New Year's at Nags Head, North Carolina
Dec. 29, 2012 – Jan. 5, 2013
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Press Release Aug. 31, 2012:
Nature Tour Leader Describes His Love for the Outer Banks in Winter - full press release here! |
North Carolina’s fabled Outer Banks (OBX) are one of America’s prime tourist destinations, greeting throngs of beachgoers during the warmer months. But when the weather turns cold, the tourists depart and much of the infrastructure that supports them shuts down for the season. It is then that vast numbers of swans, geese and ducks migrate to OBX and the adjacent mainland, and birders, waterfowl hunters, and fishermen become the main human visitors.
The banks are actually a long chain of narrow barrier islands separating the Atlantic Ocean from three large shallow saltwater sounds, Currituck, Albemarle, and Pamlico. The sounds, and several large natural lakes on the nearby mainland, provide prime habitat for wintering waterfowl. Nearly all species of North American ducks have been seen at OBX. But the real stars of the show are the thousands of Snow Geese and 
Tundra Swans that descend upon the area every winter. Nearly deserted winter beaches are a beachcomber’s and birder’s delight, with large populations of shorebirds, gulls, and terns on both sides of the barrier islands. Offshore, vast numbers of Northern Gannets, all three scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common and Red-throated loons, Horned Grebes, and occasionally Razorbills and Dovekie entertain observers with spotting scopes on the beach.
Winter is also a great time to learn the area’s history without having to share it with hordes of disinterested tourists. The Lost Colony, Blackbeard’s lair, man’s first flight, the Graveyard of the Atlantic: are all phrases that evoke the rich history of the North Carolina coast. All of the main historic sites are open year round, and history there is to see. Roanoke Island, which lies in the sound between the barrier islands and the mainland, was the site of Sir Walter Raleigh’s failed attempt to establish the first English settlement in North America. Later, the area became the hideout of Blackbeard, the notorious pirate. OBX played a prominent role in the Civil 
War, including the sinking of the Monitor off Cape Hatteras. As the closest point of land to the Gulf Stream, Hatteras is the dividing point between cold northern waters and warmer southern ones so it is a crossroads for birds, but a serious hazard to navigation, and Diamond Shoals just off the cape justly deserve their graveyard nickname. Numerous shipwrecks dot OBX. The region’s most prominent landmarks include three historic lighthouses (Currituck Light, Bodie Island Light, and Cape Hatteras Light) as well as the monument that commemorates the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kill Devil Hills.
During our week-long winter adventure, along with general birding and beachcombing, we will visit:
Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge
Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education
Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve
Wright Brothers National Memorial
The North Carolina Aquarium
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Elizabethan Gardens
Jockey’s Ridge State Park
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge
Palmetto-Peartree Preserve
The exact order of our visits must remain flexible so we can respond to possible winter weather events in the most efficient way. So, in the following itinerary, the days are units that can be rearranged at the last minute, but because we are staying at the same hotel, and that should not present any problems.
