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Mattamuskeet? radio program; GlennStone and vicinity



Hi Carolinabirders,

WUNC is running promos this morning for "The State of Things" about
environmentalist opposition to a big egg production facility (I'm guessing
"chicken farm" would be a tragic understatement on this one) near a NWR in
Hyde County. Mattamuskeet, maybe? As if Hyde County's wildlife didn't
already have enough to worry about, with the airfield issue... The program
runs from noon to 1 PM today, 91.5 in the Triangle and Triad, 90.9 around
Rocky Mount and Wilson, and 90.9 and 90.5 on various parts of the Outer
Banks. Folks from elsewhere in the Carolinas can listen on-line at
http://www.wunc.org/

Spent yesterday with some DNHS and ECWA folks exploring the lower Ellerbe
watershed, mostly a new development called GlennStone. The developer there
is apparently making a deal with the county government, whereby he gets to
build a higher-than-normally-permitted density of houses on one part of
his property, while setting aside roughly 100 acres - including wetlands,
floodplain, etc. - as a nature preserve. No surprises, but many pleasant
sights, especially a Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, and
footprints of Wild Turkey. Heard and saw Bobwhite, but a neighboring
farmer apparently raises them in pens and releases them, so probably not
"countable". Hiked into some adjacent Army Corps of Engineers land to see
the Ellerbe Great Blue Heron nesting colony; we expected all to have
fledged by now, and indeed saw many empty nests, but one heron flew into
some nest-laden big pines, and we heard what sounded like begging chicks
in there! A late starter? Also a couple of Green Herons in there, and at
least 7 small Green Treefrogs.

Most of the group left after we got back to our cars, a bit before noon.
But Dean Kanipe talked me into getting some Mexican food for lunch (I was
sooooo hard to convince) and bushwhacking a bit more. We hit El Barrio, on
NC 98 at the intersection with Patterson Road, then poked along the edge
of Falls Lake where Dean is helping lay out the path of the Mountains-to-
Sea Trail. We visited more spots than I can remember, including a diabase
habitat fragment on Hebron Road, the former path of Rogers Road down
across the lake bed, and a boat ramp off Teknika Parkway; we spent most of
our time amongst a bunch of old farm ponds near the mouth of the Eno, off
Red Mill Road, an area with lots of habitat apparently very rarely visited
by birders! Most highlights were botanical and entomological - a dragonfly
called the Black-shouldered Spinyleg, a bee-mimic robberfly, some small
Bald Cypress trees, and blooming Prairie Dock, Jerusalem Artichoke,
Green-headed Coneflower, and assorted other sunflower allies - but we did
encounter at least 3 Great Egrets and 2 Osprey among the old farm ponds,
one skulking Ovenbird (still nesting?) in adjacent forest, and heard an
Acadian Flycatcher.

Radio show starts in an hour, I better send this...

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/