Prospects for 

 girding... 



John Fussell admits that Bird 

 Shoal in the Rachel Carson Estuarine 

 Research Reserve is the closest thing to 

 avian heaven. But he shared some 

 other coastal North Carolina spots that 

 also rate high on his birdwatching 

 scale. Here are a few of them: 



• Outer Banks/Cape Hatteras 

 National Seashore/Pea Island 

 National Wildlife Refuge. Prime for 

 waterfowl and waterbirds in winter. 

 Good "ocean watching" — what you 

 can spot from the beach — year- 

 round. Shorebird migrations are very 

 good July through October. Many land 

 bird migrants are visible in fall. 



Overall area is good for shore- 

 birds, gulls and rare birds. In spring, 

 Hatteras Point is good for sighting 

 pelagics offshore. (This year, a herald 

 petrel and soft-plumaged petrel were 

 sighted from the deep Gulf Stream 

 waters offshore from Oregon Inlet; 

 these birds are rare in North America, 

 much less the East Atlantic.) 



• Currituck Banks. Ocean 

 watching is good in late winter. Spring 

 migrations can also be interesting. 



Pine Island Sanctuary south of 

 Corolla has an observation platform. 

 Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge 

 on Knott's Island has waterfowl 

 impoundments. Any time of year is 

 good to see birds from the causeway 

 between the Virginia mainland and 

 Knott's Island. Look for such 

 marshbirds as bitterns and rails. 



• Lake Mattamuskeet Good 

 spot for waterfowl during cooler 

 months. Most birds per acre. Bald 

 eagles, hawks, golden eagles. As many 

 as 140 species of birds recorded during 

 the Christmas Bird Count. A tropical 

 kingbird once sighted. 



• Swan Quarter Refuge. Take 

 the 6:30 a.m. ferry from Swan Quarter 



to Ocracoke late November through 

 March to see scoters, oldsquaws and 

 red-throated loons. 



• Croatan National Forest. 



Good savannah habitat. Look for 

 Bachman's sparrows and red- 

 cockaded woodpeckers. 



• Cape Lookout Point. Good 

 for certain pelagic species. Also good 

 for land bird migrants during fall. For 

 about SI 5, you can board headboats 

 (the Captain Stacy at Atlantic Beach, 

 the Carolina Princess or Continental 

 Shelf out of Morehead City) in the 

 hopes of glimpsing a tropicbird. Boats 

 run from April through November. 

 There will probably be a low density 

 of birds, but the ones you see may be 

 very unusual. Cross your fingers for a 

 red phalarope, northern fulmar or 

 Manx shearwater. 



• Fort Fisher. A lot of habitat in 

 close proximity. Coquina outcrops 

 make for good ocean watching. Best 

 place for great cormorants. Loons, 

 grebes and scoters abound. 



The rocks just north of Fort 

 Fisher are the best place to bird-watch 

 from your car. Shorebirds congregate 

 there at high tide. The shrub thickets 

 are ideal for painted buntings. Also, 

 the Carolina Beach sewage treatment 

 plant nearby is a good place to bird in 

 cooler weather. 



Museum programs 

 and outings 



The N.C. Maritime Museum at 

 315 Front St. in Beaufort has many 

 opportunities for birders. 



January through May, the 

 museum will present videos and slide 

 programs, including the Ducks 

 Unlimited video guide to waterfowl 

 during January and February. 



"We have a slide show, to music, 

 of the birds found on our coast in the 



winter," says director of education 

 JoAnne Powell. "It's nice, and it gives 

 people a chance to hear the sounds of 

 the animals." 



The museum also offers half-day 

 and extended field trips to local birding 

 hot spots, including Bird Shoal on the 

 Rachel Carson component of the N.C. 

 National Estuarine Research Reserve. 



The museum works closely with 

 Joyce Bland, education specialist and 

 coordinator for Rachel Carson, to make 

 sure young and old alike have the 

 opportunity to visit this rich composite 

 of salt marshes, tidal flats and man-made 

 islands. 



The museum's field trips even have 

 international flavor; an outing to Costa 

 Rica and Peru is planned for July. 



For a museum calendar or specific 

 information about events, call 919/ 

 728-7317. 



Birds of a feather 



If you live in North Carolina and 

 like to watch birds and other wildlife, 

 consider joining your peers in the 

 Carolina Bird Club. 



The club meets each winter, spring 

 and fall. Meeting sites are selected to 

 give participants opportunities to see 

 many of the state's different species of 

 birds. 



Informative programs, guided field 

 trips and mini-weekend outings to good 

 birding areas are available to members, 

 says membership chairman John Fussell. 



Members receive The Chat, a 

 quarterly ornithological journal that 

 contains field notes and scientific 

 papers, and the CBC Newsletter, which 

 informs members about meetings, trips 

 and club news. 



Individual memberships are S12. 

 For information, write the Carolina Bird 

 Club Inc., Box 27647. Raleigh, NC 

 27611. 



COASTWATCH 9 



