There are certanin large wading birds I always love to see. However, those birds also are some of most skiddish birds found around the Crystal Coast. A couple that are always especially hard to get a shot of are Reddish Egrets and Little Blue Herons… though admittedly the more common Great Blue Heron and Great Egret can be pretty tough to get close to as well. I also find getting within camera range of Snowy Egrets to be particularly challenging. Even though the kayak helps, allowing you to get a bit closer than you could using a land approach, it doesn’t take much to spook these guys. Here are a few shots from my last couple of kayak outings where I happened to get lucky.
The American Oyster Catcher is one of my favorite shore birds. Their distinctive bright orange bills and eye circle make them one of the more colorful birds found along North Carolina’s beaches. They range in height between 17 and 21 inches and sport a 35 inch wingspan. Their bright orange bills range from 3 to 4 inches in length. In addition to the bill and eye rings other distinguishing characteristics include pink legs, black heads and necks, and the white stripes on their wings.
While not on the endagered species list, the American Oyster Catcher is noted as a concern. Once hunted for food, as well as their plumage, the species became protected by law in 1918. The bird is found along North America’s East coast, from New England to Florida as well as along the Gulf coast and South America. Natural predators of the bird include raccons, skunks and large raptors. They nest on beaches above the tide line and typically lay between 2 and 4 eggs per season. Their diet includes oysters, obviously, as well as other marine invertabrae.
Oyster Catchers have an interesting eye that, if you’re not aware of it, can give the impression of something being off with the pupil in photographs. I’ve heard it referred to as a “double pupil” though I believe more correctly it’s called an eye “fleck”… a dark spot in eye that looks a bit like a second pupil. My understanding is that in their Pacific coast cousin, the Black Oyster Catcher, it’s believed that the fleck only occurs in females. I don’t know of any studies being done of the East Coast’s American Oyster Catcher, but there’s a chance when you notice the “funky pupil” you’re seeing a photo of one of the gals. I know when I photograph these birds I seem to notice the fleck in about 50% (give or take) of the birds. Not particularly scientific but it seems to fit nicely with the sexual trait theory.
The Crystal Coast is blessed with a nice population of this colorful shore bird. They can be found in the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve as well as all along the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Look for them on Shackleford Banks, Carrot Island, Horse Island, the Middle Marshes as well as Bird Shoals. During high-tide the birds can be found bunched on small mud islands and oyster banks. As the tidal waters recede, exposing oyster beds and other food sources, the birds spread out to feed. The next time you’re exploring our natural occuring barrier islands, as well as dredge spoil islands, key an eye-open for these lovely creatures.
The Neuse River Recreation Area, locally known as Flanner’s Beach, is off of Highway 70 between Havelock and New Bern, North Carolina. Sitting along the Neuse River and part of the Croatan National Forest, this area features a beach, picnic area, campground and hiking/bicycling trail. I was going to be in New Bern yesterday afternoon and decided to visit this trail on my way home. It was a nice Spring day and we’d been having some plesantly warm weather, so I was hopeful I might come across some wildflowers. Apparently it’s still a little bit early.
The trail system at this recreation area consists of a loop around the campground with a couple of small loops off of that plus one fairly large loop out into the woods. The section circling the campground is paved, as are the two smaller loops. the longer loop is covered with fine pea gravel. The trails are open to bicyclists and hikers alike. Walking parallel to the river from the picnic parking area will put you on the trail. Taking the longer loop around until it meets with the campground route, then back to the parking area will net about a 2 mile hike. While not a huge stroll it is a pretty area with the woods being a mix of pine and hardwoods. The trail crosses a small swampy area via a boardwalk, adding to the variety of terrain. One big plus for this trail is that when everything else is wet, muddy and nasty it provides a dry and comfy trail for stretching your legs. While the Neuse River Recreation Area trail isn’t the longest or most demanding in the area, it makes a great place to take the family, introduce a “tenderfoot” to nature, or to incorporate a picnic with a little excercise. It’s definately well worth a vist.
A large North American shorebird, the Greater Yellow Legs is similar in appearence to the slightly smaller Lesser Yellowlegs. Adults have long, yellow legs (hence their name) and sport long dark bills that are slightly upcurved. The bill tends to be about 1 1/2 the length of the head with a lighter color near the base. In contrast the Lesser’s bill tends to be equal in length to the head and lacks the up turn and lighter colored base.
The Greater Yellowlegs is a migratory bird that travels south to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States and South America. The bogs and marshes of Alaska and Canada’s boreal forest region are its breeding habitats. The female builds a ground nest where she lays three to four off-white eggs with brown markings. Both the male and female tends the eggs which take twenty-three to twenty-four days to incubate. The couple also shares feeding duties for the young.
The photos below were taken along the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve on an early spring afternoon. The birds were feeding in the shallow waters along the shore.
