Trail 12: Shelley Lake Trail (South Side)

02/18/2012.  9:58 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 51.548, W 78, 39.963
End:   GPS N 35, 51.407, W 78, 39.609

In order to access the south side of the Shelley Lake Trail, I parked at Sertoma Arts Center just north of the intersection of West Millbrook Road and Old Town Road. There seems to be plenty of parking at the Center, and several different kinds of habitats along the trails.

The day was sunny with temperatures in the low 50s. The parking lot already had quite a few cars in it when I arrived. Just north of the parking lot, and west of the trailhead, is a little area called Shelley Lake Sertoma Park. It has a small section of open grass surrounded by trees. This turned out to be a great place to begin birding. I saw eight different species there in a relatively short period of time, almost half my usual number for an outing. A short walk down the accessway to the Shelley Lake Trail brought me to an unpaved path called Lake Park Trail that branched off to the northwest. It turned out to be a nice walk, but was not terribly active with birds until I reached the end of the trail where there was a house with a feeder hidden in the shadows of a tree. The trail emerges adjacent to 6324 Rushingbrook Drive. Once back on the Shelley Lake Trail, I saw most of the same water birds from last week, along with one new species for the Capital Area Greenway list..

Birds Sighted in Shelley Lake Sertoma Park

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 51.548, W 78, 39.963.

Eastern Bluebird:  Just saw one of these.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 51.554, W 78, 39.928

Northern Cardinal:  These were fairly common here and along Lake Park Trail.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 51.580, W 78, 39.908.  Two of these were moving around together.

Downy Woodpecker:  A male and a female moving together.

Tufted Titmouse:  Saw only one initially, but later saw two together.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 51.554, W 78, 39.928.

Birds Sighted Along Access Path to Shelley Lake Trail:  This access path was fairly short, and not very active with birds.

Eastern Towhee (male):  GPS N 35, 51.549, 78, 39.882.

Birds Sighted Along Unpaved Lake Park Trail:  The picture (left) is of the entrance to Lake Park Trail from Rushingbrook Drive.

Red Tailed Hawk (in flight): GPS N 35, 51.717, W 78, 39.859.

Carolina Wren: GPS N 35, 51.818, W 78, 39.890.

American Crow: GPS N 35, 51.902, W 78, 39.941.

House Finch (male): At feeder. May have been with a female.


White Throated Sparrow:  At feeder.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  At feeder.

Birds Sighted On Lake Along Shelley Park Trail (South Side)

Canada Goose:  GPS N 35, 51.573, W 78, 39.784.

Ring Billed Gull:  There were many, but most were too far away for an easy count.

Mallard:  Saw several of these.

Double Crested Cormorant:  GPS N 35, 51.414, W 78, 39.587.  None were on the pilings this time.

Hooded Merganser:  A male and a female. These were the only new birds for the Greenway List this week.

I turned around at just after noon and headed back toward the Sertoma Arts Center. There is an unpaved trail that leads from Shelley Lake Trail up to the Arts Center, so I took that one this time, allowing me a little time to walk through denser woods. However, I didn't see any new birds on this part of the trail.

The total for the day was 20 species, which ties a previous record. The Hooded Mergansers bring the total number of species on the Greenway List to 45.

Trail 11: Shelley Lake Trail (West Side)

02/11/2012.  10:40 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 52.037, W 78, 39.297
End:   GPS N 35, 51.641, W 78, 39.801

The entrance to this part of the Capital Area Greenway is around 6200 North Hills Drive, just south of Lynn Road. There is a parking lot for an apartment complex next to the trail entrance, but there is also plenty of space to park on the street.

The day was mostly cloudy and breezy, with temperatures in the mid-40s Fahrenheit. I got off to a later start than usual, and perhaps because of it, started seeing birds from the moment I stepped onto the main trail.

This part of the trail can be divided into three sections. First is the section from North Hills Drive to the intersection with the bridge leading to the eastern side of the Shelley Lake Trail. This section is fairly short, perhaps a quarter of a mile in distance, but was quite active. The next section runs from the bridge along the creek to the lake itself. This section ends at around the 1.75 mile marker. The last section runs along the western edge of Shelley Lake, where it crosses a  long bridge and then branches two ways at the 2 mile marker - one branch follows along the south edge of Shelley Lake, and another veers off to the west toward the Art Center. According to the map, there is a short section of unpaved trail off of the accessway that leads to the Art Center. This unpaved path ends at Rushingbrook Rd. I will check it out on my next outing.

Birds Sighted Between North Hills Drive and First Bridge: This part of the trail was active from the time I arrived.

White Throated Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 52.006, W 78, 39.288. These birds were numerous along many areas of the trail.

