V 



Carolina in a year. "You get kind of 

 excited — on January 1st you say. 'Hey 

 cardinal!' It whets your appetite again." 



Fussell came by his love for birds 

 honestly. His family introduced him to 

 avians at an early age. "My father and I 

 used to 'squeak up' catbirds and other 

 common birds." he says. 



To this day. his mother 

 bakes pound cakes for the 

 Baltimore orioles that winter in 

 his parents' back yard; they're 

 also treated to Kool-Aid and 

 apple jelly. 



Fussell chose birds as the 

 subject for a third-grade school 

 project. And in fourth grade, his 

 parents gave him his first pair of 

 binoculars. 



Not long after that, he 

 signed up for a bird-banding 

 expedition sponsored by a 

 museum. The group's plans to 

 band pelicans at Ocracoke was 

 foiled by bad weather, so Fussell 

 and his older and experienced 

 companions "mostly just sat 

 around in the cabin and talked 

 about birds." It was thrilling, he 

 says. 



The group made it to Cape 

 Lookout later in the trip, where 

 they banded young terns and 

 skimmers. 



In 1962. Fussell was given a 

 gift subscription to The Chat, an 

 ornithology journal. It was there 

 he read about the annual 

 Audubon Christmas Bird Count, 

 in which he eagerly participated 

 the following year and many years since. 

 The event takes place throughout North 

 America over a 2 1 2-week period that 

 always includes Christmas Day; partici- 

 pants count every individual bird and 

 species they can find within a 15-mile 

 diameter circle from midnight to midnight 

 on a given day at each site. 



The information collected by Christ- 

 mas Bird Count volunteers is invaluable. 

 For example, the findings can help define 

 the parameters of a bird's range. "Ornithol 

 ogy. more than any other science, is 

 furthered bv amateurs." Fussell savs. 



Fussell "hit a plateau" during his high 

 school years. Surfing quickly took priority 

 over birding. 



His college ornithology classes and 

 association with other bird enthusiasts 

 brought him back to birding. During 

 graduate school, he kept a boat at Pivers 

 Island so he could row over to Bird Shoal 



Scott Taylor 



Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve 



whenever he wanted. 



Bird Shoal is immediately enticing. In 

 Fussell's opinion, it's the best spot to see 

 intenidal shorebirds. Visitors can also see 

 feral horses grazing and wandering 

 through the estuary. 



Fussell points out patches of beach 

 amaranth, a candidate for the federal 

 endangered plant species list, and 

 Polygonum glaucum or "seaside knot- 

 weed," a likely possibility for the threat- 

 ened plant list. 



Later in the afternoon, he spots a 

 common species — another group of 



birdwatchers. They are waving from Town 

 Marsh. Fussell recognizes the three. 



"Is there a long-billed curlew down 

 there?" shouts one of the men. 



Fussell looks back mischievously. 

 "What kind of rare bird can we make up," 

 he says, cupping his hands around his 

 mouth as he yells back, "Spoonbilled 

 sandpiper!" 



As the tide starts to rise, 

 he heads back toward the boat. 

 Fussell calls to a Forster's tern 

 flying overhead. No response. 

 "They usually call back," he 

 says. 



A crowd of ling-billed and 

 laughing gulls have gathered 

 along the outer beach. As some 

 of the birds take flight, Fussell 

 lifts his binoculars. 



"That one hatched two 

 winters ago," he says, pointing 

 to one of the fleeing birds. The 

 gull is in it's third winter 

 plumage — he can tell from 

 the hint of black in its tail. 



On the trip back to the 

 Beaufort waterfront, his eyes 

 and ears are alert to any bird 

 activity along the way. He 

 might even be wishing for a 

 storm or two. G 



■ The free brochure, Birds 

 of the Outer Banks, 



contains a checklist of 

 nearly 400 species of birds 

 that have been sighted 

 along Cape Hatteras 

 National Seashore and its 

 sunounding waters and tells when you 

 might see them. For a copy, write Cape 

 Hatteras National Seashore, Rt. 1. Box 

 675, Manteo. NC 2^954. Or call 919/473- 

 2111. 



■ Finding Birds in Carteret County, 



96 pp., describes birds and birding sites 

 for serious birders and even those with 

 a casual interest in these avian creatures. 

 It's available for S6.75 ($5, plus $1.75 

 postage and handling) from John 

 Fussell, 1412 Shepard Street, Morehead 

 City, NC 28557. 



8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992 



