Trail 21: Crabtree Creek Trail (East) - Buckeye Trail

05/20/2012. 9:30 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 48.187, W 78, 36.479

End:   GPS N 35, 47.279, W 78, 35.449

There is parking for the Buckeye portion of the Crabtree Creek (East) Trail just west of Raleigh Blvd. and about half a block from where this section of the trail begins. After exiting the gravel parking area, turn right and follow Crabtree Blvd. until it intersects with Raleigh Blvd.  The entrance is a few steps to your right once you cross the intersection.

The Buckeye Trail can be divided into two parts. The first section is similar to other trails in the area. It follows along Crabtree Creek, although the water is only visible from a few places because of high vegetation along the bank. It also has a short section that appears to have been damaged in a hurricane or perhaps the tornadoes last summer. A few trees are broken off at mid-trunk and the vegetation is generally just much thinner than elsewhere.

About two-thirds of the way down the trail, the path seems to fork, with one branch going right and the other curving left. There is no sign to indicate which represents a continuation of the trail, but the right side branch turns out to be simply an access path from Crabtree Blvd. The left branch is the main trail. It passes a small playground and also allows access to Crabtree Blvd at the 1200 block.

Beyond the playground, the trail begins to climb a hill. The climb is not terribly steep, but is much more so than I've seen anywhere else along the Capital Area Greenway so far except for the North Hills Trail segment. Along the way the trail passes a building that I read somewhere is a pumphouse, and which has a nice little stand of pines within its fence. The trail levels off briefly after the hill until its end at Milburnie Rd. There are plans to extend the eastern portion of the Crabtree Creek Trail all the way to Anderson Point Park. Construction on this extension is planned to begin Fall 2012. You can view a map of this extension here.

Birds Sighted Between Raleigh Blvd and the Playground

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 48.228, W 78, 36.388.

Northern Cardinal:  As usual, these were a common sight along the trail.

Tufted Titmouse: Saw more of these today than I have the last few outings.

Mourning Dove: GPS N 35, 48.333, W 78, 36.272.

American Crow: GPS N 35, 48.366, W 78, 36.239.

Turkey Vulture: Saw five of these in flight.

American Robin: GPS N 35, 48.325, W 78, 36.184.

Downy Woodpecker:  Male with either a female or a large juvenile with no adult male markings. The male was feeding the other one, which made me think it might be a juvenile.

The next two sightings were made in the area with apparent storm damage (see photo above).

Possible Cooper's Hawk:  Saw a smallish hawk fly over the river with a narrow body and unusually long tail.  I've seen this body shape once before on an earlier outing and determined that, just based on shape and size, it was probably either a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Coopers Hawk. However, my view of it was brief and I couldn't be sure this time either (but see below).

Common Grackle: GPS N 35, 47.997, W 78, 35.894. A large group of these birds were moving around along the trees lining the creek on the opposite bank. There were at least 20, and possibly many more.

Birds Sighted From Playground to Trail's End:

Possible Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 47.495, W 78, 35.612. I got only a brief glimpse of this bird, not long enough to be sure, though my first thought was Ruby Crowned Kinglet. They are supposed to be gone by now, having migrated to their summer habitat, so it may have been something else.

Pine Warbler:  GPS N 35, 47.593, W 78, 35.805. I have started to watch for this bird whenever I pass a stand of three or more pine trees together, since these birds are supposed to be pine specialists. As mentioned above, the pumphouse had a stand of five or more pine trees, so I looked carefully there for pine warblers on the outbound leg of the trip, but did not see any. However, on the return, I scanned again and spotted one as it flew in from elsewhere, presumably to begin prospecting for food.

Coopers Hawk: In a tall dead tree, just above the level of the other trees that surround the pumphouse, I saw a thin bodied hawk with a long, skinny tail. The back looked dull gray in the bright sun. My view of the hawk was from behind, though it turned its head occasionally so I could see its face in profile. Took me some time to figure out which hawk it might be, but the hawk stayed in place for at least 10 minutes so I could take my time. Turned out to be a Coopers hawk, and might even be the same hawk I saw earlier flying over the creek. This is a new bird for the Raleigh Greenway list, and for my Lifelist.

