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!