American Goldfinch: A single male, moving around for a time in the same area as the sparrows.

Eastern Towhee: A single male. Saw a female further down the trail.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  This bird was very busy right near the start of the trail. At one point, it moved to within about 10 feet of me.

Carolina Chickadee:  Saw only a few of these on the trail.

Tufted Titmouse:  Not as common as usual.

Northern Cardinal:  Saw a pair of these. Heard cardinals calling almost the entire length of the trail.

Birds Sighted Between the First Bridge and the 1.75 Mile Marker: This part of the trail begins at GPS N 35, 52.026, W 78, 39.392. It follows along the creek until the lake is reached. In many places, there is thick undergrowth sheltering many birds.

Mallard:  GPS N 35, 52.033, W 78, 39.427. Both a male and female together on the creek.

Northern Flicker (male):  This is the first time I've seen this bird along the Greenways, though it is a frequent visitor to my feeders at home.

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 51.958, W 78, 39.491.

Downy Woodpecker:  Only saw this one a couple of times today.

There is another entrance to the trail along this stretch. A sign at GPS N 35, 51.810, W 78, 39.589 says that the access trail comes from Lakeway Drive. Right near this access point, I saw three foxes. Two seemed to be chasing each other around the leaf litter, so I'm guessing this was a mother and two nearly grown kits.

The last stretch of the western part of the Shelley Lake Trail runs from the 1.75 mile marker to the 2 mile marker.  This photo (left) was taken from near the 2 mile marker looking back up the trail. The long wooden bridge is an excellent place from which to see water birds, including gulls, ducks, geese, cormorants, and herons.

Birds Sighted from the Large Wooden Bridge:  GPS N 35, 51.608, W 78, 39.753.

Great Blue Heron:  One adult and one immature.  On the way back up the trail, I saw two or three of these land in the trees overlooking the lake as well.

Canada Goose:  There were many of these out on the water.  These are new birds for the Greenway list.

Belted Kingfisher:  Only saw this one for a short time, as it appeared near the bridge making quite a bit of noise, then flew away to a perch that I couldn't seem to locate. Still, a nice sighting and another new one for the Greenway list.

Ring Billed Gull:  Counted 74 of these in total.  I may have been off by a few.  Another new bird for the Greenway list.

Double Crested Cormorant:  Standing like sentinels on the pilings from an old dock. There were six of them altogether. Yet another new species for the Greenway list.

New Species Seen on the Return Trip:

Brown Thrasher:  GPS N 35, 51.641, W 78, 39.711. Saw one of these in two different places on the return trip.

This outing added six new species to the Capital Area Greenway bird list for a total of 44 species.  This trail had some of the greatest habitat variety so far because of the combination of good woods habitat coupled with the lake habitat.  This would definitely be a trail to consider visiting on a frequent basis for birding.

Trail 10: Bent Creek Trail

02/04/2012.  10:16 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 52.450, W 78, 38.844
End:   GPS N 35, 52.002, W 78, 39.294

Access to this trail was quite easy. The entrance is at the corner of Longstreet Dr. and Bent Creek Dr, and there is parking available on the street. The trail is right in the city, surrounded by housing developments, but it has the feel of a more remote area in some places. This was the first creekside trail I have seen along the Greenway with jumbles of stones in the watercourse.

The day was cloudy and cool, with temperatures in the high 40s. Light rain fell at one point, but it was brief and didn't seem to affect bird activity too greatly.

The first part of the trail (left) was fairly quiet when I arrived.  I heard a woodpecker pecking away at one point, but could never find it.  It sounded like it was at a bit of a distance.  I also saw two seagulls fly over, perhaps on their way to Shelley Lake which is further down this trail, but I don't have much experience with seagulls, and they were backlit against the cloudy sky, so I didn't even try for an identification. In the end, I only saw a couple of species between the entrance and the first bridge. In this section of the trail, traffic noise made it a bit hard to hear the birds, and from about the midpoint on there was a dog who never stopped barking until I got across the bridge and a little further down the trail.

Northern Cardinal:  GPS N 35, 52.397, W 78, 38.924. These were probably the most numerous birds on this trail.

Red Bellied Woodpecker: I ended up seeing these in three or four places along the trail.  It would seem that this trail and the Sawmill Trail from last week are good places to see this bird.

The area between the first and second bridge was much nicer, though I didn't identify any new birds along this stretch. Traffic noise was absent for most of the way and the woods in this area seemed somewhat wider. I should note that the Sawmill Trail intersects with the Bent Creek Trail just before the second bridge.

The section between the second bridge and the overpass that supports Lynn Road was more productive. It was after 11 AM by this time so perhaps that had something to do with it. One of the most productive areas was along a little paved path that comes down from Lynn Road to meet the trail. I saw five species around this point.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 52.137, W 78, 39.038.  The robin was solitary.

