Trail 16: Ironwood Trail (South Part)

03/24/2012.  10:20 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 50.552, W 78, 39.709
End:   GPS N 35, 50.318, W 78, 39.845

Access to the south part of the Ironwood Trail is near 4806 North Hills Drive. Visitors can park on the street right next to the entrance.

The outing began with a drizzle and wet conditions from rain overnight. Temperatures were in the mid-60s Fahrenheit when I arrived. The rain stopped shortly after I started walking, and it looked like conditions might improve. I even saw the sun trying to poke through the cloud cover about an hour into the walk. So when I reached the end of the Ironwood Trail where it intersects with the Crabtree Creek Trail, I decided to continue on Crabtree Creek Trail headed east until I could find a good access point with convenient parking for my next outing.

By the time I turned around, the rain was back, and much heavier than before. Most of the birds stopped moving around at this point, and I did not see anything new on the return trip. I saw fewer species on this day than on any other this year, but did pick up a new species for the Capital Area Greenway list, so the outing was not a total loss.

Birds Sighted on South Part of Ironwood Trail:

Northern Cardinal:  At entrance to the trail. These were the most numerous birds seen on this day.

American Robin:  Perched alone in a high tree.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 50.523, W 78, 39.698. Clinging to the highest point on a dead tree and calling out to others.

Brown Headed Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 50.462, W 78, 39.765.  I have only seen this bird once before, back in 2006 in Cary. This time, the nuthatch was hanging around on a dead tree that a Red Bellied Woodpecker was trying to make a nest in, and seemed to be trying to bully it into leaving. The nuthatch kept flying and landing at a point near the woodpecker, then flying away again. I wondered if the nuthatch might be trying to chase the woodpecker away because it had a nest of its own in the area. When I passed by on the return trip with the rain falling, it was still harassing the woodpecker.

Great Blue Heron:  Two of these flew over while I was watching the nuthatch bully the woodpecker.

White Throated Sparrow:  A little group of six of these appeared to be eating some kind of seed from a low tree. Strangely, I have not seen so many sparrows in one place for several weeks now.

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 50.446, W 78, 39.790.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 50.410, W 78, 39.833.  This one was perched about five feet from the ground and singing at the top of its lungs. Quite a large sound from such a small bird.

Downy/Hairy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 50.325, W 78, 39.832. Could not get a close enough look to be sure, although its size suggested a downy.

Birds Sighted Along Short Segment of Crabtree Creek Trail: The bridge you see in the photo on the left leads to the eastern branch of Crabtree Creek Trail. I followed only a short segment of this trail until it reached the intersection with the North Hills Trail Segment a few hundred feet north of I-440. The trail ends at GPS N 35, 50.265, W 78, 39.722. The North Hills Trail Segment leads to North Hills Park which has plenty of parking. It would make an excellent access point to this end of the Ironwood trail.

Canada Goose:  GPS N 35, 50.300, W 78, 39.816. A pair of these were swimming together on Crabtree Creek.


Tufted Titmouse:  I was surprised it took so long to see one of these, as they are usually much more numerous.

I was only able to identify 10 species on this outing. I do think I might have seen a pair of White Breasted Nuthatches at one point, and a group of what might have been Common Grackles flying by in the distance another time, but in both cases the birds were too far away and the low clouds made it hard to see any colors or features well enough to be certain. The addition of the Brown Headed Nuthatch brings the Capital Area Greenway List to 48 species.

Trail 15: Ironwood Trail (Middle Part)

03/17/2012.  9:55 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 50.832, W 78, 39.968
End:   GPS N 35, 50.552, W 78, 39.747

There are at least two ways to access this part of the Ironwood Trail.  The long path from near 5105 North Hills Drive was described in my last posting (Trail 14: Ironwood Trail North Part). I chose to enter the trail from the west side this time, using a long access path near 1812 Stannard Trail. There is a community building with a parking lot a short walk from the access point, which was convenient, though if I had to choose an entry point again, I would probably use the North Hills entrance because that whole path is wooded on both sides, and runs along the creek for most of the way.

The day was warm and sunny with temperatures already in the mid-60s Fahrenheit by the time I arrived. The access path from Stannard Trail was fairly long and passed between open lawn on one side and a stand of trees on the other for much of its distance. I saw four different species within the first couple of minutes on the access path. These were mostly common birds that are often seen at feeders.

