Conclusion: Birds and the Raleigh Greenway System

1/26/2016

Below you will find a summary of the results of my birding trips along the Capital Area Greenway System in Raleigh, and (hopefully) some useful information about the individual trails of the system that I visited for this project. At the bottom of this post, you will find a list of the birds seen in order of the number of outings (out of 58) on which they were seen. Bear in mind that some birds are summer or winter residents only, and there tended to be more outings in the non-summer months due to my travel obligations. A Google map showing most of the trails and related parking spots can be found here. The RGreenway App is another way to get good information about trail locations and parking while on the move. It will also show you the closest greenway to your location. There is also some parking advice on the individual trail reports in this blog as well.

According to the City of Raleigh, the Raleigh Greenway system has 28 individual trails totaling over 100 miles in length. The longest is the Neuse River Trail that runs roughly north-south for 27.5 miles on the eastern side of Raleigh.  It extends beyond the Raleigh city limits to the Johnston County line. The shortest trail is the Marsh Creek Trail at 0.3 miles. Most of the 28 trails are paved, and most follow some form of creek or body of water, although many of them pass behind the backyards of suburban homes as well. Others are really just sidewalks along the roadside, such as the Birch Ridge Connector (0.3 mi), Centennial Bikeway Connector (2.3 mi), Edwards Mill Connector (1.3 mi), Martin Street Connector (0.4 mi) and Spring Forest Trail (0.4 mi). 

A few of the trails have a substantial roadside component in addition to a path that passes through a more natural area. A good example of this type is the Hare Snipe Creek Trail. The City of Raleigh says the trail is 2.3 miles long, but it travels along Leesville Road for about a mile of this length, and also seems to include the western side of Lake Lynn, which most people would assume is part of the Lake Lynn Loop. A similar trail is the Honeycutt Creek Trail, which is 3.8 miles in length - with a substantial segment between Honeycutt Park and Durant Road that is roadside.  Finally, the Beaver Dam Trail (0.8 mi), though not a sidewalk trail, seems to only be wooded on one side for the majority of its length and runs a short distance from the road with no trees between the road and path to act as a screen.

For this project, I avoided all trails that were purely roadside (see list above), and skipped any long sections that did not pass through woods or some kind of semi-natural area.  I also skipped the last 7.5 miles of the Neuse River Trail that went beyond the Raleigh City limits, and the section of the Honeycutt Creek Trail between Honeycutt Park and Raven Ridge Rd. The section between Durant Rd. and Raven Ridge Rd. is unpaved and might be worth a visit in the future. I didn't realize that section was there until I started writing this summary section. So if the Raleigh Greenway system is 100 miles long, I probably birded about 85 miles worth in 58 outings.



I began the project as a relatively inexperienced birder, with a lifelist of 264 birds, many of which I had seen overseas. During the four years of this project, I was able to visually identify 90 species of birds along the Raleigh Greenways. Not a bad result, but fewer than I would have guessed when I started. I suspect that there were five to ten more species that I saw but was unable to identify due to poor conditions or my inexperience. 

Neuse River Trail (27.5 mi):  This trail runs from near Falls Lake to the Johnston County line on the eastern side of Raleigh. Birding reports from north to south are: Trail 3, Trail 4, Trail 5, Trail 6, Trail 28, Trail 29, Trail 51, Trail 50, Trail 49, Trail 48, Trail 47.  My favorite birds identified along this trail were the Red Headed Woodpecker (Trails 3, 4, 5, and 29), Brown Creeper (5, 47, 50), Pileated Woodpecker (6, 29, 47, 51), Common Yellowthroat (29), Belted Kingfisher (47, 51), Cedar Waxwing (48, 50), Indigo Bunting (49) and Bald Eagle (50). You can see the character of the trail by following several bike ride videos posted by others, such as Falls Lake Dam to Anderson Point Park - Part I, Part II, and Part III.  This takes you to about the 17 mile marker. Another biking video shows the trail from Anderson Point Park to Mile Marker 26 near the end of the trail.  My favorite section of the Neuse was probably Trail 29 for the varied habitat and the chance to see Red Headed Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, and my first Common Yellowthroat. The Neuse River Trail attracts a LOT of bike riders, so if you can go on a day other than Saturday or Sunday, the birding may be more enjoyable.