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher: Also around the pumphouse. Got a chance to hear its wheezy/buzzy call.

New Species Sighted on the Return Trip between the Playground and Raleigh Blvd:

Great Blue Heron (in flight): GPS N 35, 48.081, W 78, 35.979.

Northern Rough-Winged Swallow: There were four of these resting on a dead tree that jutted out over the creek. They must have been juveniles. Every couple of minutes, a slightly larger one would fly by, and one of the juveniles would fly up and take some food from the mouth of the adult, then return to the dead tree to wait. I saw several of them get fed this way.

Red Shouldered Hawk: GPS N 35, 48.279, W 78, 36.140. I had heard this one on the outbound part of the trip, but couldn't locate it. Got lucky on the return.

Carolina Wren: N 35, 48.346, W 78, 36.258. I'm a little surprised how long it took to see one of these, as they have been quite common lately.

Mallard: GPS N 35, 48.260, W 78, 36.336.

I spent almost four hours walking this trail and only spotted 17 different species. There were some species that I heard but did not see, such as the Red Bellied Woodpecker, but I only count those that I actually see. I think a couple of things are happening to slow the pace of spotting species on these last two trails. First, some of the winter birds that used to be seen commonly have begun to migrate away. For example, Dark Eyed Junco and Ruby Crowned Kinglet do not remain in the Raleigh area in summer. Second, the foliage is getting thicker, and I think some birds are just harder to spot from the confines of the Greenway trails because of it. But on most outings, I do keep finding new species that I have not seen along the Raleigh Greenways before, such as the Cooper's Hawk that I spotted this time around.

Trail 20: Middle Crabtree Creek (Part B)

05/05/2012.  8:40 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 48.818, W 78, 37.092
End:   GPS N 35, 48.277, W 78, 36.487

Access to this part of the Crabtree Creek Trail (East) can be found near 2500 Atlantic Avenue. It looks like there might be some unpaved parking next to the entrance on the west side of the road, but there was construction equipment parked nearby when I arrived, so I parked about half a block down the road in a parking lot instead.

This trail is one of the most interesting so far, and is also the trail that originally inspired this blog. Last November, I took my car in for an oil change at Tilden Car Car Center (which I highly recommend) on Atlantic Avenue.  The wait was going to be about an hour, so I decided to take a walk because it was a nice day. About 10 minutes later, I happened on the Middle Crabtree Creek Trail. I followed it for about half an hour, and noticed a good number of birds along the way. When I returned home, I looked up the Capital Area Greenway, and that's when I decided to try to bird all of the 70+ miles of it.

My arrival on this day was quite a bit earlier than usual. Normally I get started closer to 10 AM. Perhaps for that reason, bird activity was very slow at the outset. I could hear a few calling, but most were not moving around much, so it took almost 15 minutes to identify my first species visually. I don't count birds unless I actually see them, partly because I'm not yet very skilled at birding by ear. It took another 20 minutes to identify a second species. Not a very satisfying start to the day...but it would get better.

The trail has three major sections. It is also bisected by a railroad track just after you pass under Capital Blvd. The first part of the trail is level ground and it follows the course of Crabtree Creek. The second section is a raised wooden walkway (left) that slowly takes you up into the treetops along a high bank next to Crabtree Creek. There are a couple of large businesses on one side, more or less at the same level as the walkway, while on the right, there is a drop of perhaps 100 feet down to Crabtree Creek. The third section of the trail starts again along the bank of the creek, but quickly becomes another wooden bridge that takes you out over marshland, and then over a true wetland (see photo below). So the scenery is interesting and the habitats are varied. Given that, I'm a little surprised that I did not see more species on this trip than I did.

Birds Sighted Between Atlantic Avenue and Capital Blvd:

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 48.815, W 78, 36.977. I later saw a group of four of these birds moving around together, perhaps a family.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 48.880, W 78, 36.860.

Northern Cardinal:  I saw this one right after the American Robin, and from this point (9:15 AM) on, bird activity became more steady.

