Trail 8: Simms Branch Trail (Western Part)

01/21/2012.  10:00 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 53.902, W 78, 35.291
End:   GPS N 35, 54.308, W 78, 35.639

Access to the trail entrance is quite easy.  Look for the intersection of Hiking Trail and Clivedon Drive -- the entrance is just slightly northeast of Clivedon Drive.  Hiking Trail is fairly wide here, and there is room to park on the street right next to the trail entrance.

Weather conditions were cloudy, breezy, and wet for this outing.  The temperature was in the mid-50s.  Despite the poor conditions, I spotted more species on this walk than on any of the others so far.  Part of this is almost certainly due to the presence of Durant Road Middle School just off the trail at about the halfway point.  A number of species that prefer more open territory were out on the grassy areas of the campus. It may also have to do with my improving speed in recognizing some of the more common species.

An interesting difference between this trail and all the other Greenway trails I've walked is the much higher proportion of pine trees.  I'm not sure how much this difference in vegetation might have affected the results.  I did notice one or two species of birds that seemed to stay in the highest parts of the loblolly pines, and because they were backlit against the bright clouds, I was unable to see any detail.  Perhaps they were pine-preferring species, or maybe they were simply species that prefer higher trees.  Either way, I would probably have needed to see them on a sunnier day to have a chance at identification.

Birds Sighted Between Hiking Trail and Durant Road Middle School:  There was heavy bird activity on the left side of the trail between about the 2nd and 5th houses from the entrance.

Turkey Vulture (in flight):  Saw one of these at the very beginning of the trail.

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 53.932, W 78, 35.295.  Plentiful.

Northern Cardinal:  Saw these at three or four points along the trail.

Tufted Titmouse:  Also seen at several points.

Carolina Wren:  I was surprised to see this bird at five different points along the trail. Probably the best trail for this bird so far, and I also had the closest view of it ever.

Dark Eyed Junco:  Not as common as on most other trails.

White Throated Sparrow:  The only sparrow species I saw on this trail.

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 53.997, W 78, 35.277.

Birds Sighted at Durant Road Middle School from Edge of Trail:  The middle school parking lot and some of its grounds are visible from just before the small wooden bridge.

American Robin:  GPS 35, 54.193, W 78, 35.400.  At least 15 of these were present.

European Starling:  I would say there were 25 or more of these spread out around the Middle School grounds.  After a time, many of them came and settled in a tree near the trail.  This was the first sighting of these birds since I began walking the Greenway trails.

Red Wing Blackbird:  Only saw one of these, mixed in with other birds.  This is a new sighting for the Greenway list as well.

Northern Mockingbird:  Another single amid the crowd.

Blue Jay:  Also solitary, as far as I could determine.

Mourning Dove:  Saw two of these together.

Birds Sighted Between the Bridge and Trail End:  There was a backyard feeder partway down this segment of the trail with considerable activity around it.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS 35, 54.241, W 78, 35.505.  The only one I saw all morning.

Eastern Towhee:  At the feeder.

House Finch:  At the feeder.

New Birds Sighted on the Return Trip:  I reached the end of the trail at 11:40 AM.  I then turned around and retraced my steps.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 54.244, W 78, 35.502.

Common Grackle:  Got a nice view of the iridescent purplish feathers when this bird perched in a low tree for a few seconds before flying up to a higher branch where it was more backlit and dark looking.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  GPS N 35, 53.959, W 78, 35.283.  Saw this one near the entrance to the trail just before I packed up to head home for the day.

I saw a total of 20 species on this outing, including three new birds for the Greenway list. That brings the total for the Greenway list to 36 species.  The new birds were European Starling, Red Winged Blackbird, and Common Grackle. There were many fewer woodpeckers out today compared to other trails, and I didn't see any Nuthatches or Brown Creepers either.