Walnut Creek Trail (15.6 mi):  This trail runs from the Neuse River Trail across southern Raleigh to Lake Johnson, and includes the north side of Lake Johnson (both the paved and unpaved section). The trail officially ends near the unpaved parking lot at the northwest corner of the lake. Birding reports from east to west are: Trail 52, Trail 53, Trail 30, Trail 31, Trail 32, Trail 33, Trail 35, Trail 36, Trail 37, Trail 38, and part of Trail 39.  My favorite birds identified along this trail were Brown Creeper (Trails 32, 52), Cedar Waxwing (32), Winter Wren (32, 37), Belted Kingfisher (37, 39), Northern Shoveler (37), Wood Duck (37), White Eyed Vireo (38), and Bald Eagle (37). You can see the character of the first part of the trail by watching the following cycling video: Walnut Creek to Worthdale Park.  Another section of the trail, between Rock Quarry Road and Hammond Road, can be seen here, although it has been speeded up considerably. My two favorite trails along the Walnut Creek Greenway were Trails 31 and 37.  I found Trail 31 to be a very pleasant walk with a good number of birds, and Trail 37 to be highly productive because of Lake Raleigh.Trail 33 of the Walnut Creek Greenway was also good for birding. It runs west from the Walnut Creek Wetland Center. I probably saw more raptors on the Walnut Creek trail than on either the Neuse River or Crabtree Creek Trails. Trail 35 was particularly good for raptors.

Lake Johnson Loop (ca. 2.3 mi): Lake Johnson has paved and unpaved sections. The west loop is mostly unpaved and 2.1 miles long. Part of that length is also counted as the Walnut Creek Trail (see above). The east loop is paved and 2.8 miles long. Both of these loops cross the lake via Avent Ferry Road. The birding report for the section not already covered by the Walnut Creek Trail is Trail 39. My favorite birds on this trail were Ovenbird and Red Eyed Vireo. You can see the character of the eastern part of this trail by watching the following series of cycling videos:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. 

Crabtree Creek Trail (14.6 mi):  This trail runs from the Neuse River to within about one mile of Umstead Park across Raleigh's northern suburbs. There are apparently plans to extend the trail that final distance to Umstead eventually. Birding reports from east to west are: Trail 23, Trail 22, Trail 17, Trail 18, Trail 19, Trail 20, Trail 21, Trail 55, Trail 54. My favorite birds identified along this trail are: Great Crested Flycatcher (Trails 19, 23), Belted Kingfisher (19, 54, 55), Cedar Waxwing (18, 19), Hairy Woodpecker (18), Northern Rough Winged Swallow (19, 21), Palm Warbler (18), Pileated Woodpecker (54), Indigo Bunting (54), Summer Tanager (54), and Blue Grosbeak (54). The Crabtree Creek Trail has several nice sections along it. My favorites were probably Trail 18 for the nice setting, Trail 19 for the species diversity, which included a Great Crested Flycatcher and several Northern Rough Winged Swallows, and Trail 20 for its elevated walkway and the marsh at the end where many aquatic birds can be seen.  You can see the character of a portion of this trail by watching this cycling video, which I believe corresponds to my Trail 22. You might prefer to listen to it on mute because of the wind noise.

Trails North of the Walnut Creek Greenway

Little Rock Trail (1.6 mi): This trail runs north from the Walnut Creek Trail and connects Walnut Creek Wetland Center to East Martin St, although the trail is roadside after E. Lenoir St for about three blocks. See Trail 34. I saw lots of very common birds on this trail, as well as Hermit Thrush and Golden Crowned Kinglet. It has a very urban feel.

Rocky Branch Trail (3.8 mi): This trail also runs north from the Walnut Creek Trail. It passes through the southern part of the NC State main campus, and then connects to the House Creek Trail via the Gorman Street Connector and a short section of the Reedy Creek Trail. The House Creek Trail leads to the Crabtree Creek Trail, so it is possible to follow the Raleigh Greenway system between these two trails with just a short roadside section at Gorman St. Birding reports from south to north are: Trail 40 and Trail 41. Most of the birds sighted were common species. The only unusual sighting here was a Ruby Throated Hummingbird. This would not be a top choice for birding.

