridge and a nice reminder of the state’s history. Unfortunately, some idiots thought it would be cool to carve and paint graffiti on the bridge. After a few pictures, we took off and made our way back to Durham.

Rod's Raven Rock Hike 2013

Today was Rod Broadbelt’s annual hike in Raven Rock State Park. The hike started at 8, but it’s over an hour drive to the park so I left at 630 and got to the park a few minutes before opening. The rangers had just opened the gate when I arrived and I followed the line of cars in to the old parking lot. All or nearly all of the early arrivals were for Rod’s hike. After everyone signed in and Rod gave a quick overview of the planned hike, we took off on the Campbell Creek Loop Trail. It was very cold when we started out and I was bundled up with several layers. It’s too bad the first part of the trail is downhill so I couldn’t warm up during the coldest part of the hike. The trail heads down to Campbell Creek with a gradual but steady downhill slope. Along the trail, many of the leaves had already fallen. While there was some color left, it was clearly past peak. We crossed Campbell Creek on the nice footbridge and turned left, following the creek downstream towards Cape Fear River. Stopping at the river’s edge, I took a couple of pictures.

The river was beautiful today – very smooth, making perfect reflections of the trees on the other side, with some remaining fog hovering over the surface. But I couldn’t stop for long. Rod likes to keep things going quickly for cardiovascular benefit.

Continuing on Campbell Creek Trail, we took the short spur trail to Lanier Falls and got some quick photos and then continued on the loop.

Eventually, we got back to the footbridge and made our way back up to the parking lot. It had warmed up by now and I was wearing layers, so going uphill was making me start to sweat. Funny, considering how cold I was a couple hours ago. But we were soon back at the parking lot and I was able to drop the extra layers off in the car. After regrouping, we hiked down Raven Rock Loop Trail, taking the Northington Ferry Trail. The goal today is to hike pretty much all the trails in the park, at least on this side of the river.

About halfway down Northington Ferry Trail, we stopped at the Jesse Northington grave marker, just off the trail and turned around where the trail terminates at the Cape Fear River.

This turnaround point is right across Campbell Creek from where we had stopped earlier in the hike. Next, we turned left to hike down Fish Traps Trail to the Fish Traps, interesting exposed rock in the river.

Finally, we headed back to Raven Rock Trail. I was getting hungry by this point and looking forward to getting to the park’s namesake, where we each lunch.

We stopped briefly at the overlook and then headed down the 98 steep and narrow stairs to the base of Raven Rock.

We went all the way down to a nice spot to sit and have lunch under the rock and then made our way back to the steps.

It’s a lot harder going up, but at least I had eaten.

Back at the top, we finished up by taking Little Creek Loop Trail, opting to skip the Group Camp Trail and head back.