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.
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.
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.
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