House Creek Trail (2.8 mi): This trail runs generally north from the Reedy Creek pedestrian bridge over I-440 (near Wade Ave.) to the Crabtree Creek Trail near Crabtree Valley Mall. However, there is a sign all the way back at the entrance to the Reedy Creek Trail that also mentions the House Creek Trail, causing some confusion. Birding reports from south to north are: Trail 42 and Trail 43. This had a few unusual birds, such as Field Sparrow (Trail 42), Red Winged Blackbird (42), Great Crested Flycatcher (42), Indigo Bunting (42), and Blue Grosbeak (43). You can see the character of the southern portion of this trail by watching the this cycling video.

Reedy Creek Trail (5.0 mi): This trail begins at the southeast corner of Meredith College, passes through the North Carolina Museum of Art and continues west all the way to Umstead Park. However, about half of this length runs along Reedy Creek Road, which is not unpleasant to walk along because it was not heavily traveled, but because it was not a true natural area I ended my walk at Edwards Mill Road. Bird reports from east to west are: Trail 42 and Trail 44. To get a sense of the more natural part of this trail, you can watch this cycling video posted by someone else. The video starts at the museum and ends at Meredith College.  In addition to the birds listed above for Trail 42, I had a chance to see a Summer Tanager (Trail 44), Red Eyed Vireo (44), and an American Redstart (44) on this trail. In general, this seemed like a good trail for birding, particularly after crossing the pedestrian bridge.

Richland Creek Trail (3.1 mi): This trail begins on the east side of PNC Arena at E. Stephen Stroud Way. It runs roughly south to north through the Schenk Forest, and intersects with the Reedy Creek Trail at Reedy Creek Rd. Google's Greenway Map seems to suggest that the trail continues on across Reedy Creek Rd and past a small lake to Umstead Park, but I never saw an entrance to this segment. Within the Schenk Forest, this trail is also called the Loblolly Trail, which is also the name of a nearby trail in Umstead Park. The trail can be hard to follow, but there are some excellent tips posted here. Bird reports from south to north are: Trail 45 and Trail 46. My favorite birds spotted on this trail were Brown Headed Nuthatch (Trail 45), Blue Grosbeak (46), Common Yellowthroat (45), Hooded Warbler (45), House Wren (45), and Magnolia Warbler (45). This is one of the few mostly unpaved trails in the Capital Area Greenway system and I very much enjoyed it, despite the lack of adequate signage. I will definitely revisit this trail again as part of my next project.

Gardner Street Trail (0.7 mi): This is a stand-alone trail located north of Walnut Creek Trail and east of House Creek Trail. The greenway connects Isabella Canon and Jaycee Parks. See Trail 58. I did not see any unusual species here and would not recommend this trail for birding.

Beaver Dam Trail (0.8 mi): This is another stand-alone trail just northwest of the Gardner Street Trail. It passes through the Hymettus Woods for maybe a quarter of a mile before following Banbury Rd. until it intersects with Nottingham Rd. I chose not to bird this section because it was short and primarily roadside. Google's Greenway Map shows where this trail begins and ends.

Trails North of the Crabtree Creek Greenway

Mine Creek Trail (4.1 mi): This trail runs north from Crabtree Creek Trail starting near North Hills Park. The trail is divided into segments with their own names. The first segment is the Ironwood Trail (for bird reports see Trail 16, Trail 15, Trail 14), followed by the Shelley Lake Trail (bird reports for Trail 13, Trail 12, Trail 11), and the Sawmill Trail (Trail 9). My favorite sections of the Mine Creek Trail were the Sawmill section, which is unpaved and more varied than many areas along the Raleigh Greenway system, and Trail 11, which follows the west side of Shelley Lake and includes a woodsy area to the north of the lake. Favorite birds seen on this trail were a Belted Kingfisher (Trail 11), Double Crested Cormorants (11, 12, 13), a Hairy Woodpecker (9), and Hooded Mergansers (12). To get a sense of what I believe is the Ironwood part of this trail, you can watch this cycling video.

