Trail 49: Neuse River Trail - Abington Lane to Buffaloe Road Park

11/29/2014.  1:38 PM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 48.961, W 78, 32.578
End:   GPS N 35, 50.472, W 78, 31.875

I have been visiting the Neuse River Trail in a rather piecemeal fashion because many sections of the trail were only completed within the past two years. When I began this project in 2011, the trail was still mostly unfinished. I made four early visits to the northernmost six miles of the trail, followed by two more recent visits to sections north of Anderson Point Park, and now I am back for a third time finishing the sections that were recently completed.

This particular section of the Neuse River Trail, beginning from the Abington Lane entrance, picks up the trail just north of where my Trail 29 report ended in October 2012. The remaining sections from here north should be contiguous until I reach the WRAL Soccer Complex somewhere near the trail's 6-mile marker.  I suspect it will take two more outings after this one to finish the trail.

There is a nice parking lot a short distance from the Neuse River Trail at the very end of Abington Lane. Set your GPS device for the intersection of Castlebrook Dr. and Abington Ln. Once you arrive at this T-intersection, follow Abington Ln. until it ends in a parking lot. There is a paved access path that leads from there to the Neuse River Trail (see photo at left).

An interesting feature of this section of the Neuse River Trail is that it runs almost entirely along the east side of the Neuse River. Most of the rest of the trail so far has been on the west side. Just a short distance north of the Abington Ln entrance is a footbridge that takes you across the river, and there is another footbridge that returns you to the west side just before Buffaloe Road Park. The trail was mostly in the sun as I walked it, but that may have been a function of the time of day. Because it was afternoon, the sun was to the west across the river, and the only shade came from a thin line of mostly deciduous trees separating the trail from the river. Morning would likely have more shade than late afternoon because of thicker tree cover and some rising land to the east of the trail.

I will divide the outing somewhat arbitrarily into two sections. The first is from the parking lot at Abington Lane to Mile Marker 13. The second is from there to the accessway leading to Buffaloe Road Park, somewhere around Mile Marker 11.5.

Species Sighted Between Parking Lot and Marker 13

American Robin: I initially saw only one of these in the parking lot, but ended up with a total of 12 different individuals by the end of the trail.

Turkey Vulture:  Saw two of these in flight from the parking lot, and later saw five together.

Carolina Wren:  GPS N 35, 48.953, W 78, 32.548.

American Crow:  GPS N 35, 48.988, W 78, 32.379.

Mallards: GPS N 35, 49.080, W 78, 32.310. They were a pair and presumably wild.

Hermit Thrush: GPS N 35, 49.145, kW 78, 32.287. I don't see these often, but this one was out in the open with good sun shining on it so it was easy to identify.

Red Bellied Woodpecker:  Same area as Hermit Thrush.

White Throated Sparrow:  Same area as well.

Northern Mockingbird:  Just one.

Eastern Bluebird:  GPS N 35, 49.256, W 78, 32.271.

Northern Cardinal:  Same area as Bluebirds.

White Breasted Nuthatch:  Also near Bluebirds.

Species Sighted Between Marker 13 and Buffaloe Road Park

Ruby Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 49.727, W 78, 32.274.

Red Tailed Hawk:  GPS N 35, 49.759, W 78, 32.246.  In flight.

Carolina Chickadee:  GPS N 35, 49.842, W 78, 32.246.

Downy Woodpecker:  Near chickadees.

Great Blue Heron:  GPS N 35, 49.984, W 78, 31.827.  In flight.

Redhead Duck: GPS N 35, 50.008, W 78, 31.805. This was a male, hanging out with a group of four or five mallards. A new bird for the Raleigh Greenway List!

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 50.008, W 78, 71.805.

Golden Crowned Kinglet:  GPS N 35, 50.183, W 78, 31.838.

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker:  Same area as the kinglet.

New Species Sighted on the Return Trip

Yellow Rumped Warbler:  GPS N 35, 50.057, W 78, 31.776.

Eastern Phoebe:  GPS N 35, 49.831, W 78, 32.021.

Chipping Sparrow:  Near where I saw the Eastern Phoebe. There were at least 10, and probably many more.

This turned out to be a pretty productive outing, despite the time of day. Twenty-Four species were identified, including one new species for the Capital Area Greenway List.