Birds Sighted Along Stannard Trail Access Path:

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 50.832, W 78, 39.968.

Northern Cardinal:  This male was high up in a tree singing away.

House Finch:  GPS N 35, 50.849, W 78, 39.954. Male and female.

American Goldfinch:  Moving around with the house finches.

Birds Sighted Along Ironwood Trail (Middle Part):  This trail follows the river.  The birds were more vocal here than on any other outing this year, presumably because it is breeding season.

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 50.888, W 78, 39.693.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  Very active toward beginning of trail.

Tufted Titmouse:  Fairly common as usual.

American Crow:  GPS N35, 50.759, W 78, 39.758.

Dark Eyed Junco:  Saw just one of these.

Hairy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 50.639, W 78, 39.798.  This is only my second confirmed sighting of this bird.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker:  Saw this bird in two places along the trail.

Great Blue Heron:  An immature one was seen walking in the creek, and later a mature one flew overhead.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 50.602, W 78, 39.766.

White Throated Sparrow:  These have been surprisingly uncommon the last two or three outings compared to previous ones, and the numbers seen have been smaller.

Red Shouldered Hawk:  GPS N 35, 50.552, W 78, 39.747.  Perched high up in a tree right next to the end of this section of the trail.

Carolina Chickadee:  I heard these a few times, but it took until the end of the trail to actually see them.

Birds Sighted on Return Trip:

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 50.779, W 78, 39.727.  I heard these birds calling many times, but did not see one until the return trip.

Orchard Oriole or Baltimore Oriole?:  I saw a bird high in a tree that had a really dark orange chest and a black head with a black cape on its back. The distance made it hard to see more subtle features, but I knew right away this was a new bird for me. I've never seen an Oriole in the United States, though I have seen a Hooded Oriole and a Yellow Backed Oriole on a trip to Belize many years ago

The bird in question did a bit of singing before it flew off to another perch for a few seconds, and then left altogether. My first thought was Baltimore Oriole, but the color of the chest was darker orange than the picture in my guide, and I thought the beak was narrower at the base in the brief glimpse that I got. Once I found the Orchard Oriole, which seemed to fit, I listened to the song.  It had been a couple of minutes since I last heard the bird sing, and my ear is not great, but I thought the song was a pretty good match, and much more similar than the song of the Baltimore Oriole. Still, when I checked on ebird.org, I did not find any sightings of this bird prior to April in the Raleigh area in years gone by.  The weather is unusually warm this year, but I didn't get a good enough look at the bird while I had my field guide open to be sure of the sighting, so I will not count this on the Capital Area Greenway List.

Mallard:  GPS N 35, 50.850, W 78, 39.657.

Northern Mockingbird:  At the entrance to the access path leading from Stannard Trail as I was finishing the outing for the day.

I left the trail at 12:40 PM.  Excluding the possible Orchard Oriole or Baltimore Oriole, I saw 19 species of birds on this outing.  There were no new additions to the Greenway list, although I did see only my second Hairy Woodpecker, and what is I believe only the third Red Shouldered Hawk. It is possible that this might be the same hawk I saw the previous week on the northern part of this trail.

Trail 14: Ironwood Trail (North Part)

03/07/2012.  10:05 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 51.354, W 78, 39.687
End:   GPS N 35, 50.912, W 78, 39.787

Access to this trail is from the same parking lot in the 900 block of W Millbrook Road that was used to access the Shelley Lake Trail (East Side) last outing. The lot is on the north side of the street. Take the entrance from the east end of the parking lot and immediately turn right. The trail is marked. If you continue straight, you will end up on the Shelley Lake Trail instead.

The morning was sunny and clear with temperatures starting out in the mid-40s Fahrenheit. I did not see any birds in the parking lot this time around, but as soon as I passed under W Millbrook Road the bird activity was excellent. There were only a few people on the trail this day, but the light foot traffic and near absence of bicycles might have been because this was a Wednesday morning and not a Saturday.  

There are not many natural dividers along this trail until you come to the intersection of two access trails where I decided to stop for the day. In this entry, I will report on the birds I sighted on the trail itself, and along the relatively long accessway that leads to North Hills Drive. This accessway runs along the creek for most of its distance, and is nicely wooded on both sides. If I were to choose an access point for this intersection area, I would probably come from North Hills Drive (address 5105 is nearby). The other option is a long accessway from Stannard Trail, but this is more residential and the path leading to the Greenway is not nearly as pleasant.