Trail 7: Simms Branch Trail (Eastern Part)

01/14/2012.  9:45 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 53.679, E 78, 34.734
End:   GPS N 35, 53.898, E 78, 35.163

There is easy access to this trail from the parking lot at Durant Nature Park, and the park is listed as a birding hotspot on the eBird site.  A sign in the parking lot indicates that a lakeside trail of 1.3 miles can be accessed within the park, as well as a border trail of 2.2 miles. The park address is 8305 Camp Durant Road, and the Simms Branch Greenway trail is a short walk back down the road from the parking lot.  Because the original intent of this project was to bird the entire Capital Greenway, which does not technically seem to include Durant Nature Park, I decided to forego birding the park (for now anyway) and stick with the roadway leading to the Greenway, and the Simms Branch Trail itself.

The eastern part of Simms Branch Trail starts at a point just across the creek from Durant Nature Park, and runs along the edge of the creek within sight of the park for much of its length.

The trail is actually bisected by Camp Durant Road.  As you approach the trail from the parking lot, there is a short paved pathway off to the right that runs for perhaps a quarter of a mile before coming to an end at the creek.  Another way to access this trail closer to its starting point is from Leslieshire Dr. near its intersection with Attingham Dr.

This little section of the trail runs directly behind a line of houses.  There was quite a bit of bird activity within a few hundred feet of the road, but there were also dogs barking at me from several backyards almost the entire time I stood there looking.  Further along the trail was a little quieter, but it doesn't go for long and I quickly turned around and retraced my steps back to Camp Durant Road.

On the west side of the road, the situation is similar, with houses lining the trail on the north side, and a creek running along the trail on the other.  However, there seemed to be fewer dogs out on this side.  One of the houses not too far from the road had several feeders out, so I had a chance to see a number of species clustered in one place, although I ended up seeing most of them again further down the trail.  The weather for this outing was clear with a light breeze at times, and temperatures were about 35 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived.

Birds Sighted Along Camp Durant Road:  Activity was light along the road leading up to the trail.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 53.766, W 78, 34.754.  Got a nice view of the crest on this one as the bird leaned downward.

Birds Sighted Along Short Section of Trail to the East of Camp Durant Road: Moderate activity within a couple hundred feet of the road.

Dark Eyed Junco:  GPS N 35, 53.773, W 78, 34.696. I saw many of these over the course of the morning.

American Robin:   Only saw one of these the whole morning.

Carolina Chickadee:  Saw many of these at several locations.

White Throated Sparrow:  Watched these while a chorus of dogs serenaded me.  The birds didn't seem to mind.

Carolina Wren:  Saw one of these in two different places on this outing.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 53.744, W 78, 34.639.

This section of the trail ends at GPS N 35, 53.680, W 78, 34.552.

Birds Sighted Along Trail on Western Side of Camp Durant Road:  The sign to the left marks the beginning of this section of the Simms Branch Trail.  The sign suggests that this trail may also go by the name "Durant Trails Greenway Trail".

Brown Creeper:  GPS N 35, 53.785, W 78, 34.552.  In a tree next to the house with several bird feeders.

Tufted Titmouse:  Saw several of these today, including a few around the feeders.

Northern Cardinal:  First sighted at the feeders.  Saw a few others further down the trail.

American Goldfinch:  At the feeders and in its winter plumage.  This is a new one for the Greenway list.

Turkey Vultures (in flight):  At least three of these.  The group was partially obscured by houses.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler:  GPS N 35, 53.761, W 78, 35.163.  Saw at least two different birds at different times.

Downy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 53.806, W 78, 35.177.

This part of the trail ends at Hiking Trail Rd, near the intersection with Clivedon Drive.  Across the road is a continuation of the trail which I will explore next time.  I turned around here at around 11:00 AM and retraced my steps.

New Birds Sighted on Return Trip:

Brown Thrasher:  GPS N 35, 53.859, W 78, 35.242.

Northern Mockingbird:  GPS N 35, 53.697, W 78, 34.953.

I spotted a total of 17 species along this part of the Simms Branch Trail, and one new bird for the Greenway list (American Goldfinch), bringing the total to 33 unique species so far.

