Serious bird-watchers arrive 

 armed with information about the 

 birds they're likely to find. Many of 

 them can identify more than 200 

 birds by sight. They're here for the 

 love of the chase, building "life lists" 

 that keep track of all the species 

 they've ever seen. 



The Outer Banks are a hot spot 

 of feathered activity in early winter, 

 when the birds are migrating, and 

 Wings Over Water banks on that fact. 



business. Jack Thigpen, North 

 Carolina Sea Grant's coastal 

 recreation and tourism specialist, 

 says estimates show that birders 

 pump billions of dollars into the 

 national economy. Local communi- 

 ties also benefit from bird-watching 

 festivals, and Wings Over Water is 

 the result of a partnership of sponsors 

 who want to bring responsible, 

 sustainable development to coastal 

 North Carolina. 



Mike Bryant, manager of the 

 Alligator River and Pea Island 

 National Wildlife Refuges, hatched 

 the idea of a festival to celebrate the 



wetland-dependent birds that flock to the 

 coastal plain every fall. He brought the idea 

 from Texas, where ecotourism events — 

 including a binding festival — brought more 

 than $ 1 3 million a year to the lower Rio 

 Grande valley. Bryant saw a great opportu- 

 nity for a similar festival in eastern North 

 Carolina. 



Coastal wildlife refuges are rich in 

 natural resources, drawing tourists even in 

 the off-season, Bryant says. Pea Island, in 

 particular, is a birder's paradise. Bryant saw 

 a binding festival as a way to emphasize 

 activities people enjoy at refuges — 

 hunting, fishing, wildlife-spotting and 

 photography — while also injecting money 

 into the local economy. 



"This is a chance to bring together 

 community folks and to provide tourism 

 that is compatible with wildlife," he says. 

 "It sends a good message about the 

 resources we manage. It's a win-win 

 situation." 



Many species of birds overwinter 

 along the Outer Banks, in the sounds and 

 pocosins, and on Lake Mattamuskeet, 

 making a November festival a logical 

 choice. The partners sponsoring Wings 

 Over Water — including the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, 

 the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, 

 the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society and the 

 Dare County Tourist Bureau — are eager to 



bring people to the area at a time when 

 tourism traditionally tapers off for the year. 

 And birders seem happy to trade crowds 

 and sun for quiet, deserted beaches, cold 

 air and the chance to glimpse a rare 

 creature. 



Attendees come from as far away as 

 Canada, California, Texas and Florida in 

 search of their feathered friends. "Distance 

 is no object," Bryant says. So local 

 businesses and ecotourism vendors benefit 

 from an unseasonable influx of out-of- 

 state money. Tourists see what a beautiful 

 place North Carolina's coast can be, even 

 in late fall. 



For the second annual festival, North 

 Carolina Sea Grant has teamed up with 

 the sponsors of Wings Over Water to find 

 out just how much money the birders 

 bring to area businesses. Thigpen, a 

 sociologist, has designed a survey for the 

 participants to fill out, providing valuable 

 information about their spending patterns, 

 interests, and impact on the local economy. 

 The resulting information will be used to 

 market and plan later events. 



For now, Wings Over Water works 

 hard to provide something for everyone. 

 The schedule includes a guided tour 

 through a salt marsh, a hike through 

 Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve and a 

 chance to howl at red wolves, in addition 

 Continue 



Black skimmers 



Brown pelicans 



Searching for pelagic birds 



COASTWATCH 



