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Outer Banks Ferry Trips



Carolina Birders:
Susan and I spent Friday and Saturday (Feb. 7-8) on a fine winter outing utilizing the ferries from Cedar Island to Okracoke to Hatteras and then from Hatteras to Okracoke and to Swan Quarter. Our goal was to see as many wintering watefowl as we could. While we saw a gazillion Double-crested Cormorants, many Brown Pelicans, and the usual gulls (including perhaps 80 Bonaparte's Gulls), the birds most worth mentioning are as follows:
Several thousand Surf Scoters and Black Scoters - in mid-Pamlico Sound as well as at the Great Island portion of the Swan Quarter trip. Included were three White-winged Scoters seen by Susan.
Several hundred Long-tailed Ducks of which 54 were fairly much up close. These were also
seen near Swan Quarter. We also saw one from the Okracoke-Hatteras Ferry. Two Greater White-fronted Geese - standing on the beach at Okracoke Ferry Terminal along
with several Canada Geese and one Graylag Goose. Could these possibly be escapees?
Two Razorbills from the beach just north of Rodanthe Pier. Two very small black and white alcids rapidly flying just over the surf just north of Rodanthe
Pier. Could these have been two of the Dovekies seen by Jeff Lewis at that site that
morning? Looked like them to me, far though they were.
Two Red-necked Grebes, one at Avon Pier and the other at Oregon Inlet.
Thousands of both Red-throated and Common Loons, both in the middle of Pamlico Sound
and near Swan Quarter. Interestingly, the Commons outnumbered the Red-throated in the
middle of the Sound, while the Red-throateds greatly outnumbered the Commons near
Swan Quarter.
Throw in two flocks of 12 to 15 Fox Sparrows each and one flock of 15-18 Swamp Sparrows (at Lake Mattamuskeet) and well over a thousand Cedar Waxwings on Okracoke and at Hatteras Island, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls (one each at Okracoke and Hatteras Point),
and at least 500,000 (I counted) Red Wings at Lake Mattamuskeet and we saw a LOT of
birds!
A very good trip.


Rich and Susan Boyd
Beaufort, NC