Downy/Hairy Woodpecker:  I didn't have but a few seconds to look at this one, so I couldn't tell which species. It was on the small side, so I would lean toward Downy.

Carolina Wren:  Just one of these. I don't remember seeing another one all day.

Eastern Towhee: Both a male and a female, moving around together.

Hermit Thrush: This was a nice find. Only the second I've seen so far in 10 outings.

After the overpass, the trail splits. The paved part moves away from the creek by a few hundred feet, while a dirt path continues right along the creek edge. I decided to follow the dirt path first, then to return by the paved pathway.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker: GPS N 35, 52.057, W 78, 39.077. I have not seen one of these since the Neuse River Trail.

American Crow:  I heard these long before I saw them. There were only two of them visible at any given time.

White Breasted Nuthatch: I believe this was the only one I saw on this trip.

Brown Thrasher: GPS N 35, 52.045, W 78, 39.210.

The Bent Creek Trail technically ends at North Hills Drive. From there on the trail is called Shelley Lake Trail. A look at the map suggests that it may take two, or perhaps even three trips for me to get completely around Shelley Lake, and to also cover two short side trails. But the presence of the lake means I may see some new species out on the water.

I saw a few more new sightings for the day on the return trip. Many were along the stretch of road that I had skipped to walk the dirt path along the creek.


Carolina Chickadee: GPS N 35, 52.065, W 78, 39.218.

Tufted Titmouse: I was surprised that it took so long to see this bird, as well as the Carolina Chickadee. They are usually among the most common species. Instead, this trail had a healthy supply of Northern Cardinals.

Downy Woodpecker:  This time I got a longer look and could confirm.

Turkey Vulture (in flight): GPS N 35, 52.086, W 78, 39.191. Saw two of these flying together.

Dark Eyed Junco: GPS N 35, 52.213, W 78, 39.086. As was true last week, I only saw a single individual, where I normally would see a group.

Because this was my 10th trail, I thought I would take a look at the birds I've seen so far and make a few comments about relative abundance. All of the trails so far have been in the northeast quadrant of Raleigh, and most have followed a waterway of some sort.

The total for the Greenway list to this point is 38 species. Two species were seen on every outing, the Carolina Chickadee and the Tufted Titmouse (often together), and several more were seen on at least eight outings:  Dark Eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, White Throated Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, and Red Bellied Woodpecker.  The following species were identified only once:  Red Tailed Hawk, Red Shouldered Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Red Winged Blackbird, European Starling, Common Grackle, and Hairy Woodpecker.  However, the Hairy Woodpecker can be difficult to specifically identify, and several times I recorded a woodpecker as either a Downy or a Hairy.  Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, House Finch, and Brown Creeper were only identified twice. Most of the other birds were seen between four and six times, or on about half of the outings. These were:  Mockingbird, Robin, Turkey Vulture, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Crow, White Breasted Nuthatch, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Red Headed Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Black Vulture, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Blue Jay, Eastern Towhee, and Song Sparrow.

Red Headed Woodpeckers are fairly common in the more swampy habitats, but non-existent at a distance from such places. Pileated woodpeckers seemed to be the least common type of woodpecker, and Red Bellied and Downy were the two most common. I have yet to see a Northern Flicker, though I see one at my home feeder fairly often. Perhaps there is something about the creekside habitat that doesn't appeal to the Flicker.

Trail 9: Sawmill (Mine Creek) Trail

01/29/2012.  10:03 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 52.899, W 78, 39.183
End:   GPS N 35, 52.257, W 78, 39.115

The name of this trail is a bit confusing.  Google maps lists it as the Mine Creek Trail, while the official map for the Capital Area Greenway calls it Sawmill Trail.  TrailLink suggests that the name for all five segments of the Greenway in this area is Mine Creek Trail, while the short northern segment is the Sawmill Trail.  Whatever it's name, the trail is unpaved, but eventually intersects with a paved trail called the Bent Creek Trail.  That intersection was my turn around point for the day.

The Sawmill Trail begins just west of 401 Sawmill Road on the south side of the street. The road is wide enough to park right next to the trailhead, but traffic moves rather quickly here so I chose to park on one of the nearby side streets.  All was fairly quiet when I first arrived, except for the road noise, though I did see a Carolina Wren moving around in the leaf litter off to the right of this picture.  For the most part, this portion of the trail, up to the second wooden bridge, was fairly quiet both times I passed through it.

I saw the greatest bird activity after about 11:30 AM, and quite a bit later in the day than has been true for most of the other trails visited so far.  It seemed as though woodpeckers were everywhere after about noon.  In some cases, I may have been seeing the same birds multiple times, but it was nice to see them in so many places.


