A Durham Christmas Bird Count Along Ellerbe Creek

December 17, 2002

Josh Rose, Duke University

I participated (actually helped to organize) today's Durham Christmas Bird Count.  Through a combination of luck and design, I wound up counting along Ellerbe Creek!  I thought y'all might like to hear the details.  I'll probably lead a bird walk or three along the creek in the near future, maybe even charge admission to raise money for the Association, watch here for details.

I started around 6:30 AM behind the Big Lots/Super K Mart. Twenty-plus Canada Geese were loafing on the marsh.  Before too long, three Beaver appeared, puttering around their lodge; of course, they disappeared just before the sunlight got bright enough for me to think about taking photos.  After briefly glimpsing a white-marked duck a couple of times, I finally got a clear look at two dazzling male Hooded Mergansers!  I saw and heard 23 species before moving on.

Next stop was the north end of Redwood Road, whence I walked through the woods to the railroad tracks.  I walked about a mile, figured out that I'd gone the wrong way, and walked back and finally encountered the mouth of Ellerbe Creek.  The raft of trash under the railroad trestle was discouraging.  However, there were loads of birds, many of them actively interested in the seed pods of some large Honey Locust trees and Trumpet Creeper vines.  Tons of American Goldfinches, lots of Eastern Bluebirds and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and assorted other species including three wren species (Carolina, House, and Winter), a Pine Warbler, two Field Sparrows, and an American Pipit that flew overhead calling.

Returned to my car and drove to the Red Mill Road bridge over the creek.  Hiked into the gamelands here, encountering a field apparently managed in a half-meadow, half-cultivated state for game wildlife.  I pushed at the grass and almost had to duck as at least two dozen Juncos came whizzing out.  My first Swamp Sparrow of the day and a few Song Sparrows appeared as well.  In the back corner of the field, a rich crop of Greenbrier berries attracted a flock of White-throated Sparrows plus one Fox Sparrow, my first of the winter.  The woods beyond this meadow were too flooded to be able to follow the creek downstream, so I headed back.

Before breaking for lunch, drove up and back the terminal stretch of Hamlin Road east of Red Mill.  Spotted two American Kestrels, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Palm Warbler along the road.

Had a really great lunch at La Fondita, in the same strip as Super K Mart and Big Lots, and returned to the beaver swamp behind there.  A flock of 16 Cedar Waxwings materialized above, and one of the male Hooded Mergansers appeared with a female companion.  A Belted Kingfisher rattled off on the far side; eventually I joined him over there via a different access point.  Found an army of sparrows over there, plus a Great Blue Heron, a Winter Wren, and - best of all - an adult Red-headed Woodpecker!  The mud under the water was writhing with worms that looked like giant Tubifex.  The grassy, marshy habitat looks like some of the best in Durham for marsh birds like rails and bitterns and Marsh and Sedge Wrens, I'll have to check back here in spring...

Next stop was the Glenn-Veasey house vicinity near the landfill.  The only new species I added here was a Chipping Sparrow.  Stopped at the Glennstone housing development, where the only birds in evidence were a dozen or so Turkey Vultures soaring above, and eventually roosting on a prominent nearby cel-phone tower.

I was running out of daylight by now.  Finally made it to Indian Trail Park and hiked down through Six Acre Wood to Westover Park.  No new species for the day's list, but 20 bird species in this area including a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  Finally ended the day back on Hamlin Road, hoping for an owl to fly by, but instead being rewarded by hearing an American Woodcock calling and lekking near the end of the road.