Trail 29: Neuse River Trail - Anderson Point North Part B

10/04/2012.  9:45 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 47.940, W 78, 32.581
End:   GPS N 35, 48.852, W 78, 32.261

There are a number of ways to access this portion of the Neuse River Trail, which lies north of New Bern Road.  There is an access bridge from the east side of the Neuse River that comes from Loch Raven Parkway.  The bridge is located just south of the small Milburnie dam and both the bridge and road are so new that they do not yet appear on Google Maps.

An even better entrance, in my opinion, is from Raleigh Beach Road just southwest of Allen Drive on the west side of the river.  The access way is short and unpaved (see photo at left), but it passes next to a pond surrounded by many small dead trees, and seems to be a popular hangout for Red Headed Woodpeckers.  It seemed to attract quite a variety of other birds as well.  The only down side is that you have to park on the shoulder of the road next to the entrance, but Raleigh Beach Road is not heavily traveled.

It is also possible to access the trail from a little further north via Milburnie Park, which is not fully developed yet, and Allen Drive. The closest intersection is Allen Drive and Raleigh Beach Road.  From the Google map, it appears that the Neuse River Trail used to follow Raleigh Beach Road for a short distance, though it now continues along the river instead. There is some designated parking at Milburnie Park.

The conditions were cloudy with a light rain when I arrived.  Temperatures were probably around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It continued to rain for the first hour or so on the trail, but was partly sunny by the time I finished 3.5 hours later. One nice thing about birding on a rainy weekday morning is that you see very few other people. Outside of a couple of maintenance workers in trucks, I only saw three others the whole time I was on the trail.

Birds Sighted Between Raleigh Beach Rd. and Allen Dr./Milburnie Park Entrance:

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  Saw this bird within 30 seconds of exiting the car.  It would presage a great day for viewing woodpeckers!

Northern Cardinal:  Saw several of these over the course of the day, but the first was at the trail entrance.

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 47.927, W 78, 32.566.

Carolina Chickadee:  As is common, these birds were together with the Titmice.

Red Headed Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 47.914, W 78, 32.534.  It has been a very long time since I saw one of these, and today I saw at least two, and perhaps as many as four different ones, all on the short access path to the Greenway.

Northern Flicker:  GPS N 35, 47.894, W 78, 32.492.  I saw one of these at two or three places along the trail.  At least one was a male. This is another woodpecker that I do not see often on these birding trips, despite seeing one quite often in my backyard.  Within the first thirty minutes of birding I was already up to three woodpecker species.


Gray Catbird:  GPS N 35, 48.134, W 78, 32.337.  I have never seen as many Gray Catbirds as I did between the Loch Raven Parkway access bridge and the Bridges Lake marsh.  It could have been just one pair playing tricks on the silly birder, but they seemed to be everywhere.

Birds Sighted Between Allen Drive Entrance and End of Trail:

The marshy area in the photo at left is called Bridges Lake according to Google Maps and is crossed by a long wooden bridge.  The view is quite striking on both sides.  I only saw one bird out on the marsh, a Great Blue Heron, but from this point on the eastern side of the trail passes by marshland with a screen of trees on one side, and a relatively new looking housing development with almost no trees on the other. Despite the lack of trees to the west, the birding along this part of the trail was quite good.


Great Blue Heron:  GPS N 35, 48.297, W 78, 32.369.  Saw this one from the bridge.

Common Yellowthroat:  At north edge of bridge.  This is a new bird for both the Capital Area Greenway list, as well as my lifelist!

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 48.343, W 78, 32.374.  I had heard these several times before I finally saw them.

American Robin:  Surprisingly uncommon on this trail.  In same tree with Blue Jay for a short time.

Northern Mockingbird:  Spent a short time harassing the Blue Jay.

Eastern Phoebe:  Same area with Blue Jay and Mockingbird.

Brown Thrasher:  GPS N 35, 48.380, W 78, 32.347. Saw these in two or three places along this part of the trail.

Canada Goose:  GPS N 35, 48.490, W 78, 32.249.  A flock of 8-10 flying out over the river.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 48.791, W 78, 32.135.

Pileated Woodpecker:  I saw this bird from same place I saw the Carolina Wren.  I heard it drumming on a large, dead tree, then got a nice glimpse of it from fairly close before it flew off onto another dead tree a little further away. There was a second Pileated Woodpecker perhaps 200 feet from the first. This was the fourth woodpecker species of the day, and one that I have only seen three times before on the Greenways.

As you can see from the photo (above), the trail comes to sort of an end while the next extension is being build.  There is a little wooden bridge, a short section that is taped off, then a pristine new piece of trail that extends onward.  It seems that the point of this is to keep people off the other trail until it is officially open.

New Species Sighted on Return Trip:

Chipping Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 48.843, W 78, 32.234.  The only sparrows seen today.

Downy Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 48.121, W 78, 32.174.  Woodpecker species number five for the day and a record for a single day's outing for me!  I saw this one while I was trying to figure out a new warbler species.

Prairie Warbler:  The second new species for both the Greenway list and my lifelist!

Eastern Bluebird:  GPS N 35, 47.902, W 78, 32.512.

A total of 21 species were sighted on this particular outing, making it one of the best days since I started birding the Greenways last December. The sighting of the Common Yellowthroat and Prairie Warbler brings my lifelist to 355 species... at least that's the number I've managed to record.  The Raleigh Greenway list now boasts 63 species in about ten months and 27 outings. This completes all of the Capital Area Greenway trails north of Crabtree Creek and west of the Neuse River.  I will next begin working on the trails that are southeast of the city and work my way to the southwest.