Trail 31: Walnut Creek East - Rose Ln to Apollo Hts

10/27/2012.  9:30 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 45.663, W 78, 36.005
End:   GPS N 35, 45.907, W 78, 36.582

There are two ways to access this part of the Walnut Creek Trail.  The first is to find 2412 Little John Rd., park along the street, and then take a very short paved access path to Rose Ln.  From there, just a bit to your left and across the road, you should see a wooden walkway entering a marshy area next to Walnut Creek (see photo below).  The other access point is directly from Rose Ln.  There is an unpaved pull-off near the trail entrance, which is located around 586 Rose Ln.  However, my Garmin GPS device was mistaken about where this address should be located, and tried to tell me I had arrived several hundred meters too early.  Check the addresses listed on some of the mailboxes to pinpoint the correct location if this is a problem.

It was cloudy and breezy when I arrived, and temperatures were somewhere in the mid-60s Fahrenheit.  I really liked this trail from the start. It begins with a wooden walkway next to a small marsh, and I heard a lot of woodpecker calls as I moved west.  There are open vistas at several points that make it easier to spot birds on the move, and there were surprisingly few people on the trail for a Saturday with fairly warm temperatures. In terms of atmosphere for birding, this segment probably rates in the top five or so of the trails I've walked so far.

Birds Sighted Between Entrance and Dacian Road:  There is a small playground where Dacian Rd. meets the Greenway trail, and it was fairly active with children.

American Crow:  Saw several of these from the wooden walkway at the trail entrance.

Carolina Chickadee:  In a tree beside the marsh.

Carolina Wren:  In the same tree with the Carolina Chickadee.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 45.645, W 78, 36.010.

White Throated Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 45.624, W 78, 36.023.  I'm still not seeing these in great numbers yet.  I'm assuming they will start to flock together as winter arrives.

Northern Cardinal:  Two males seemed to be traveling together.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 45.631, W 78, 36.043.  My first of these this season.

Eastern Phoebe:  GPS N 35, 45.680, W 78, 36.072.

Possible Broad Winged Hawk:  GPS N 35, 45.704, W 78, 36.096.  I only got about a two second look at this hawk while it was in flight.  I looked back over my shoulder, saw it, and then it disappeared behind a stand of trees, never to reappear again.  But its wings had a distinctive shape that made me think it might be the Broad Winged Hawk. They were unusually wide toward the middle and then rather pointy at the tips. I've never seen this species before, so I could be mistaken. According to ebird.org, there have only been a few sightings of this hawk in the area during the month of October in the past few years.  A couple of locations in Chapel Hill and one in the Clayton area, so the odds are against me.  But something to watch out for in the future.

Birds Sighted Between Dacian Road and Apollo Heights: 

Northern Flicker:  GPS N 35, 45.779, W 78, 36.187.  At one point I saw three of these in a single tree.  They were eating some sort of berry that was attracting a great deal of attention from other species as well.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  In the same tree with the first Flicker.

Red Winged Blackbird:  GPS N 35, 45.780, W 78, 36.303. I probably saw at least 100 of these in all.  They were perching high in a cluster of trees with cloudy skies behind.  It took a moment to notice the red patch on the wings of the males, which indicates how far away they were. I have only rarely seen these birds, and was not aware how different the females look.  I spent probably 20 minutes trying to figure out what those other birds flocking with the Red Winged Blackbirds might be, and only figured out that they were females after I got home and took a look at Google images.

Mourning Dove:  GPS N 35, 45.779, W 78, 36.357.

Downy Woodpecker:  Same tree with Mourning Doves.

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 45.771, W 78, 36.433.

There is a trail access point from Apollo Heights. The address is 756 Lunar Drive. The sky had begun to darken and I thought it might rain. It turned out to be a false alarm, but the parking lot associated with the Ralph Campbell Community Center is a convenient place to access this part of the trail.

New Species Sighted on the Return Trip:

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 45.768, W 78, 36.395.

Northern Mockingbird: Same place as the Blue Jay.

Black Vulture:  Saw three of these in flight back at the trail entrance.  I haven't seen Black Vultures in many months now. Turkey Vultures are much more common, it seems.

I saw a total of 17 species on this outing, which is a healthy number for me given that I was only on the trail for about 2.5 hours. Nothing new was seen, except possibly the Broad Winged Hawk, but I did see some old friends that I have not spotted since last spring.  The path was quite pleasant, though, and it is one I would like to visit again.