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Eagle City at Jordan Lake, NC



Yesterday I participated in the Chapel Hill bird count by kayak, on the
Morgan Creek arm of Jordan Lake. I put in at the Farrington Point boat ramps
and went as far north as the yellow boom that stops boaters from entering
the eagle nesting area. The roundtrip was about 8 miles and included about 5
miles of shoreline in the count area. I started seeing eagles flying along
the west shore about a half-mile north of Farrington Rd. When I reached the
beginning of the count area I saw 4 eagles perched in one loblolly pine
tree. I also saw 4 flying around at once. Having no idea how to get a true
count among so many birds, I decided I'd count two ways:  perched birds only
and all birds seen perched and/or flying. (Don't ask me why -- it just
occurred to me.) In the count area I saw 16 perched birds divided among five
locations pretty well spaced out along the shore. Seven were adults, and
nine were immatures. I observed a total of 28 eagles both flying and perched
in the count area. I saw 36 total for the day, including birds outside the
Chapel Hill count circle. Maybe the eagles are attracted by all the carp
spawning at the lake. The fish were a constant presence, thrashing noisily
right where the water meets the shore. I'd often see their backs come up out
of the water. "Like shooting fish in a barrel" came to mind as I thought of
the eagles.

The single birdiest spot was a beaver impoundment in the mouth of Cub Creek.
It was really nice -- had tree swallows and wood ducks (and, yes, three
perched eagles). But it's very shallow and won't be accessible by boat if
the lake drops.

I did not see or hear a single phoebe. But every little inlet seemed to have
a prothonotary warbler, singing even at midday.

Ginger_Travis@unc.edu
Chapel Hill, N.C.