Downy Woodpecker:  Male and female. The two of them seemed to be jumping around a lot within a space of only about 3 cubic feet.

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 48.887, W 78, 36.780.

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 48.795, W 78, 36.623. This was the first new species seen on the elevated walkway.

Common Grackle:  At least two.

Mallard:  One female and her duckling down in the water.

Birds Sighted Between Capital Blvd and Raleigh Blvd:

Barn Swallow:  At least eight of these. One may have had a nest beneath the railroad overpass. This is a new species for the Capital Area Greenway list.

American Crow:  Identified by sight and call combined.

Great Blue Heron:  In flight. I didn't know that the wetland was coming up, but this should have been my first clue.

Great Crested Flycatcher: GPS N 35, 48.483, W 78, 36.521.

Canada Goose: GPS N 35, 48.421, W 78, 36.521.

The trail ended at Raleigh Blvd, though another section continues from the intersection of Raleigh Blvd and Crabtree Blvd.

New Species Sighted on Return Trip:

European Starling: N 35, 48.660, W 78, 36.680.

Eastern Phoebe:  Flicking its tail while perched on one of the supports for the railroad bridge that passes over Crabtree Creek.

Fish Crow:  At first I assumed this was an American Crow.  Fish Crows and American Crows are hard to tell apart by sight.  However, the call seemed quite different, so I pulled out my iBird Pro App on my iPod Touch and checked the calls against each other.  The call of this one was that of the Fish Crow.  This is a new bird for the Greenway list and also for my lifelist.

Gray Catbird:  GPS N 35, 48.750, W 78, 36.657.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 48.884, W 78, 36.590.

On this outing I saw a total of 17 species, two of which were new additions to the Greenway List, and one was a new addition to my lifelist.  The total species count for the Raleigh Greenway is up to 57. Looking over the results of the last 10 outings, it is interesting to note which birds were more or less common in the area between Shelley Lake and Raleigh Blvd. Of course, some of these frequencies are strongly influenced by time of year, and a few are probably influenced by my lack of familiarity with certain birds. But along the 10 trails followed since mid-February, some birds that had been sighted further north were not sighted a single time, while others were seen on almost every outing.

The birds not seen recently, but which were observed during the first ten outings include: Black Vulture, Brown Creeper, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker, Red Headed Woodpecker, Red Winged Blackbird, and Song Sparrow.  In general, I noticed that along these trails, sparrows were quite a bit less common than they had been further north.  The most common birds (spotted at least 8 times on 10 outings) include: Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, American Robin, American Crow, and Canada Goose.

Occasional sightings (3 or fewer times) include:  Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Ring Billed Gull, Red Tailed Hawk, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove, Double Crested Cormorant, Common Grackle. Turkey Vulture, Red Shouldered Hawk, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Gray Catbird, European Starling, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Brown Headed Cowbird, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Belted Kingfisher, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern Rough Winged Swallow, Hooded Merganser, Hermit Thrush, Great Crested Flycatcher, Fish Crow, Brown Headed Nuthatch, and Barn Swallow. Woodpeckers have been decidedly less frequent since moving south of Shelley Lake, and three of the less common species of water birds have only been seen around Shelley Lake (the cormorants, gulls, and mergansers). Some of the less commonly sighted birds, like the flycatchers, have probably only recently returned from their wintering grounds.

Trail 19: Alleghany Trail (Part C) & Middle Crabtree Creek Trail

04/28/2012.  9:55 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 49.279, W 78, 38.520
End:   GPS N 35, 48.822, W 78, 37.098

Access to this trail is possible through Rothgeb Park, which is located near 2745 Rothgeb Drive.  Parking is available along the street in front of the park.

The day was cloudy and cool, with temperatures in the mid 50s Fahrenheit. I was enthusiastic to get back to the Alleghany Trail because there were so many birds around last time.  Today's outing covered parts of three different trails along the Crabtree Creek (East) part of the Capital Area Greenway.

The Rothgeb Park entrance leads to Alleghany Trail (Part C) which crosses back and forth across Crabtree Creek a couple of times until the trail reaches Anderson Drive.  From this point, the trails are not as well marked, and there are a number of branches, some of which are long access paths from various streets.

