June 9 - Hatteras - Pea Island

I slept in this morning, then went out to the beach, parking across from the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.  The tip of the island here is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Our nation’s first national seashore was established in 1937 to preserve significant parts of unspoiled barrier islands along North Carolina’s stretch of the Atlantic Coast.

The Park Service has fenced off portions of the beach here to provide protection for nesting seabirds and turtles.

But, it’s obvious that vehicle traffic still has an impact.

There were a few squalls offshore, but I thought that I’d make it out and back before the rain began, so I walked out to the tip of the peninsula at Hatteras Inlet.  As I started to return along the “Pole Road”, it was obvious that my estimate of how long it would take before the weather blew in was incorrect, and it began to pour.  Fortunately, a fisherman and his son gave me a ride back to my car.

Returning from my walk, I stopped at Harbor House Seafood at 10 a.m. to pick up a few meal’s worth of fish for suppers back in Southern Pines.  Owner Vicki still had the fresh scallops and mahi-mahi, but was out of the grouper.  However, while I talked to her, her crew filleted a grouper, so I ended up with 1.8 lbs of snowy grouper (Epinephelus niveatus) for $25.99/lb, 1.92 of “dolphin fish” for $23.99/lb, and 2 lbs of scallops at $23.  Surprisingly, North Carolina charges sales tax on fresh food!!  There was $10.76 tax on the $138.84 worth of fish.  I hadn’t asked about the prices, so was somewhat surprised, but what the heck?  We will end up with 3 gourmet meals at “Market Rate”.

I stopped at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to walk the dike around the ‘ponds’, and came back along the beach, hoping to find a Piping Plover, but was unsuccessful doing so.

I did enjoy seeing a brood of Black Ducks in the pond, as well as good views of Oystercatchers and there was a summering Ruddy Duck.

The colony of Least Terns along the mile or so of beach appeared to be successful, and there were many nests with chicks.

Willets and Sanderlings appear to be the common ‘sandpipers’ here.

Willet

The drive back to Southern Pines was uneventful, unless you count my stop at a Bojangles', a southern franchise whose chicken tastes a bit better than KFC or Popeye’s.  I dragged in at Sister-In-Law Ellen’s and we enjoyed a glass of wine on the deck as the sun set.

Cape Hatteras Natl. Seashore eBird Checklist is Here

Pea Island NWR North Pond eBird Checklist is Here

Pea Island NWR beach eBird Checklist is Here

May 31 - Galveston Island State Park

We slept in until after 7 a.m.!  Must have needed our sleep, and what-the-hey?, Marty and Becca are on a long weekend before attending the 25^th North American Prairie Conference next week.  We had a leisurely morning, although our efforts at augmenting the coffee maker with additional coffee resulted in grounds spilling out onto the counter . . . then, when I moved the pot, I accidentally put my hand on the hot plate, which blistered a finger.

After breakfast, we drove on out to the Gulf and stopped at Galveston Island State Park.  As we walked down to the beach, I noticed a Black-bellied Whistling Duck in the deflation plain pond, and putting up the scope, saw that she had 13 ducklings accompanying her.

We enjoyed our mile-long walk along the beach.

There were no turtles on the beach this morning

It was late morning, and some of the locals were already enjoying a sushi lunch.

Sanderling and Sushi

Other folks were doing some recreational fishing.  The egrets and herons were doing some recreational begging.

Sometimes you can’t even give away a fish!

There were quite a few Least Terns on the beach.  The Interior and California populations of Least Terns are federally listed as Endangered, but the Atlantic and Gulf coast population is not listed.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife notes that there are no clear morphological or genetic distinctions among subspecies, and that chicks banded on the Texas coast have been found later breeding in Kansas.  Because of the lack of distinction between populations, and movement between breeding areas, they believe the status of this species in Texas deserves careful monitoring.  It makes me wonder how these apparently connected ‘populations’ constitute separate entities under the ESA?

That aside, we finished our beach walk, and went across the highway to the picnic area for a snack and to walk the “Duck Pond” trail loop.  I might suggest not wearing sandals on this trail.  At least, if you do wear sandals, I might suggest not standing on a Fire Ant nest . . .

Grackles were quite interested in our lunch.

Males are big and black, with piercing yellow eyes

The females are brown and quite brazen

Leaving the State Park, we drove over to Bryan Beach, near the mouth of the Brazos River.  Bryan Beach is maintained by the city of Freeport "for all families to enjoy.  Perfect for sunbathing, camping, birding, fishing and relaxing.  The beach is still in its natural state so if you need anything stop in Freeport before you go over the intracoastal.  Beach goers can drive and park on the beach for no charge."  There was a relatively high tide with little ‘beach’ between the water and the sand dunes, and we walked for about ¾ mile, enjoying the sun, the warmth, and the birds.

We drove into Bay City, and checked into the Holiday Inn Express.  Marty has an IHC ‘membership’, so they treated us like regulars.  This is a pretty upscale place, compared to the motels I usually stay at when not traveling with Marty . . .  We had supper at Bay City Seafood and Steaks, where Marty & I had the “special” crawfish supper - 3 pounds of mudbugs cooked in a garlic and citrus boil.  Becca had a salad.  It only cost $35.

Willet.  Or, won't it?

Galveston Island State Park beach eBird Checklist is Here

Galveston Island State Park Duck Pond eBird Checklist is Here

Bryan Beach eBird Checklist is Here

Reddish Egret