Trail 6: Neuse River Trail (Part D)

01/07/2012.  2:15 PM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 54.089, W 78, 32.437
End:   GPS N 35, 53.149, W 78, 32.580

Access to this entrance is at the end of Thornton road.  The pavement stops around address 5899, and a dirt road continues from there down to the Neuse River Trail.  I parked off the side of the unpaved road shortly before an open gate and just before a small white sign warning against hunting in city parks.

Off to the left of the access way leading down to the Neuse river trail is a wetland.  I hoped to see some bird activity there, but never did.  Activity was better in the trees that form a screen between the dirt road and the wetland. On the right side of the access way is an open field.  Part of this field has tall grass and seemed to be popular among sparrows.  Further down the access way off to the left is what appears to be a condemned house with quite a number of trees around it.  The area in front of this house was pretty active as well.

I first attempted to bird this part of the trail on Friday afternoon, January 6th.  However, I got a late start (3:30 PM) and when I was about halfway to the end of the trail, I realized that if I continued on, it would get dark long before I got back to the entrance.  So I turned around at the 5.5 mile marker and headed back to my car.  I tried again on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 PM and this time managed to reach the end of the Neuse River Trail.  So the sightings reported in this entry include both Friday and Saturday afternoon, with double coverage of the first 1 1/4 miles.  I denote which day the bird was sighted with an "F" for Friday and an "S" for Saturday.  I should note that this was the busiest part of the Greenway that I have visited so far.  Bicycle traffic on Saturday was nearly non-stop.

It was sunny both days and temperatures ranged from around 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.  I passed an additional entrance to the trail along the way, as well as a river access point with a tiny strip of sand beach and a number of picnic tables.  The additional entrance was at Myakka Ct. (GPS N 35, 53.285, W 78, 32.359).

Birds Sighted Along Access Way:  There was more activity in this area on Friday (around 3:30) than on Saturday (2:15), except around the condemned house.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker (F):  GPS N 35, 54.089, W 78, 32.437.  First bird I saw when I stepped out of the car.  Saw another about an hour later on the trail itself.  I was a little surprised not to see any of these on Saturday, as they have been fairly regular along the trail.

Tufted Titmouse (F,S):  Small group of at least four.

Carolina Chickadee (F,S):  Small group.

American Crow (S):  Heard them on Friday but did not see them until Saturday.

Song Sparrow (F, S):  GPS N 35, 54.123, W 78, 32.416.  Saw one on Friday at entrance to trail, and another on Saturday at the end of the trail.

Eastern Bluebird (S):  GPS N 35, 54.254, W 78, 32.404.  Near condemned house.

White Breasted Nuthatch (S):  Near condemned house.

Dark Eyed Junco (S):  Near condemned house.

Birds Sighted Between 4.5 Mile and 5.5 Mile Markers:  This part of the trail was covered on both Friday and Saturday, though there was much less activity until just before dark on Friday along this stretch.

Brown Thrasher (S):  GPS N 35, 54.454, W 78, 32.404.

Yellow Rumped Warbler (S):  GPS N 35, 53.877, W 78, 32.103.

Red Bellied Woodpecker (S):  Saw these in three different locations along trail.

Downy/Hairy Woodpecker (F, S):  GPS N 35, 54.238, W 78, 32.146.  Both sightings were very high up in the trees with light starting to get low. I couldn't get a good enough look at the beaks to tell the difference.

Pileated Woodpecker (F):  Flew in for a short stay while I was trying to decide between hairy and downy.

White Throated Sparrow (F, S):  GPS N 35, 54.513, W 78, 32.359.  Active near the river access point on Friday around 5:00 PM, and right at the end of the trail on Saturday.

Field Sparrow (F):  Just off of the bridge that leads to the river access point.

Birds Sighted Between 5.5 Mile Marker and Trail End:  There was a lot of bird activity in the grasses and trees on both sides of the trail right at the trail's end (around 4:00 PM).  Only new species are recorded.

