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.