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Outer Banks



Howdy,

I know this is a late report since we birded the Outer Banks last weekend, but I'm finally getting around to it! Sorry if you get this post twice;it's the silly AOL 6.0 thing.

We went from spring to winter really fast last weekend. Daffodils and crocus blooming in Raleigh, redbuds blooming on the road into Manteo; then WAM!!Winter returned! Sunday the ocean was rough but we could still see Red-throted Loons floating on the water. Lots of Red-breasted Mergansers, and some scoters and gannets too. We bring our scope into our warm oceanfront room at the Comfort Inn in Nagshead.(Yes, it has reopened after being closed for six months after Floyd). 

We had several nice looks at Northern Harriers. As we were heading toward Bodie Lighthouse, we saw a male along the side of the road. He flew up with a small mammal in his talons. 

The Tundra Swans are always a beautiful sight to see. As we saw flocks of them flying into the Bodie Lighthouse pond, we were reminded as to why we visit the Outer Banks during the bitter, cold winters! 

We saw the Harlequin Duck at Avon Pier. There were two Black-crowned Night Herons around the Hatteras ponds. 

We stopped at Alligator River NWR Monday on our way home. We saw what we thought was a Red Wolf, in the field. The wolf saw us and started running toward the woods, then stopped as our car caught up with him. I wish I had my camera in my hands, because he stopped at looked right at us. I predict it was the same wolf Linda wrote about earlier in the week. We also saw the Great Blue Heron along the ditch, but didn't see the wolf going after it. We didn't see any sparrows (it was 1 pm), but enjoyed seeing more harriers and kestrels.  

Hope to see some of you at the Chapel Hill Bird Club meeting Monday night. Happy birding!

Karen Bearden
Raleigh, NC