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Egrets and curlew



My dad and I were down at Cape Lookout Island and Shackleford Island on
Friday and Saturday, 7-25 and 7-26-03. Some Highlights of our trip were 2
Reddish Egrets, the Long-billed Curlew, 2 Stilt Sandpipers, and 4 Piping
Plovers. 

We went down to Cape Lookout Island on Friday for about four hours. The
most productive place on the island was the ocean shoreline. This held some
common birds, including hoards of sanderlings, a few oystercatchers, lots
of Willets, and a couple Whimbrels. 

On Saturday we were at Shackleford Island for about 5 hours. On the ferry
ride over to Shackleford we met these really nice people, Laura and Allen,
from Manassas, VA, who luckily had a spotting scope. The scope helped us
see lots of birds we otherwise would have probably missed, such as the
curlew and egrets. 

After the ferry dropped us off, all of us headed straight for the pond that
the egrets and curlew had first been spotted at. When we got to the pond we
didnt see much at first, just lots of white ibis, short-billed Dowitchers,
and a Greater yellowlegs. But after about ten minutes we saw lots more
birds, including several wilsons plovers and a single semipalmated plover,
black skimmers, clapper rail, Osprey, Stilt sandpipers,and 2 reddish egrets
and the long-billed Curlew. This pond was the most birdy place on the
island. I also saw seven life birds-Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Stilt
Sandpiper, reddish egret, Long-billed Curlew, wilson's Plover, and 4 piping
plovers. We saw the piping Plovers at the end of the day, when were heading
to the place where the boat dropped us off. The were about a half mile from
the place where the boat dropped us off, right on the shoreline of the core
sound. There is a lot of walking involved, so i suggest that if you want to
visit here you should wear comfortable shoes and have at least two bottles
of water handy at all times, especially if you want to check out the
brackish ponds, which can be fairly good for birds if you go at the right
time. the brackish ponds are about a half mile to a mile up the beach from
the pond where we saw the egrets and curlew. 

I would strongly reccomend a visit by anyone who is intrested in any kind
of shorebird, especially in the reddish egrets or the curlew. It was
definetley one of the most enjoyably and productive days of birding i have
ever been on, with about 70 species tallied for those two days. At about
dusk, I would also reccomend a visit at a small park at the end of
Marshallburg, which was about 11 miles from the motel we stayed in, the
harkers island Fishing Center Motel.

Michael McCloy, age 11
David McCloy
Southern Pines NC