Snelling Branch Trail (0.8 mi):  This trail runs east to west between the northeastern part of the Shelley Lake Loop and Optimist Park. I reported on it as part of a larger outing in the Shelley Lake Area (Trail 13). I saw several tree climbers here (three woodpeckers and white breasted nuthatches), so this short trail segment must be attractive to them.  

East Fork of Mine Creek (2.5 mi): The older section of this trail was also called the Bent Creek Trail (see bird report for Trail 10). It intersects with the Sawmill segment at its southern end. The trail has been recently extended, although there is about half a mile of intervening roadway between the Bent creek segment and the East Fork extension (see bird report for Trail 56). I mostly saw fairly common species on both segments of this trail, but I did see a somewhat uncommon Hermit Thrush (Trail 10) and a Brown Headed Nuthatch (56). I found the Bent Creek segment of this trail to be a pleasant walk and it had an interesting habitat compared to many other trails. Not a bad trail for birding. I was less enthusiastic about Trail 56, although if you live in the neighborhood it might be worth visiting.

Lake Lynn Loop (2.2 mi): This is part of a stand-alone pair of trails that do not connect to any of the other greenways. See Trail 27. This is the closest greenway to my home, so I have been here many times. The lake is nice but is surrounded on most sides by apartment complexes, so traffic is often heavy on weekends. My favorite birds that I saw on the outing I did for this project were Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Green Heron. You can see the character of this trail by watching the following cycling videos:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Hare Snipe Creek Trail (2.3 mi): As noted above, this is somewhat of a phantom trail because about a mile of its length runs along Leesville Road between Lynn Rd. and Millbrook Rd. Most of the rest of the trail is composed of the west side of Lake Lynn, which most people include as part of the Lake Lynn Loop. The Lake Lynn segment of this trail is reported by me under Trail 27. Apparently the purpose of this trail is to connect Lake Lynn Park to Wooten Meadows Park.

The last two trails inside the I-540 loop are both less than a mile in length and associated with a park.

Baileywick Trail (0.6 mi): This trail is east of Creedmoor Rd. and south of I-540. About half of its length is contained within Baileywick Park. It has a relatively wooded area, but I only saw typical birds there during my visit. See Trail 25.

Marsh Creek Trail (0.3 mi): This trail is east of Atlantic Ave. and north of I-440. It runs along the edge of Brentwood Park for about half of its length. The remainder projects south beyond the park. Despite its short length, this was a fairly enjoyable outing. See Trail 26. My favorite sighting was my first Black and White Warbler.

Trails That Begin North of I-540

Simm's Branch Trail (1.7 mi): This trail passes along the northern boundary of Durant Nature Park, then between the Hunter's Knoll and Durant Trails neighborhoods, past Durant Rd. Middle School, finally ending at Cub Trail. It is connected to the Abbott's Creek Trail by means of Durant Rd. and the Falls River connector, both of which are roadside segments. Birding reports from southeast to northwest are Trail 7 and Trail 8. My favorite bird sighted on this trail was a Brown Creeper (Trail 7).

Abbott's Creek Trail (2.9 mi): This trail runs from Walkertown Dr. all the way to the Neuse River Trail. There is a very short section of the trail (about 500 feet) that runs roadside next to Falls River Ave., but otherwise, it is nicely wooded and the houses, for the most part, are set back from the trail. Birding reports from west to east are Trail 1 and Trail 2. My favorite birds sighted on this trail were a Pileated Woodpecker (Trail 1) and several Red Headed Woodpeckers (Trail 2). Trail 2 is definitely in my top five. I have visited it two or three times since my first outing because it is a reliable place to see Red Headed Woodpeckers, and I like the raised wooden walkways over the marsh. On another visit, I saw Wood Ducks perched in a tree. There is also a pond area where Great Blue Herons like to nest. You can see the character of the Trail 2 segment by watching this cycling video.

