After a three month hiatus caused by a long trip to Thailand, followed by some uncooperative weather here in Raleigh, I finally managed to get back out on the Raleigh Greenway for some birding. It was good to be out again, and the conditions were quite nice. One advantage of winter birding is better visibility while the trees are shed of their leaves. This is particularly helpful along Greenway paths that often have fairly dense woods on both sides of the trail.
I accessed this part of the Walnut Creek Trail by parking at the Ralph Campbell Community Center. The address is 756 Lunar Drive. There is a short path from the parking lot that leads to the Capital Area Greenway. The batteries on my GPS unit died a short distance down the trail, so I had to record landmarks rather than GPS coordinates as I made my way toward South State Street and the Walnut Creek Wetland Center at the end of the trail.
The afternoon was sunny with temperatures around 45 degrees Fahrenheit at 2 PM. Soon after starting down the trail headed west, I came to a long wooden walkway that passes over an area that probably has standing water in it for at least part of the year. It was fairly dry at this point of the winter, but still a fairly productive place to spot birds.
Birds Sighted Between Community Center and Rock Quarry Road:
Yellow Rumped Warbler: I saw a number of these along the trail. It must be a favored habitat.
Cedar Waxwing: Several of these landed in a tree, made some noise, then moved on quickly. There were at least four of them. GPS N 35, 45.939, W 78, 36.654.
American Robin: Saw a few of these along the trail, mostly in singles or pairs.
Northern Mockingbird: GPS N 35, 45.936, W 78, 36.654.
White Throated Sparrow: These were out in fairly good numbers at several locations along the trail.
Northern Cardinal: Ubiquitous as usual.
Tufted Titmouse: I heard this one long before I saw it. I finally got a good view of it at the end of the first long wooden walkway.
Brown Thrasher: I saw a number of these along the trail as well. The first was by a cattail swamp area just beyond the first wooden walkway (see photo below).
Birds Sighted Between Rock Quarry Road and South State Street:
This part of the trail begins with a long wooden walkway over an area that is more marshy than the previous segment. It ends at South State Street, which runs adjacent to the Walnut Creek Wetland Center. I stopped for the day on the east side of South State Street so I did not pass behind the Wetland Center on the west side of the road. The following reports new species for the day that were seen on either the outbound or return journeys.
Canada Goose: Saw two of these out in the shallow water.
Eastern Phoebe: Moving around from place to place in the marshy area by the beginning of the wooden walkway.
Turkey Vulture: There were two of these, flying rather low. One perched for a short time before continuing its search for carrion.
Ruby Crowned Kinglet: Got a nice view of the little red spot on the head.
American Crow: Near the rusty powerline pole.
Probable Hermit Thrush: It left before I could confirm, but Hermit Thrush seems the most likely species.
Probable Ring Billed Gull: Flying overhead. I couldn't see the beak to verify.
Red Bellied Woodpecker: In a tree just before the long bridge over the swampy area.
On the return trip, the long bridge over the swampy area was very productive after about 4 PM. I probably saw 80% of all the species recorded for the day while moving along the wooden walkway.
Mallard: At least four of these. Seen from the small viewpoint that juts out over the swamp.
Carolina Wren: Only saw one of these today.
Carolina Chickadee: I was surprised to only see one of these. I don't think I've ever taken a Greenway walk where I did not see at least one. Usually there are many of them.
Downy Woodpecker: I saw a male and female at minimum, and there may have been a third one around.
Brown Creeper: Saw only one of these. However, they seem to be common along the Walnut Creek Trail.
Blue Jay: This one was noisy but hard to spot. It had found a place in the shade on a tree branch and was pecking away at something and vocalizing occasionally.
Common Grackle: Several of these were moving around together.
Winter Wren: This bird was nice to see as I've only spotted the species a few times along the trails.
New Birds Sighted on Return Trip Between Rock Quarry Road and the Community Center:
Eastern Towhee: Saw a male amid the underbrush.
Unidentified Hawk: I flushed a hawk from a low branch of a tree toward the end of the trail, but was not able to get any detail about it for an ID. It disappeared among the trees.
My outing ended at 4:50 PM. I managed to identify 23 species, but nothing new for the Capital Area Greenway list. Still, this turned out to be one of the most productive trails so far, particularly the area between Rock Quarry Road and South State Street. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Walnut Creek Wetland Center area will bring on my next outing.