Birds Sighted from Trailhead to Intersection with North Hills and Stannard Trail Accessways:

Mallard:  GPS N 35, 51.340, W 78, 39.669. A male and female swimming in the creek.

Northern Cardinal:  GPS N 35, 51.317, W 78, 39.701. This male was singing away from an open branch.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  I don't know if the season just happens to be right for these, or if this area of the Raleigh Greenway system just has a large number of these birds, but I saw these more times along this stretch of trail than along any other I have walked so far in the Capital Area Greenway system. In fact, they were probably my most frequently seen bird on this outing.

Eastern Towhee:  Female. She settled herself down in some dense brush almost as though she had a nest in there. Might be too early for that, but I have not found these birds to be terribly shy about moving around when birders are nearby, and yet this one stayed completely still, with her body down on the ground.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 51.310, W 78, 39.717.

Mourning Dove:  Alone on a low branch next to the creek.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  Two moving around together.

Carolina Chickadee: Maybe the most ubiquitous bird in the city.

Pine Warbler: Last week I thought I had seen one of these but wasn't positive. This week I knew what to look for and got a good look at one. Just one. The first part of the Ironwood Trail has a line of pine trees along the west side of the trail, which is probably what attracted this one. It is a new bird for the Capital Area Greenway List and for my lifelist as well.

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 51.311, W 78, 39.757.

Probable Common Grackle:  I saw three of these at quite a distance. I didn't get the greatest view of them, but I did notice one of them spread its tail feathers and then relax them two or three times. I cannot be sure of my identification on this one, so will not count it for the day. There are times when I wish I owned a spotting scope. This was one of those times.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 51.255, W 78, 39.810.

American Crow:  Not very numerous here.

Red Shouldered Hawk:  GPS N 35, 51.204, W 78, 39.843. Saw it perched for a brief time, then in flight. Saw it perched again on the return trip.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 51.156, W 78, 51.157. This was a male and it seemed that he might have been just starting a new nest hole.

Downy/Hairy Woodpecker:  Got only the briefest of looks and did not have enough time to distinguish between the two species.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 51.021, W 78, 39.849.

Eastern Phoebe:  Saw this one "hawking" for insects. This is a new bird for both the Capital Area Greenway List and my lifelist.

Canada Goose: Saw three of these flying overhead in the direction of Shelley Lake.

There is another accessway to the Ironwood Trail that joins the trail a short distance from the intersection where I ended for the day.  It intersects the trail at GPS N 35, 51.009, W 78, 39.840. Based on the map, this accessway probably leads to Carter Street.

Birds Sighted Along Accessway from Intersection (see photo) to North Hills Drive Entrance:

Blue Jay:  N 35, 50.894, W 78, 39.661.

Red Tailed Hawk:  Saw it both perched and in flight. Today was the first day that I saw two hawk species in one outing.



New Species Sighted on Return Trip:

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker:  GPS N 35, 51.174, W 78, 39.856. I saw one of these and heard a second one calling back and forth with the one I spotted.

I saw a total of 20 species on this outing not including the probable Common Grackle or the Hairy/Downy Woodpecker. I added two new birds to my lifelist today, bringing the total to 311, and two new birds to the Capital Area Greenway List for a total of 47 species so far.

Trail 13: Shelley Lake Trail (East Side)

02/26/2012.  9:20 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 51.360, W 78, 39.688
End:   GPS N 35, 51.858, W 78, 38.883

Access to the Shelley Lake Trail (East Side) can be found along the 900 block of W Millbrook Road, on the north side of the street. This would also make a good alternate access point for the Shelley Lake Trail (South Side) discussed last week. In order to avoid birding the same area as last time, I entered the trail from the east side of the parking lot, and took the lower elevation outside path to get back to last week's endpoint.

It was clear and sunny when I arrived. Temperatures were in the mid-40s and many birds were active. I got off to a really good start. Within about half an hour, though, a wind picked up and it was breezy to quite windy for most of the rest of the time I was out. The wind and the movement of the trees made it difficult to hear the birds moving, or the tree-climbers pecking, and I had a long period during which I didn't manage to see much activity at all.

I was also a long way from the bridge where most of the water birds tend to congregate. Still, I saw many of the species from previous weeks from a distance. The main one I missed was Great Blue Heron. The Hooded Mergansers from last week were also in hiding. It was a bit disappointing not to see anything new out on the water this time.

