BIRDING PLUS
Demystify those ocean birds on this itinerary scheduling 3 pelagic trips into North Carolina’s rich offshore waters along with informative presentations on seabird I.D. and natural history. And we’ll also enjoy some landlubber birding in some of NC’s best forest and shorebirding spots.
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| 2009 May 16-25 with George Armistead & second guide |
2010 May 15-24 |
Fee TBA. 10 days
from Norfolk, Virginia. Limit: 14
Good accommodations, easy terrain, warm climate. Our staff travel agents can book your air travel for this tour. Contact us at (800) 728-4953 for more information.
Coastal North Carolina has long been known as the meeting place of north and south, and the month of May is a wonderful time to see a host of migrant boreal species and others of more subtropical affinity. We’ll begin the tour in the Great Dismal Swamp and Alligator River refuges in search of warblers—Prothonotary, Hooded, and Worm-eating, as well as “Wayne’s Warbler” (the small-billed coastal race of Black-throated Green Warbler)—and other birds typical of wet southern forests such as Pileated Woodpecker and Acadian Flycatcher. Migrant songbirds the likes of Black-billed Cuckoo, Bicknell’s Thrush, Bobolink, and Blackburnian Warbler have been seen on occasion, along with mammals such as River Otter, Bobcat, and Black Bear and a great many butterfly species. We’ll visit Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Bodie Island Lighthouse on the Outer Banks, both of which are often very productive for shorebirds at this time of year.
A series of three pelagic trips out into the Gulf Stream offers Carolina birding at its finest. We expect to see the best variety of seabirds the east coast can offer, among them several Gulf Stream specialties—Audubon’s Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, and probably Band-rumped Storm-Petrel or Bridled Tern. May is equally famous for migrant birds bound for the northern latitudes—Long-tailed Jaeger, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Manx and Greater shearwaters, and South Polar Skua—and nearly every May trip has a genuine surprise, with Bermuda, Fea’s, and Herald petrels and White-tailed and Red-billed tropicbirds all possible. Still other sea life abounds and the very unpredictability of these sea trips makes each day exciting, with whales, sea turtles, sharks, and other sea creatures often punctuating the day’s birding.
By alternating days between land and sea, we will have time to study the birds and creatures we’ve seen offshore through a series of instructive lectures, and we'll also have the opportunity to study some shorebirds and songbirds on land. Between each of the three pelagic trips, we will have morning birding excursions followed by an afternoon lecture, and perhaps another shorter bout of birding. We’ll finish up this trip in the pine flatwoods near Beaufort where we’ll look for Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Swainson’s Warbler, Bachman’s Sparrow, and Brown-headed Nuthatch, all species scarce north of North Carolina. The beautiful beaches of this part of the state host nesting Piping and Wilson’s plovers, American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, and Fish Crow, and Painted Buntings reach their northern limit on the Crystal Coast. We’ll devote one early evening to listening for nightjars and amphibians as well.
If the allure of the southern swamps intrigues you as it has so many others, and if you’ve still not found your way into the Gulf Stream to gawk at gadfly petrels, then come join us for some hush puppies, some great seafood, and an exhilarating and educational trip to this bird-rich region.
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