Trail 40: Rocky Branch Trail - S. Wilmington to Hunt Drive

05/17/2014.  9:01 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 45.797, W 78, 38.622
End:   GPS N 35, 45.949, W 78, 38.591

The southern entrance to the Rocky Branch Trail does not quite connect to the Walnut Creek Trail, although the two are only separated from each other by perhaps 700 feet (210 meters) of distance along S. Wilmington St.  My original plan was to park at a City of Raleigh facility near the intersection of S. Wilmington and City Farm Rd., but there were "No Trespassing" signs when I arrived, so I decided to look for another place to park instead.  I ended up parking at Eliza Pool Park on Fayetteville St. and then walked the one-third mile or so to a side entrance to the trail.

There may be other options for parking in the area.  A check of the map shows an entrance to the trail where Keeter Center Dr. and Walnut St. meet.  There is currently housing construction going on there, but you might be able to park on the street. There is also the Bright Hope Divine Holy Church along Walnut St. that might be a place to park on days when there are no services at the church.

I will divide the trail into three segments, each bordered by a roadway. The first segment runs from S. Wilmington St. to Fayetteville St. The second runs along the Mount Hope Cemetery from Fayetteville St. to S. Saunders.  The last segment runs from S. Saunders to Hunt Dr.  I stopped at Hunt Drive because it looked like there might be some convenient parking down that road for my next visit, and because the trail looked like it was about to follow much more developed areas from Hunt Dr. forward. I suspect that my next outing is going to feel very urban.

Birds Sighted Between S. Wilmington and Fayetteville St:

This area had pretty good tree cover in some parts, a bit of swampy land toward the northeast side in one place, and a decent array of birds, though I did not encounter anything new. I should note that there may be a couple of homeless people living back in the trees along this strip. In one place I could barely make out a makeshift tent of what might have been black plastic garbage bags back in the trees, and on the other side of the trail I heard coughing that might have been another camper. But I did see a few people walking, jogging, or riding through, so the trail does appear to get some regular use.

Because of the parking situation, I entered the trail from about the midway point, turned right first until I reached S. Wilmington St. (see photo above for a view of the Wilmington St. entrance), then retraced my steps and followed the trail out to Fayetteville St.

Northern Mockingbird:  Singing away on a light pole near the cemetery.

Chipping Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 45.797, W 78, 38.600.

Northern Cardinal:  A total of three.

American Crow:  Two identified by call.

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 45.804, W 78, 38.574.

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher:  GPS N 35, 45.585, W 78, 38.455. Saw one and heard it calling to another.

Swallow, Unknown Species:  My guess is Northern Rough Winged Swallow based on a glimpse of its color, but I can't be sure.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 45.723, W 78, 38.548.

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 45.755, W 78, 38.548.

European Starling:  GPS N 35, 45.880, W 78, 38.557.

Eastern Bluebird:  Only saw one of these here.

Common Grackle:  GPS N 35, 45.916, W 78, 38.565.

New Species Sighted Between Fayetteville St. and S. Saunders:

This area was moderately wooded but not quite as densely as the previous section.

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 45.949, W 78, 38.591. Just one, but I heard others along this part of the trail.

Mourning Dove:  Just one.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird:  GPS N 35, 45.966, W 78, 38.679.  This was the highlight of the day. My first hummingbird of the season!

Gray Catbird:  GPS N 35, 46.083, W 78, 38.821.

New Species Sighted Between S. Saunders and Hunt Drive:

This section of the trail had a large open grassy area with a few large trees on one side, and a thin line of woods on the other. The grassy area was popular with starlings and robins. There was quite a bit of bird activity between the grassy areas and the nearby trees, but mostly just two or three species.

Red Bellied Woodpecker: GPS N 35, 46.223, W 78, 39.083.

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 46.310, W 78, 39.252.

New Species Sighted on the Return Trip:

Turkey Vulture:  GPS N 35, 46.201, W 78, 38.978.

Red Shouldered Hawk:  GPS N 35, 45.720, W 78, 38.636. I saw two of these flying overhead on my way back to the car. They weren't technically on the trail, but would have been visible from there, I think, if I had been on the trail when they circled by.

Although I identified 19 species along this trail, most were quite common birds and the numbers seemed low. It could be that the full spring foliage made it harder to see more variety, but I suspect the level of development around this trail limits the diversity of species somewhat, despite the fact that the trail is quite pleasant to walk. A nice place to take a stroll if you live near here, but I wouldn't choose it for birding again.

As this is the 40th outing along the Capital Area Greenway, it is time to summarize the variety of birds I have seen over the last ten outings, as well as overall.  In 40 outings, I have seen a total of 78 different species, and 64 of these have been seen at least once during the last ten outings. The most common birds, with eight or more sightings in the last ten outings, have all been seen on at least half of all 40 outings as well.  These are American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Red Bellied Woodpecker (all were seen ten times each), Carolina Wren, American Robin, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, Tufted Titmouse, and White Throated Sparrow (eight or nine times each).

The moderately common species were seen at least five times each during the last ten outings, and most have been seen ten times or more out of 40 trips. These are Eastern Towhee, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Yellow Rumped Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture, Eastern Bluebird, European Starling, Golden Crowned Kinglet and Red Shouldered Hawk. The last two may be more common recently because I have gotten better at identification, or perhaps because I have been exploring south of the city, where they might be more abundant.  Forty-three species were seen on fewer than five outings of the past ten. Those species that were seen at least twice include Brown Thrasher, Canada Goose, Chipping Sparrow, Common Grackle, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, White Breasted Nuthatch, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Double Crested Cormorant, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Pine Warbler, American Goldfinch, Barn Swallow, Belted Kingfisher, Brown Creeper, Brown Headed Nuthatch, Dark Eyed Junco, Hermit Thrush, House Finch, Red Tailed Hawk, Red Winged Blackbird and Winter Wren.

