Trail 33: Walnut Creek East - Wetland Center to S. Wilmington St.

03/21/2013.  3:20 PM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 45.629, W 78, 37.526
End:   GPS N 35, 45.433, W 78, 38.425

Access to this portion of the Walnut Creek Trail is quite easy from the Walnut Creek Wetland Center on Peterson St. just west of the intersection with South State St.  The Center has a sizable parking lot just east of the entrance to the trail, and bird feeders next to the Center appear to attract a good number of species.

The afternoon began cloudy and about 50 degrees, but turned out to be partly sunny by the end of the outing.  For the first time on one of these reported trips, I was joined by John, a colleague and fellow birder.  That may explain why we ended up with more species on this day than I had on any of the previous 32 outings. Unfortunately, none of them turned out to be new species for the Raleigh Greenway list. Still, it was a nice day of birding.

Birds Sighted from Wetland Center Parking Lot:

The Wetland Center has bird feeders near the building, and they were busy with activity when we arrived. Six different species visited during the 10 or so minutes we stood watching them. We saw two more new species there at the end of the walk.

1.  Mourning Dove:  The only place they were seen today.

2.  Carolina Chickadee:  There were fewer of these out on the trail than I would have expected.

3.  White Breasted Nuthatch:  This was the only one we saw the entire outing.

4.  Carolina Wren:  We saw two or three of these at different places along the trail.

5.  Yellow Rumped Warbler:  These were everywhere along the trail.

6.  Pine Warbler:  This was a nice sighting as I haven't spotted one in quite a while.

Birds Sighted Between Trail Entrance and South State Street:

A short section of the Walnut Creek Trail leads from South State Street to the Wetland Center. It is a quarter of a mile or so in length, so we decided to walk this part of the trail first. The trail continues on from the other side of South State Street to the east, but I had already birded that section on a previous outing.  I should mention that there is also a trail across Peterson Street from the Wetland Center called the Little Rock Trail. It is supposed to extend up to East Martin Street, though Google Maps suggests that the wooded part currently ends at Lenoir St. I will come back to explore this little trail segment on another day.

7.  Brown Creeper:  GPS N 35, 45.521, W 78, 37.462. I don't see these often but I love to watch them climb the trees. They usually start at the bottom and work their way up, sometimes following a helical pattern.

8.  American Robin:  GPS N GPS N 35, 45.570, W 78, 37.556.

Birds Sighted Between Trail Entrance and South Wilmington Street:

9.  Red Bellied Woodpecker: GPS N 35, 45.621, W 78,37.644.  Female.

10.  Downy Woodpecker: Male. We saw three different species of woodpecker all visiting a few trees that we could see from a single spot.

11.  Yellow Bellied Sapsucker: Male. I haven't seen one of these for quite some time.

12.  Chipping Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 45.584, W 78, 37.711.


13.  Red Winged Blackbird:  GPS N 35, 45.529, W 78, 37.883.  Small flock of mostly females in a tree along Garner Rd.

14.  Red Shouldered Hawk: Perched on a lamp post along Garner Road.

15.  American Crow:  Saw three traveling together as a group.

16.  Golden Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 45.521, W 78, 37.990.

17.  White Throated Sparrow:  In same area as the Kinglet.

18.  Northern Cardinal:  GPS N 35, 45.469, W 78, 38.052. I was quite surprised that it took this long to see a Cardinal. They are typically one of the most common birds I see along the Capital Area Greenway.

19.  Song Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 45.445, W 78, 38.053. I think it has been a while since I have seen one of these.

20.  Great Blue Heron:  In flight. There is a tree along the trail with a tire over a branch about 25 feet in the air. We saw the Blue Heron fly over that area. Not sure how the tire got there (see photo below).  It's too high to throw it there. Somebody might have put the tire in place when it was a smaller tree, or it may be that one of the hurricanes or tornadoes of the past few years deposited it there.

 21.  Northern Mockingbird:  We saw a few of these along the trail.

New Species Sighted on Return Trip:

22.  Brown Thrasher:  GPS N 35, 45.439, W 78, 38.279.

23.  Eastern Phoebe:  Only one seen on this outing.

24.  Eastern Towhee:  Male. GPS N 35, 45.517, W 78, 37.937.

25.  Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  Female. GPS N 35, 45.524, W 78, 37.921.

26.  European Starling:  GPS 35, 45.576, W 78, 37.921.

27.  House Finch:  At feeders next to Wetland Center.

28.  Tufted Titmouse:  Also at feeders. I heard them calling occasionally while on the trail, but was surprised it took so long to see one.

As noted above, I'm not sure whether the unusually high number of sighted species is due to having my friend John along, or is somehow related to the species density around the trail itself.  The feeders outside the Wetland Center may have been a factor, as we saw eight species there at the beginning and end of the trip.  Five of these were not seen anywhere else along the trail. Either way, a very good outing and an enjoyable trail.