Start: GPS N 35, 57.835, W 78, 33.721
End: GPS N 35, 56.753, W 78, 33.419
The Wakefield Trail is the most northerly trail in the Capital Area Greenway system. It begins near the intersection of Falls of Neuse and Mountain High Road. There is no parking at this trailhead, so I left my car on Mountain High Road, which is relatively wide and has only a few large houses along it. The trail's asphalt path ends at about 2925 London Bell Drive, but there is a short section of unpaved trail that continues on to around 12405 Dunard Street.
The northern entrance to the Wakefield Trail is not marked. However, the trail runs alongside the large power line stanchions for this area, so it is easy to locate. As you travel along Falls of Neuse Road, look for the power lines as well as the little red fire hydrant just to the right of the trail entrance (see photo at left).
For much of its length, the trail runs between a golf course on the left side, and housing on the right. The golf course has open grassy areas that attract American Robins, European Starlings, and other birds that like open spaces, while some of the houses have bird feeders that attract the typical assortment of feeder birds. Because of the power lines, trees have been cut back along the trail, so the nearest trees are found only along the margins of the area. The habitat on either side of the trail is mostly bushy plants and grasses. This makes it an unusual environment compared to the other trails I have visited so far along the Raleigh Greenway.
The Wakefield Trail can be divided into three different segments. The first is from Falls of Neuse Road to Wakefield Plantation Drive. This is the longest section, and once on Wakefield Plantation Drive, visitors must walk a short distance west to pick up the trail again. The second section runs from here to London Bell Drive, where the paved portion of the trail ends. The third section is a short footpath ending at Dunard Street. As with the northern trailhead, this footpath section is not clearly marked as belonging to the Raleigh Greenway system, but seems to be indicated on the map of the system provided by the City of Raleigh.
Because I knew this trail would not have much shade, I decided to get an early start. I arrived at about 7:25 AM under partly cloudy skies and with temperatures probably in the mid- to high-70s Fahrenheit. The sun was hidden by clouds for the first hour or so, but the cloud cover burned off quickly and the rest of the outing was under clear skies.
Birds Sighted Along First Segment of the Trail: All of my first sightings for the day were made along this first segment, except for the hawk seen on the return trip. This section of the trail included two or three houses with filled feeders in the back yards, and seemed to be the part of the trail with the greatest variety and overall abundance of birds.
Northern Mockingbird: GPS N 35, 57.835, W 78, 33.721. There were a lot of Mockingbirds along the trail, and many of them were juveniles.
Mourning Dove: GPS N 35, 57.812, W 78, 33.721. Saw several of these along the trail, usually in singles or pairs.
Northern Cardinal: GPS N 35, 57.764, W 78, 33.680. The first species I saw at the first set of feeders.
House Finch: Saw several of these at the feeders.
Blue Jay: Two or three of these around the feeders. The feathers of at least one seemed rather shabby so it might have been a juvenile.
Eastern Bluebird: Just one, perched near the feeders.
American Crow: Two of these landed on the rooftop of one of the houses while I was watching birds at the feeders.
Red Headed Woodpecker: This was a pleasant surprise. I have not seen one of these in several months.
European Starling: A small group of these were on a grassy area at the golf course.
Red Winged Blackbird: Another species I have not seen for some time. A single individual was mixed with the starlings on the golf course green.
Barn Swallow: Flying over golf course.
Carolina Chickadee: Only one. At feeders.
Ruby Throated Hummingbird: The first hummingbird I have seen along the Raleigh Greenway system. This one was attracted to a hummingbird feeder in one of the back yards.
American Robin: GPS N 35, 57.659, W 78, 33.583.
White Breasted Nuthatch: In the same area as the Robin, climbing a tree along the edge of the golf course.
Probable Indigo Bunting: From quite a distance, I saw a gorgeous blue bird with some dark streaks in the wings. I couldn't get close enough to confirm before it flew away, but I am pretty sure that the color scheme was correct.
Carolina Wren: In the same tree with the Indigo Bunting, but did me the favor of staying put until I could get close enough to identify.
Field Sparrow: GPS N 35, 57.586, W 78, 33.591. These were fairly numerous along the first part of the trail.
Brown Thrasher: At edge of golf course property.
New Species Sighted on Return Trip:
Red Tailed Hawk: Perched fairly low on one of the power line stanchions. Did not seem bothered by the attention I gave it with my binoculars, nor the fact that I passed fairly close to the stanchion on my way by.
I spotted a total of 19 species on this outing. Eighteen were first sighted along the first and longest segment of the trail, and 11 were spotted while I stood mostly stationary near two houses with feeders in the back yard. If the feeders had not been filled, the number of birds sighted would have been lower by several species at least. Not counting the probable Indigo Bunting, only one new species (Ruby Throated Hummingbird) was added to the Capital Area Greenway list on this outing. However, I did manage to see several species that I have not seen for many months, including Red Headed Woodpecker, Red Winged Blackbird, and Field Sparrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment