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.