Birds Sighted Between Trailhead and Second Bridge

Carolina Wren:  GPS N35, 52.899, W 78, 39.183.  Just to the right of the trail entrance.

Hairy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 52.828, W 78,39.199.  This is a new bird for both the Greenway list and my lifelist!  I have probably seen one before, but never had enough information to be certain that it wasn't a Downy Woodpecker.  This time, it flew in and landed close.  It stayed around for awhile, then called when it flew away.  I noticed the fairly large beak first.  According to the book Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World, the Hairy Woodpecker has a short streak of black color that follows the contour of the shoulder down onto the breast and connects to the black line that runs between the base of the beak and the wing.  The shoulder streak is not present in the Downy.  It was definitely visible on the bird I saw.  But perhaps the best confirmation came from the Sibley Birds App, which has recorded calls for all of the birds.  I used it to compare the Downy and Hairy Woodpecker calls, and was able to confirm the Hairy Woodpecker.

Birds Sighted Between Second Bridge and Fork in Trail:  Part of this section of the trail has fairly thick undergrowth, and was also a very popular area for birds. I saw my first sparrows of the day here after being on the trail for well over an hour.

Northern Cardinal:  N 35, 52.770, W 78, 39.230.  Saw two or three of these in this area.

Tufted Titmouse:  Several of these in the area.

Carolina Chickadee:  Saw at least four of these at one time.

Mourning Dove:  GPS N 35, 52.617, W 78, 39.292.  Saw a pair of these.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  The first of many seen today.  I must have seen these in at least 6 or 7 places along the trail.  In one place, I saw two moving around together.


Dark Eyed Junco:  I think I only saw one of these, which is unusual.

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 52.522, W 78, 39.292. Saw three of these sitting together in a tree.  There may have been a fourth obscured by the branches.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  Saw just one of these.

Eastern Towhee:  I think there were two in the undergrowth, but I only ever saw one at a time.

White-Throated Sparrow:  At least two or three of these.  Possibly more hiding in the undergrowth.

Blue Jay:  Just saw one.

Hawk:  GPS 35, 52.478, 78, 39.314. Got a brief glimpse of this hawk on the ground in a slightly open area before it flew off to land in a distant tree.  I didn't get a good enough look at it to be sure, but I thought it might be either a Red Tailed or a Red Shouldered after looking through my iBird Pro App.  I don't have much experience with hawks, and when it finally flew away from its distant perch before I could get close enough to pick out details, I was disappointed.  But see below.

Birds Sighted After the Fork in the Trail, Along the Creek:  This trail forks near its end, with one path following the rocky edge of the stream, and the other climbing to the ridgeline.  The fork is at GPS N 35, 52.335, W 78, 39.153.  Both branches intersect with the Bent Creek Trail a couple of hundred feet apart.

Red Shouldered Hawk: GPS N 35, 52.318, W 78, 39.115.  I was walking along the creekside trail just after the split when I saw a hawk land on a low branch.  It was partly obscured by trees, and with how easily I had scared the hawk away previously, I decided to be very careful.  So I hid behind a tree until I could get my Peterson's Guide turned to the right page, then I slowly began to move to a point where I would have a clear view. When I peeked out from behind a large tree, I saw not one hawk, but two, sitting side by side.  I took a good look at them through my binoculars, mostly from the back, then ducked back behind the tree to have a look at the book.  The white banding on the tail was the most helpful feature. When I peeked back out, there was only one hawk left. When it finally flew away, it made the distinctive call of the Red Shouldered Hawk.  I read that the Red Shouldered Hawk is usually solitary, but that it starts building a nest in February.  Given that it was the end of January, I wondered if maybe I hadn't witnessed an attempt at courtship.  On the return trip, I saw a hawk flying high overhead two or three different times.  I met a couple strolling down the path on my way back. They asked if I had seen any hawks, and said that they see them quite often on this trail. So this might be a reliable place to come find one.  This is a new bird for the Greenway list.

Birds Sighted on the Return Trip, Between the Fork and the Second Bridge: Birds were very active in this section of the trail between about noon and 1 PM.  I saw many repeats of birds I had seen before. Only new sightings are recorded below.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 52.582, 78, 39.249.

Downy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 52.634, W 78, 39.229.  Smaller bill than the Hairy Woodpecker seen earlier.  Another similar woodpecker was about 100 feet away. Presumably another Downy, but I couldn't get a good enough look.

I only spotted 16 different species on this outing -- a little less than usual -- but I did add a new bird to my lifelist and two new ones to the Greenway list. That brings the Greenway list total to 38 species. I also appreciated the natural feel of this trail, and the small number of people who seemed to be using it. All in all, an excellent outing.