Eastern Towhee (S):  N 35, 53.162, W 78, 32.538.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet (S):  N 35, 53.797, W 78, 32.052.  Did not see the crown color but everything else fit.

I spotted a total of 17 species along Part D of the Neuse River Trail, including three species of woodpecker.  Only one new bird for the Greenway list this time (Field Sparrow).  This is also a new bird for the lifelist.

This was the final segment of the Neuse River Trail that has been completed to date.  Ultimately, the trail is expected to be 28 miles in length, running from the base of Falls Dam to the border with Johnston County.  One source says it will be completed by the end of 2012, which means that I may have to revisit this trail if I haven't finished birding the Greenway before the new part opens!

Some general observations.  The northern half of the trail (particularly Parts A and B) seemed more developed and yet I found it to be less busy with cyclists.  That could be because it was the holiday season, or might have been the time of day I was visiting.  The northern half seemed better for sighting woodpeckers, as there was generally more variety on any given day and there tended to be multiple sightings of the same species.  The red-headed woodpecker in particular was more common along the northern half of the trail, and along the Eastern Part of Abbotts Creek Trail.  Downy woodpeckers also seemed more numerous along the northern half.  There seemed to be more variety of sparrows along the southern half of the trail, beginning just after the Abbotts Creek intersection.  However, this may partly be related to my improving ability to identify these birds as I progressed through the weeks.  Some other common birds were not seen in the southern part of the trail, such as Northern Cardinal and Northern Mockingbird.  This might reflect the relative degree of development along the different parts of the trail.

Trail 5: Neuse River Trail (Part C)

1/02/2012.  10:25 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 55.126, W 78, 33.602
End:   GPS N 35, 54.103, W 78, 32.436

Entrance to this section of the trail is at 10900 Bedfordtown Drive.  There is a small parking lot next to the paved access way that leads to the Neuse River Trail.  Not far down the trail from this entrance is another access point from Grassy Creek Place (GPS N 35, 55.050, W 78, 33.661), and very soon after that is the point where the Abbotts Creek Trail (Eastern Part) intersects the Neuse River Trail.  It's a fairly long walk from the Abbotts Creek intersection to the next exit point just before the 4.5 mile marker, where I turned around and began the return trek.

The sky was clear and it was around 45 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived (this picture was taken the previous week when it was cloudy but warmer).  The treeline off to the right had some decent bird activity.  I spent about 45 minutes there working on my rather poor skills at identifying sparrows.  This part, as well as a section just beyond the Abbotts Creek Trail intersection, seemed quite good for sparrows.

I had a couple of new tools at my disposal thanks to the iPod Touch my wife gave me for Christmas.  My favorite so far is an App called iBird Explorer Pro, which I got from iTunes for $15.  It has a library of 924 North American birds and a fantastic search engine that allowed me to narrow down the options to only North Carolina birds, and then further by all kinds of characteristics such as family, primary or secondary color, head or breast pattern, and many more.  I used it to find both common and uncommon sparrows known to have been seen in North Carolina (there are 21 of them), entered one or two additional characteristics to narrow the field further, found a likely candidate, then checked out the image as well as a few photographs to verify.  If it doesn't look quite right, you can use the "similar" button to see any other birds (whether sparrows or otherwise) with similar characteristics.  Made it much easier to narrow down the possibilities and to feel confident about the result.

I also used the $30 Sibley e-Guide App for its excellent images.  It has a search function too, though with fewer options.  The Sibley App has a couple of nice features, though, like the ability to sort birds into size categories such as "sparrow-size" or "robin-size" rather than by length in inches, as you must do with the iBird App.  Another great App is called BirdsEye.  It was $20 and uses the e-bird database to report which birds have been sighted recently in the local area.  I used this before I left home to find out which sparrows and warblers have been recently sighted around Raleigh, whether they were relatively common or rarely seen, and whether they were recently seen in the quadrant of Raleigh that includes the Neuse River Trail.  If I had an iPhone instead of an iPod, I could look all of this up while in the field.  But even without the ability to get online in the field, the App was very useful.  With these Apps, I only pulled my books out a couple of times.

