The article by Al Clark originally appeared in The Daily Reflector.
It’s been a good “bird” year as I have had special visits at the feeder; we’ve enjoyed bald eagle pictures in the paper; we’ve reported on rare birds in Beaufort County and today’s front page spotlights one of this region’s “winged” wonders.
I wrote this year about the painted bunting that visited our house in the spring. This most colorful of North American birds is one I had never seen before, and it didn’t disappoint. And just recently, I saw a female Baltimore oriole at that same feeder — another first for our yard.
I also have written about the eagles that live in the area adjacent to Highway 264 on the north side of the Tar River. It used to be you could see one most mornings sitting atop the power poles just past the Tar River bridge heading out of town.
When they replaced those smaller poles with larger ones this year, I didn’t see the eagles for the longest time, but I can happily report they are back — as recently as Friday morning. They’re a little harder to spot now because the poles they sit on are so much taller.
We also reported on the “eagle city” in Pitt County near the Carolina Classics catfish farm, one of the largest concentrations of the national bird in this state. Irene Cannon, who lives nearby, has kept us well supplied with pictures of the majestic raptors enjoying their bounteous habitat.
Beaufort County’s top bird story was that of the rare Henslow’s sparrow, which had found its way to the grassy fields surrounding the former Voice of America site in that county and has for many years made that its breeding ground.
Otherwise these birds are nowhere to be found except in the grasslands of the central U.S. The sparrows stayed here because the federal government kept the grass there at just the right height and density for the them to thrive. We are continuing to watch what happens to that property, which the county is considering as a park site.
Today we are reporting on this weekend’s Swan Days at Lake Mattamuskeet, the state’s largest natural lake and the winter stopover for hundreds of thousands of waterfowl. It’s a famous spot visited by some 60,000 visitors annually who come to hunt, fish and observe the birds and other wildlife.
Now, as the year concludes, the annual Christmas Bird Count is set to get underway next Sunday.
A project of the National Audubon Society, the count “helps scientists and environmental organizations from around the world assess the health of bird populations and guide conservation action.” North Carolina is an important area for this ongoing research.
“As climate change continues to affect populations of the Brown-headed Nuthatch, American Oystercatcher, Wood Thrush and many more iconic species, the data collected during this annual event becomes even more important to ongoing efforts to protect our birds,” said Audubon North Carolina executive director Heather Hahn.
She and local enthusiasts are urging concerned bird and nature lovers to join the count in this area by visiting its website, Audubon.org and look for the Christmas Bird Count.
Doing so will help assure the survival of our most visible wildlife companions, whose stunning variety and engaging behaviors have long graced our seat at nature’s window.
