Trail 55: Crabtree Creek Trail - Milburnie Road to I-440

08/22/2015. 8:52 AM.

Start:  GPS N 35, 47.274, W 78, 35.440
End:   GPS N 35, 47.408, W 78, 34.801

The Crabtree Creek Trail is a 14.6 mile trail that stretches from the Neuse River almost all the way to Duraleigh Road. When completed, the trail will connect Anderson Point Park to Umstead State Park. It is currently about 1.5 miles short of its final planned length on the western side. The portion of the Crabtree Creek Trail from Milburnie Road to the Neuse River Trail was completed in December 2014, and I had a short section of about 1.5 miles left to walk between Milburnie Road and I-440. It is this section that I report on here.

The trail follows Milburnie Road for a short distance before re-entering the forest perhaps a quarter of a mile down the road. It then passes behind a defunct adult entertainment spot called Envy, crosses beneath New Bern Road, then travels behind an apartment complex before finally crossing Crabtree Creek and entering an area that feels a little less urban. This latter area has a string of what appear to be cement-capped sewer access points, with pipes projecting upward to vent fumes. There is a faint undercurrent of sewage smell in certain places along that part of the trail that made walking it a little less than pleasant. All in all, I did not find this segment of the trail to have many redeeming features when it comes to birding.

There were so few birds out on this day, despite the sunny skies, that it is probably not worth dividing the trail into separate sections.

Birds Sighted on the Outbound Trip:

Turkey Vulture:  GPS N 35, 47.287, W 78, 35.426.

Northern Cardinal:  GPS N 35, 47.339, W 78, 35.378. Only saw four on the day.

Common Grackle:  In the same area as the first Northern Cardinals.

House Sparrow:  GPS N 35, 47.368, W 78, 34.952.

Northern Mockingbird:  GPS N 35, 47.408, W 78, 34.801.

Mourning Dove:  In the same area with the Mockingbird.

Gray Catbird:  Also in the same general area with the Mockingbird.

Belted Kingfisher:  GPS N 35, 47.360, W 78,34.712. On the right side of the bridge as you head east. This was the most interesting bird seen on the day.

Tufted Titmouse: GPS N 35, 47.176, W 78, 34.669.

Carolina Chickadee:  In the same area with the Titmice.

New Species Sighted on the Return Trip:

American Robin:  GPS N 35, 47.453, W 78, 35.196.

Blue Jay:  GPS N 35, 47.308, W 78, 35.394.

I only managed to identify 12 species on this outing, which may be a record low. I would say that a number of factors contributed, though the most important may have been a simple lack of bird activity in the area. There really seemed to be significantly less bird song than is usual along the greenways. In addition, the vegetation was thick because of the time of year, and the length of the trail and the degree of urban-ness was higher than in most areas.  No new species were observed today and the only uncommon sighting was the Belted Kingfisher.