Birds Sighted Along Access Path:  GPS coordinates are not repeated if species are sighted within a couple of hundred feet of each other.

Chipping Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 55.126, W 78, 33.602.  I thought I had identified a group of these last time, then got nervous because they are not supposed to be winter residents here according to a map on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site.  However, the BirdsEye App has them identified in several places around Raleigh over the past two weeks, and a few sightings in this area of the city.  I had a long time to watch them and make certain, so now I'm ready to add them to the Greenway list.

Downy Woodpecker:  Saw two or three of these in total.  However, there were many fewer woodpeckers along this section of the trail than were present along Part A and Part B of the trail.

Carolina Wren:  Saw two of these today.

Around the Intersection of the Neuse River Trail with Grassy Creek Place and Abbotts Creek Trail:

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 55.050, W 78, 33.661

Tufted Titmouse:  Only saw one of these today.  Saw many more on previous days.

Brown Creeper:  Another new one for the Greenway list.

Just Past the Abbotts Creek Trail Intersection:

White Throated Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 54.858, W 78, 33.621

Song Sparrow:  Got a good look at the spot on the breast.  Met another pair of birders at this point who told me they had seen a Great Crested Flycatcher down the trail.  This was a bird I had not seen before.  More on that later.

Along the Rest of the Trail:  Things got pretty quiet by the time I left the Abbotts Creek intersection (around noon).

Dark Eyed Junco:  N 35, 54.535, W 78, 33.399

Turkey Vulture (in flight):  N 35, 54.451, W 78, 33.010

Red Headed Woodpecker:  N 35, 54.318, W 78, 32.741.  I only saw one of these today after seeing so many on my three previous outings.

New Sightings on the Return Trip:

American Crow:  N 35, 54.409, W 78, 32.935

Eastern Bluebird:  N 35, 54.784, W 78, 33.613

Great Crested Flycatcher?:  N 35, 55.207, W 78, 33.589.  I was all the way back at my car ready to head home when I saw this one at about 1:30 PM.  I had taken off my jacket to put it in the car when I saw a bird with quite a bit of yellow on its body come flying from the trees to land on a short post maybe 30 feet away.  It was a little smaller than a robin, with a thinner body.  I got two good looks at the front of its body while it was on the post, with a quick check of the the iBird App in between. Unfortunately, the tail was hidden by the post while it was stationary.  It had yellow on the lower body and grey on the upper chest.  The top of the head had that pointed look, something like I remember seeing on the Black Phoebe in Arizona.  When it flew out from one post and back to another, it's flight had the acrobatic flycatcher look to it.  I didn't get a chance to confirm rufous color on the tail, but both the iBird App and the Sibley App suggest that this is the only likely species in this size range with these markings.  I left for home feeling confident about my identification.

The problem is that this bird is also not supposed to be here in December.  I checked e-bird for sightings in Dec-Feb for all dates and didn't find any for North Carolina.  There was a sighting in Monmouth New Jersey, much further north, in December 2007, and in Maryland in mid-November this year.  Nothing in North Carolina.  On the other hand, it looks like there are no e-bird reports along most of the Neuse River Trail for 2011, so those who do bird this trail are apparently not reporting to e-bird.

So do I count it or not?  Was it really just another bird that I am less familiar with, or has the warm fall kept these flycatchers around longer than normal?  The other pair of birders mentioned above saw one of these as well, and they seemed much more experienced than I am, based on our conversation.  I'll keep an eye on e-bird to see if anyone else reports it.  Given that it seems to be a fairly common bird here during the summer, chances are that I will pick it up later in the year anyway.

That brings the total to 13 species for this particular outing, if I exclude the Great Crested Flycatcher, and 31 for the Greenway list so far.  My lifelist has also grown by five birds.  Next time I hope to finish off the Neuse River Trail.