The remaining 19 species were each seen only once, and several of these were new species for the Greenway list.  The new species were Bald Eagle, Bufflehead, Mute Swan, Northern Shoveler, Ovenbird, Pied Billed Grebe, Red Eyed Vireo, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Tree Swallow, White Eyed Vireo, and Wood Duck. Most of these new species are lake birds because three of the last ten outings included lakeside trails. Other species sighted only once in the last ten outings include Black Vulture, Cedar Waxwing, Cooper's Hawk, Field Sparrow, Fish Crow, Ring Billed Gull, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.

Trail 39: Lake Johnson Park

04/26/2014.  8:52 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 45.813, W 78, 42.838
End:   GPS N 35, 45.813, W 78, 42.838

The north parking lot at Lake Johnson Park was nearly full when I arrived just before 9 AM. It appears to be a quite popular place on Saturday morning. The long axis of the lake runs east to west, and is divided nearly in half by Avent Ferry Road. There is parking on both sides of the bridge, so if the north side lot is full, try crossing the bridge and parking on the south side.  To the west of Avent Ferry Road is an unpaved trail that circles about half of the lake.  It starts as a graded path along the north side of the lake, then becomes a rougher trail on the south side after crossing a wooden bridge over a marshy area.  To the east of Avent Ferry Road, the path is paved all the way around the lake from the north side parking lot to the south side. Although there were many visitors on this Saturday morning, the unpaved west trail was not terribly busy.

From the north parking lot (see photo at left), you can cross Avent Ferry Road and begin walking the graded trail along the western half of the lake, you can cross the pedestrian bridge that leads to the other side of the lake, or you can cross Avent Ferry Road and walk east along the northern shore following the paved trail. I began my outing by crossing Avent Ferry Rd. and walking the graded trail to the west.

I will divide the outing into three sections. The first section is the graded western trail along the northern part of the lake to the wooden bridge. This trail seems to attract a number of joggers, perhaps because it's well-shaded and has a softer surface. The second section is the more natural trail along the southern edge of the lake. The last section is the entire paved portion that makes up the eastern part of the lake.

Birds Sighted In the Parking Lot and Along the Graded Western Section:

Belted Kingfisher:  GPS N 35, 45.813, W 78, 42.838.  I heard this one calling, then saw it fly by while I was still in the parking area on the north side of the lake.

Northern Cardinal:  Lots of cardinals around the lake, particularly to the east.

Gray Catbird:  In the parking area.

American Robin:  Also near the parking area.

Mallard:  A lone male.  The lake area has signs posted asking people not to feed the ducks and geese.  These seem to have been very effective keeping the numbers down.

Canada Goose:  Only saw three around the parking area, but later there were at least eight out on the lake at the western end.

Common Grackle:  There were several of these moving around the parking area.  I never saw more than four at one time, but there were probably more.

Mourning Dove:  GPS N 35, 45.754.

Barn Swallow:  Saw several flying out over the lake from the edge of the pedestrian bridge.

Tree Swallow:  At least one was flying out over the lake with the Barn Swallows.  This is a new bird for my Capital Area Greenway List.

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 45.780, W 78, 42.997.  I saw at least four of these in one place. Later I saw two at a nest.

Downy Woodpecker:  In the same area as the Blue Jays. The first one I saw was male. Later I saw a female along another part of the trail.

Double Crested Cormorant:  GPS N 35, 45.812, W 78, 43.081.  Saw four of these in one place.

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher:  Near where I saw the cormorants.


American Goldfinch:  Two brightly colored males.

Brown Headed Nuthatch:  GPS N 35, 45.876, W 78, 43.152.

Red Shouldered Hawk:  GPS N 35, 45.912, W 78, 43.194.

New Species Sighted Along the Southwest Part of the Lake:

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 46.157, W 78, 43.297.  I heard these several times before I finally saw one.

Tufted Titmouse:  GPS N 35, 46.058, W 78, 43.366.

Carolina Chickadee:  Never saw more than one in a single place.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 46.009, W 78, 43.391.


Yellow Rumped Warbler:  GPS N 35, 45.745, W 78, 43.300.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  GPS N 35, 45.681, W 78, 43.255. I'm pretty sure this one was at its nest hole.

New Species Around Eastern Side of Lake Johnson:

Red Eyed Vireo:  This was the first time I had identified this Vireo along the Raleigh Greenways.  A new one for the Capital Area Greenway List.

Ovenbird:  GPS N 35, 45.599, W 78, 42.388.  This is a new bird for my Capital Area Greenway list, and for my lifelist.  This turned out to be my 499th species identified.

It took me about three hours and 40 minutes to bird the entire lake. It may have been partly a function of the time of day, but the best birding by far was along the western part of the lake. A good way to shorten the walk would be to bird the western side of the lake only, and then to use the pedestrian bridge to return to either the north or south parking lot.

Overall, this was an excellent outing, with 25 species identified, three new birds for the Capital Area Greenway list, and one new bird for my lifelist!  Since this outing, I have managed to pick up eight additional new species on an outing to a different location with a colleague who is much more skilled than I am. My 500th species turned out to be the Prothonotary Warbler - a nice one for the 500th!