Sat., Dec. 29 Arrive in Norfolk, Virginia
Our adventure begins at the Norfolk International Airport, the 
closest major airport to OBX. Once everyone has arrived, we will drive south to our oceanside hotel in Kill Devil Hills just north of Nags Head. For the duration of our visit, we will stay at the Ramada Plaza Nags Head hotel. Its ocean view rooms are ideal for scoping the ocean in relative comfort, and the view changes every day. Loons, grebes, scoters, gannets, gulls (including Lesser Black-backed), pelicans, cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, and maybe even Dovekies and Razorbills could be seen from your room. Enjoy a good meal, nice ambiance and a chance to get to know your guide and travelling companions.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (D)
Sun., Dec. 30 Cape Hatteras National Seashore / Hatteras Island / Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Our first full day at OBX will take us south along the banks into Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Our first stop will be the newly refurbished Bodie (pronounced like body) Island Lighthouse. The nearby pond and marsh are a magnet for wintering waterfowl and shorebirds, often including Eurasian Wigeon and American Avocet. Next, we will stop at the marina at Oregon Inlet for some birding, then cross the Herbert Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet to Hatteras Island. Here, we will walk the rock jetty to look for Purple Sandpipers and American Oystercatchers, and search for rare Great Cormorants in the inlet. Further south, we will visit Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. North Pond, once famous for its Snow Geese, was breached by Hurricane Irene and has now become mostly a mudflat covered with shorebirds. The area offshore frequently, but unpredictably, produces Razorbill and Dovekie.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (B,L)
Mon., Dec. 31 Roanoke Island / North Carolina Museum in Manteo / New Year’s Eve
We will spend most of today on Roanoke Island where we will search for winter land birds as well as those of marsh and sound. Our day will include a visit to the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo (pronounced MAN-tee-o) which has a replica of the Civil War ship Monitor and exhibits of aquatic life of OBX, Fort Raleigh and the nearby Elizabethan Gardens, and Roanoke Island Marsh Game Lands. After dinner, those who wish to bird the New Year in can return to the road into Bodie Island Light, where rare owls, such as Saw-whet and Long-eared, are found almost every year. Tonight we welcome the New Year 2013! Our hotel is hosting a New Year’s party that should be a lot of fun – hopefully for us a celebration after owls!
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (B,L,D and a party at the hotel!)
Tues., Jan. 1 Cape Hatteras National Seashore / Hatteras Island / Ocracoke Island
Today we greet the New Year by heading south again, but passing fairly quickly through places we visited on Sunday so we can spend most of the day on the southern part of Hatteras Island. We will visit the iconic lighthouse and hike out to Cape Point, a place that has a history of rare birds turning up. We will bird Buxton Woods for land birds. Time permitting, we will take the ferry over to Ocracoke Island and back.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (New Year’s Brunch, L)
Wed., Jan. 2 Alligator River NWR / Palmetto-Peartree Preserve
For a change of pace, today will be spent on the NC mainland. Our main focus will be Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, which is site of the Red Wolf Recovery Program. We probably won’t see any wolves, but we may hear their howls at dusk. The area is rich in other wildlife, including black bears, Bald Eagles, and large numbers of smaller raptors. Short-eared Owls are fairly regular here in winter. The area has a reputation for producing rare birds of all kinds. Further inland, we will visit the private Palmetto-Peartree Preserve which harbors a large resident population of Endangered 
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. They can be hard to find in winter when they roam about in small flocks rather than staying near nest trees, but we will make the effort to find them.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (B,L,D)
Thurs., Jan. 3 Wright Brothers National Memorial / Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education / Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve
We will start today with a visit to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, then head north toward the town of Duck. Near the red brick Currituck Lighthouse, the road ends. Near the terminus we will visit the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, where we will learn of the rich history of waterfowl hunting in the area, and the Currituck Banks National Estuarine Research Reserve, which spans the island from ocean to sound. Boardwalks at several places provide access to the soundside marsh, where we might find Clapper Rails.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (B,L)
Fri., Jan 4 Mattamuskeet NWR
We head inland again today, this time turning south from Manteo to reach Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. Lake Mattamuskeet is home to thousands of Tundra Swans as well as large numbers of other waterfowl, and is a good place to look for unusual land birds as well. American Bitterns are frequent. We will cross the lake on a paved causeway, then make a broad loop back to Nags Head that will take us through farmlands where swans and Snow Geese feed during the day. It will give us a second chance at some of the Alligator River birds.
Accommodations at Ramada Plaza Nags Head Hotel (B,L,D)
Sat., Jan. 5 Mackay Island NWR / Departures
We check out of our hotel early and head back toward Norfolk, but take a side excursion via the Knott’s Island Ferry to Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge for a few hours of wildlife viewing before we have to head for the airport and your homeward flights. Mackay Island features Snow Geese, Bald Eagles, numerous wading birds, and thousands of wintering ducks. (B)