Wakefield Trail (1.4 mi): This is the most northerly trail of the Capital Area Greenway system. It runs from Old Falls of the Neuse Rd. through the Fairview at Wakefield Plantation and south to Dunard St. just short of Falls of the Neuse Rd. See Trail 24. It wasn't among the most pleasant trails to walk, and there was not much cover so I got a bit of a sunburn. My favorite species were a Red Headed Woodpecker (which was unexpected), Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and a Red Tailed Hawk perched down low. It was very patient while I checked its markings. 

My top ten sections of the Raleigh Greenway system for birding (in order by trail number) are as follows. This is based on a combination of setting and birds sighted.

01) Trail 2 (Abbott's Creek)
02) Trail 9 (Mine Creek)
03) Trail 11 (Mine Creek)
04) Trail 18 (Crabtree Creek)
05) Trial 19 (Crabtree Creek)
06) Trail 29 (Neuse River)
07) Trail 31 (Walnut Creek)
08) Trail 37 (Walnut Creek)
09) Trail 39 (Lake Johnson)
10) Trail 45 (Richland Creek)

List of Birds by Frequency of Sighting (out of 58 trips)*

Carolina Chickadee (56)
Northern Cardinal (56)
American Crow (48)
Tufted Titmouse (48)
American Robin (48)
Red Bellied Woodpecker (45)
Carolina Wren (41)
Downy Woodpecker (38)
Blue Jay (38)
Northern Mockingbird (36)
White Throated Sparrow (31) (W)
Mourning Dove (30)
White Breasted Nuthatch (28)
Eastern Bluebird (27)
Yellow Rumped Warbler (27) (W)
Brown Thrasher (26)
Eastern Towhee (26)
Turkey Vulture (26)
Canada Goose (21)
Ruby Crowned Kinglet (21) (W)
Dark Eyed Junco (18) (W)
Eastern Phoebe (17)
Gray Catbird (16) (W)
Northern Flicker (16)
Great Blue Heron (16)
Mallard (15)
Common Grackle (15)
Chipping Sparrow (14) (S?)
Song Sparrow (14) (W)
House Finch (13)
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker (13) (W)
European Starling (12)
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher (12) (S)
Red Shouldered Hawk (11)
Pine Warbler (10)
American Goldfinch (9)
Red Tailed Hawk (9)
Hermit Thrush (9) (W)
Belted Kingfisher (9)
Golden Crowned Kinglet (8) (W)
Black Vulture (8)
Brown Creeper (7) (W)
Double Crested Cormorant (6)
Barn Swallow (6) (S)
Red Headed Woodpecker (6)
Field Sparrow (6)
Pileated Woodpecker (6)
Red Winged Blackbird (5)
Cedar Waxwing (5) (W)
Ring Billed Gull (4) (W)
Ruby Throated Hummingbird (4)
Hairy Woodpecker (4)
Fish Crow (3)
Great Crested Flycatcher (3) (S)
Cooper's Hawk (3)
Indigo Bunting (3) (S)
Summer Tanager (3) (S)
Blue Grosbeak (3) (S)
Winter Wren (2) (W)
Bald Eagle (2) (W)
Red Eyed Vireo (2) (S)
Brown Headed Cowbird (2)
Common Yellowthroat (2) (S?)
Northern Rough Winged Swallow (2) (S)
Chimney Swift (2) (S)
Rock Pigeon (2)
Swamp Sparrow (2) (W)
Bufflehead (1) (W)
Mute Swan (1)
Northern Shoveler (1) (W)
Ovenbird (1) (S)
Pied Billed Grebe (1)
Sharp Shinned Hawk (1) (W)
Tree Swallow (1) (M)
White Eyed Vireo (1) (S)
Wood Duck (1)
Black and White Warbler (1) (S)
Green Heron (1) (S)
Hooded Merganser (1) (W)
Palm Warbler (1) (W)
Prairie Warbler (1) (S)
American Redstart (1) (S)
Hooded Warbler (1) (S)
Eastern Wood Pewee (1) (S)
House Wren (1)
Magnolia Warbler (1) (M)
Pine Siskin (1) (W)
House Sparrow (1)

*S = summer, W = winter, M = migration

Finally, for those who might be interested, I have started a new blog:  trailbirderwakecounty.blogspot.com. The goal of that project is to try to see 180 species in Wake County over the next three years. Check it out!