Later in the morning the wind died down for a short time while I was on the Snelling Branch Trail to the east of Shelley Lake, and during that time I picked up a few woodpeckers and a White Breasted Nuthatch. I liked the Snelling Branch Trail quite a bit, and would recommend it for spotting birds that favor wooded areas.

Birds Sighted From Parking Lot and Along Access Path to the Lake

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 51.360, W 78, 39.688.  In a tree near where I parked my car.

Mourning Dove:  On an electrical line across the road.

Northern Mockingbird:  GPS N 35, 51.346, W 78, 39.600. Down in the shrubbery beside the first part of the trail.

Birds Sighted From Lakeside Part of Trail and From Open Field Beside the Trail:

Mallard:  GPS N 35, 51.433, W 78, 39.617.

Ring Billed Gull:  Many of these were present, but most were too far across the lake for a good count.

Double Crested Cormorant:  Saw two of these in the water feeding.

Canada Goose: As with the gulls, there were many but most were across the lake.

Probable Tree Swallow:  I saw two of these fly overhead and then over a portion of the lake edge. Didn't get a long look at them, but I immediately thought they were swallows by their shape in flight, and I did notice that they looked mostly, if not completely, white underneath and dark on top. There didn't appear to be any recent sightings on my BirdsEye App, however.  The next day, though, six Tree Swallows were sighted up at Falls Lake. So maybe I was right after all. However, I didn't get a long enough look to be certain, so I won't count this one in the Capital Area Greenway list.

Brown Thrasher: GPS N 35, 51.461, W 78, 39.562. On the ground along the treeline at the edge of the large open field of grass.

Eastern Towhee:  Male. Singing from a branch.

American Robin:  Counted twelve (12) of these together in the grass.

Northern Cardinal:  The first one was by itself in the grass near the robins.

Tufted Titmouse:  Two together in the trees by the open grassy area.

Carolina Chickadee:  In same tree with titmice.

Birds Sighted From Creek Mouth to West Side Bridge:  It was during this part of the trail in particular that the wind was quite gusty and not many birds were seen. At the intersection that forks toward the Shelley Lake Trail (West Side) on one branch, and toward North Hills Drive along the other, I first followed the connector to the west side bridge, then turned around and returned to the intersection so that I could continue on to North Hills Drive.

Turkey Vulture (in flight):  GPS N 35, 51.816, W 78, 39.463.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 51.956, W 78, 39.424.

The Shelley Lake Trail (East Side) comes to an end on North Hills Drive around GPS N 35, 51.862, W 78, 39.237. Across the street is the start of the Snelling Branch Trail.

Birds Sighted Along Snelling Branch Trail:  The wind died down to something more like breezy for this trail, and part of it is submerged below the level of the land around it, so the birds were a bit easier to see and hear than was true up by the lake.

Carolina Wren: GPS N 35, 51.846, W 78, 39.155.

Red Bellied Woodpecker: GPS N 35, 51.805, W 78, 39.097.

White Breasted Nuthatch: Just spotted the one.

Downy Woodpecker: GPS N 35, 51.798, W 78, 39.064.

Dark Eyed Junco:  GPS N 35, 51.807, W 78, 38.908.  Two birds in trees beside a fenced in soccer field.

Northern Flicker (male): GPS N 35, 51.841, W 78, 38.883.

Probable Pine Warbler: I have never seen a Pine Warbler before, so I didn't know what to look for. I heard it calling for a while before I finally spotted it in a little cluster of pine trees. I only got to look at it briefly before it disappeared again. I started with the Tekiela book. It only has nine species with yellow as a primary color. The Pine Warbler looked promising, but the color in the photo seemed too dull. I tried to search for other possibilities using the iBird App. Searched for common and uncommon birds in North Carolina with yellow as a primary color and forests as a habitat. Got 28 birds as matches. I listened to the calls of all that seemed to fit its look, and the pine warbler was the closest. Still, I wasn't sure, so I'm listing it as a probable and will be more ready for one if I should see it again.

After the warbler, I returned along the trail to my car without seeing any new birds. This was a long outing, around 3.5 hours. I identified 21 species and saw two others that I was not certain about (probable Tree Sparrow and Pine Warbler). No new birds for the Greenway List, however.