Bird Banders Head to the OBX

This week, the old Nissan (seen in the background) proved to be a very seaworthy vessel as the other bird banders and I spent some time in the Outer Banks. Our trip started with a ferry ride to a southern point on the Outer Banks called Ocracoke. It's a quaint town that reminds me of neighborhoods in Martha's Vineyard. We visited a maritime forest that had Live Oaks, which are the same great looking trees I saw on Cumberland Island in Georgia (see pic of Live Oak below).

Then we traveled north to Nags Head and roamed around a deserted beach looking for birds out at sea. We saw Gannets and Red-breasted Mergansers not very far off shore, and enjoyed a surprisingly wind-less afternoon for the OBX. The next day we were kept indoors by lots of rain, but that didn't stop us from enjoying our mini-vacation. Matt's friend Catherine works at the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo. We were in for a treat because she gave us a full tour of the place and the inside scoop on the fish, sharks and turtles there.


Back in Hyde County, NC, work has been going great. We're banding lots of Swamp Sparrows and I'm thoroughly enjoying each and every day of working with these folks and keeping track of the birds. I have a couple more Hyde County wildlife pics here. Above is a Carolina Wren. They're great looking birds, with that very white eyeline. Their call can be heard every morning... it's a "teakettle tea-kettle teakettle" or so they say. This guy below is the Carolina Anole. The only anole native to the US, and we just found him in our backyard!


We've almost reached a pretty great fundraising goal for Bike and Build, and I'll be sure to post when that happens. Until then, hope everyone is doing well up north and elsewhere!