BBC Snippets

Link: http://www.freelists.org/archives/bristol-birds/02-2008/msg00104.html

As the New Year's was about to ring in for 1993, the Bristol Bird Club was stretching its wings and fluttering further away for club outings and field trips.

Darkness had fallen over the little community of Manteo on Roanoke Island, NC, hiding just behind the barrier island outer banks of the Atlantic Ocean.

One by one cars arrived from Northeast Tennessee to begin the club's celebration advertised as "New Year's at the Outer Banks." The grand plan called for BBC members to drive to this destination on their own. As soon as everyone arrived it was time to let the fun begin.

Birders established their New Year's Eve base at the Elizabethan Inn just six miles from the northern tip of Bodie Island.

Seven BBC members showed up for the club's much-anticipated New Year's Eve party. Arthur Smith, Rick Knight, Wallace Coffey, Mary Erwin, Mike Evans and Mary Evans greeted one another at the inn. John Shumate was signed up for the trip but cancelled the night before leaving.

A few blocks away the party found dinner at a small seafood restaurant.

Back at the inn, all clocks were temporarily set to a time zone somewhere out in the Atlantic. This moved the New Year's midnight minute much closer so the group could celebrate and still be in bed early enough to get a pre-dawn start on Jan. 1.

Mary Erwin surprised the group with a great soft pack (or wine cask)to help celebrate. Table tops were covered with tins of cookies and the likes. As the clock struck midnight "birder time" the BBC held its first of many future fireworks shows in the parking lot. Everyone was fully expecting either an irate management or the heavy hand of the law. Neither showed up and the popping and cracking and banging went on as long as nerves would allow.

Happy New Year's BBC !

In the twilight of a morning dawn, the group sat on the Atlantic beach waiting for the sun to peak over the horizon. As the flames of sunrise spread warmth over the island, birders bask in the first light of a new year and the first birds of the day were closely focused.



A great birding experience was underway -- three days of birding with the BBC at the Outer Banks !

Rick Knight, who today ranks about 14th on the all time life list numbers of North Carolina birders with somewhere in the neighborhood of 368 species, provided the BBC leadership. In 1993 he had birded there on nearly a dozen trips. Rick knew special places and birds expected.

His plan called for the group to bird Pea Island to include the Oregon Inlet area and then on to Buxton where the party had reservations at the Comfort Inn.

North Pond at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge was a sight to behold. Birders were everywhere and the BBC group had to hunt a parking space out on the highway and walk in. Amazingly there were dozens of teenagers and college students birding in groups and carrying scopes. Young people birding in their own small groups was not a familiar scene back home in the mountain.

That first day included thousands of Snow Geese. A Western Kingbird was discovered by Rick. Tundra Swans were abundant and Rick found the Eurasian Wigeon which had been noted on the species report list left nearby in a rack at the refuge station.

Buxton is a neat place at Cape Hatteras on the south tip of Hatteras Island. The group had to double back north to find a restaurant for dinner. Stores and service stations were beginning to close for the remainder of the winter. The BBC group was sneaking just a step ahead and in just in nick of time to find resources.

The next morning (Jan. 2) turned up Black-and-white Warbler and then an Orange-crowned Warbler.

And so it went......

Now, 35 miles off the mainland on the narrow strip of islands which are famous for their wintering waterfowl, BBC pushed on. A nice hike over a long and deep sandy stretch to see birds at the edge of the ocean was some workout.

The Outer Banks provided a list of 84 species despite the fact some of the better and expected species could not be found. The list included Tundra Swans (1500) and Snow Geese (1500 whites) to lead the waterfowl parade which featured many ducks.

Other fun birds along the way included many Red-throated Loons, a thousand cormorants, Northern Gannet, White Ibis, Snow Goose (blue), Merlin, Peregrine, Virginia Rail, American Oystercatcher, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, Gray Catbird and thousands of Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Rick did a masterful job. Not only was he a veteran birder of the area but he had been with the Carolina Bird Club's Nov. 28-29 winter trip to Pea Island and was able to not only scout the birds but also good locations for us to bird as well as lodging and meals.

The North Carolina state operated ferry system provided the continuous access as birders moved further south. This is one of the nation's largest such systems and provides passage over five routes between communities.

BBC birders took the first and free ferry crossing from the cape at Hetaeras to Ocracoke in 45 minutes. With no advanced hotel reservations, the group found lodging and settled in for the night. The hotel was beginning to breakdown its normal operations because the inn would close the next morning. The BBC group ate in the dining room and ordered whatever was left in the kitchen and found themselves grateful.

In the early hours just before dawn, birders encountered a U.S. Marshal searching in the back of a SUV in the parking lot. Bravely, they approached. He looked up with a smile as he found his spotting scope under a birding jacket.

He was from Knoxville and was hunting a few "wanted" life listers during an early vacation. It is not often you see a sweatshirt with U.S Marshall or whatever it says across the back.

Judy Roach and Mary Erwin kept the food flowing in the field. On Jan. 1 they served a great lunch from their van parked at the Coast Guard Station. The last day (Jan. 3)the birds ate breakfast before dawn in the waiting lanes at the Cedar Island Ferry. There were no reservations and you had to get there early. When Rick Knight says early that means EARLY -- before daylight. The ferry left at 7 a.m. The BBC cars were well up front.

Crossing time was two and one-half hours to the mainland at Cedar Point. It was well worth the $10 shelled out per vehicle. Birders gathered on the deck and watched continuously as they rode through open waters that seemed to have more cormorants than whitecaps waves. It was a cold head wind.

What a wonderful trip. Everyone seemed so happy and the group soon departed and headed home over their chosen routes and on their own schedule.

More is to come in 2008. BBC Vice-President John Moyle, who schedules and leads field trips for the club, has another trip to this birding paradise at the Outer Banks set for the weekend of Nov 21-24, 2008. Mark your calendars.

from the archives of the Bristol Bird Club