Across Anderson Drive, just down Oxford Road, is the next segment - the Fallon Creek Trail.  This segment is fairly short, and ends at Kiwanis Park.  A branch just before the entrance to the park leads to the much longer Middle Crabtree Creek Trail.  

The day started off well with several species sighted within the first half hour or so, but then the birds grew quiet and there was a long period with limited activity, especially along the Fallon Creek Trail. Activity picked up again a little before noon.

Birds Sighted Along Alleghany Trail (Part C)

Carolina Chickadee:  At Rothgeb Park entrance.

Northern Cardinal:  GPS N 35, 49.296, W 78, 38.512.

Blue Jay:  Two moving about together.

Mallard:  Male and female out on Crabtree Creek.  Later, I saw a pair of Mallards with two large ducklings.

Canada Goose:  Four adults and five smallish goslings.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 49.304, W 78, 38.473. Jumping around some large blocks of wood that were partially buried in ivy.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 49.298, W 78, 38.419.

Downy Woodpecker:  On the same tree with the White Breasted Nuthatch and only inches away.  Woodpeckers were rather rare today, perhaps because many of the trees were covered in ivy.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 49.364, W 78, 38.375.

Eastern Bluebird:  At Marlowe Road entrance to trail.

Birds Sighted Along Fallon Creek Trail: This trail begins just across Anderson Drive. When you reach a place with two bridges, one continuing forward and one heading north, the north trail across the long bridge leads to Middle Crabtree Creek Trail. The other path leads to Kiwanis Park.


Brown Thrasher:  GPS N 35, 49.102, W 78, 37.847.  Was singing an amazing variety of songs from a high perch.

Brown Headed Cowbird:  GPS N 35, 49.012, W 78, 37.829.


Blue Gray Gnatcatcher:  Near cowbirds in Kiwanis Park.

Birds Sighted Along Middle Crabtree Creek Trail (Part A):

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 49.105, W 78, 37.669.

Gray Catbird:  GPS N 35, 49.009, W 78, 37.669.  Two birds eating some kind of berry. A new species for the Capital Area Greenway list!

After this point, I passed under Wake Forest Road into a more urban area.  The trail passes near a number of restaurants and other businesses, though it still follows Crabtree Creek.

Common Grackle:  GPS N 35, 48.938, W 78, 37.458.

European Starling:  Only two or three of them in an open field area.

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 48.899, W 78, 37.381.

American Goldfinch:  GPS N 35, 48.874, W 78, 37.318.

Northern Rough Winged Swallow:  GPS N 35, 48.836, W 78, 37.171.  There were perhaps eight of these flying low over the river back and forth just west of a railroad overpass.  New birds for the Capital Area Greenway list.

Belted Kingfisher:  Saw it in flight twice as it passed under the railroad overpass.

Unknown Warbler:  This bird was bright yellow on the breast with two streaks of dark color along the sides.  No rufous cap so it was not a Palm Warbler.  Might have been a very bright yellow Pine Warbler, but I could not be sure.

New Species Sighted on Return Trip:  I turned around at Atlantic Avenue to head back to the car.

Eastern Phoebe:  GPS N 35, 48.867, W 78, 37.306.  Hawking for insects.

Cedar Waxwing:  GPS N 35, 49.254, W 78, 38.066.  At least ten and perhaps more eating berries from a tree alongside Anderson Drive.

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  GPS N 35, 49.323, W 78, 38.113.

Great Crested Flycatcher:  Another new bird for the Raleigh Greenway list and my lifelist. This is a bird that I thought I saw back in early January, but could not be sure.

Eastern Towhee:  GPS N 35, 49.432, W 78, 38.177.  Male.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  Back at entrance to Rothgeb Park.

Today was my largest tally of species to date.  A total of 27 species identified, plus a warbler that I could not identify.  This outing added three new birds to the Capital Area Greenway list, as well as one bird to my lifelist.  What a great day!  The total for the Greenway List now stands at 55 species.