The Outer Banks in Winter

 

Outer Banks beach.
Nags Head, North Carolina. 
Photo Courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

The Outer Banks are a series of barrier islands on the coast of North Carolina.  These islands run for 200 miles and have wide beaches with dunes covered by Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata).  The Outer Banks hosts small towns, innumerable beach houses, hotels and historic lighthouses.  Some of the barrier islands are conserved by the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Summer is the high season with vacationers from around the world taking advantage of the beaches and sun.  But winter has its own charms.  Fewer people and abundant birdlife are a couple of draws in the colder months. 

We have been making winter visits to the Outer Banks and wild areas on the mainland behind the Banks for many years.  Here are some recent experiences there. 

Sunrise over the Outer Banks.
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Sand ripples on the beach.
Nags Head, North Carolina.
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

Sunrise over the Atlantic is an inspiring way to start a day on the Outer Banks.  The beach can be quite peaceful, and an ebbing tide leaves ripples in the sand.  

Jennette's Pier.
Nags Head, North Carolina. 
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus).
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata). 
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Fishing piers, like Jennette’s in Nags Head, get you out over the water for close-up views of sea life.  On a recent trip a Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) was fishing near the pier, and a Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) was flapping. 

Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum).
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Male Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major).
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Female Boat-tailed Grackle.
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).
Nags Head, North Carolina.  

Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus).
Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) flew past in squadrons and Boat-tailed Grackles (Quisculus major) perched on the pier rail looking for handouts.  A pod of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops truncata) was rolling near the pier and Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) plunged for fish.  

American Wigeon (Mareca americana).
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina.  

Male Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata).
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Redheads (Aythya americana).
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina.

The ponds on Pea Island host a multitude of ducks in winter.  American Wigeons (Mareca americana) and Northern Shovelers (Spatula clypeata) paddled placidly by and a giant flock of over 5000 Redheads (Aythya americana) stretched all the way across South Pond.

American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana).
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Sanderlings (Calidris alba).
Duck, North Carolina.

Shorebirds are not just found on the beaches.  A flock of American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana) loafed on one of the ponds and a batch of Sanderlings (Calidris alba) were on the wrack at the Duck Boardwalk. 

We saw land birds in the dunes and in the scrub and fields behind the dunes.

Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis).
Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station, North Carolina. 

A couple of winters ago a flock of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) stayed near the Life Saving Station near Oregon Inlet. These sparrow sized birds breed on the Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada. In the breeding season they are bold white and black.  In winter their coloration is more subdued with white, black and creamy brown. We were lucky enough to have them on our coast for the winter. 

Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina.

Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis).
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Eastern Meadowlarks (Strunella magna) haunt the dikes of Pea Island and Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) scratch out a living in the dunes.    

Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus). 
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Snow Goose (Anser caerulenscens).
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Ruddy Duck (Oxyrua jamaicensis).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina.

Just inland from the Outer Banks are more National Wildlife Refuges and they host huge numbers of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) and Snow Geese (Anser caerulescens).  These large, noisy birds flew by and landed in a nearby pond to feed. Ducks are abundant too with Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) being the most common and Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) swiming in refuge canals.  

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Ash-throated Flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens) are western birds but in some winters one of these large flycatchers makes a wrong turn and shows up in Eastern North Carolina.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina.

Barred Owl (Strix varia).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor).
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

Raptors like Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Northern Harriers (Circus hudsonius) and Barred Owls (Strix varia) are abundant in the refuges.  Tiny blue-gree and white Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) swooped over the fields scooping up the flying insects of winter.  

Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis).
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina. 

This winter a flock of about 35 Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) have been staying at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  Eastern North Carolina is off their usual migration route and seeing them here was a rare treat.  These tall, gray birds have a ringing call and will soon be on their way north to their breeding grounds in northern North America. 

Outer Banks in winter.

Nags Head, North Carolina. 

Video courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

A visit to the Outer Banks is a treat anytime of the year. But winter has the special attraction of a slower pace and no crowds. The ducks, geese, swans and other birds of winter are not to be missed. 

Spanish Moss

 

Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usenoides).
Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. 

Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usenoides), that famous denizen of southern swamps and southern gothic literature, is neither moss nor Spanish. The story goes that early French explorers of North America thought this plant looked like the beards of Spanish conquistadors and the name stuck.  But rather than being a moss, a nonvascular plant in the division Bryophyta, Spanish Moss is a flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae.  This large family also includes the familiar Pineapple (Ananas comosus).

 Spanish Moss is an epiphyte, a plant that grows on another plant, and in the Southeast it favors Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana) and Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum).  

Spanish Moss.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. 

Spanish Moss is not a parasite draining nutrients from the host tree.  It absorbs all its nutrients from the air, rainwater, runoff from trees or animal waste. Spanish Moss is gray-green in color and can grow in long, hanging skeins that may reach 20 feet length. 

Spanish Moss fruit.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina.

In spring Spanish Moss produces small, green flowers that develop into fruits.  The seeds are released by the mature fruit and drift through the air and may land on the branch of a new host tree.  

Northern Parula (Setophage americana)
Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina.

Some animals regularly use Spanish Moss.  A tiny warbler, the Northern Parula (Setophaga americana), builds hanging nests in Spanish Moss and the Zebra Longwing (Heliconius chariphonia), a brilliant butterfly, roosts in Spanish Moss.  

Zebra Longwing (Heliconius chariphonia).
West Delray Regional Park, Florida. 

A persistent legend says Spanish Moss is infested with chiggers (Trombiculidae), tiny arachnids related to spiders.  The larval stage of these mites feed on the blood of mammals, including humans, and cause itchy, red welts.  But chiggers live on the ground or in low growing vegetation, so they only get into Spanish moss when it falls from trees.

Cardinal Airplant (Tillandsia fasiculata).
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. 

Other bromeliads also live as epiphytes on trees and are commonly called airplants.  Florida with its subtropical climate has a number of these including the Cardinal Airplant (Tillandsia fasciculata).  It has long, pointed leaves growing from the base and clusters of red flowers and is sometimes seen in the same tree as Spanish Moss. 

Spanish Moss.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. 

Spanish Moss is found in the Southeastern and southern United States, Mexico, Central and South America.  It has also been introduced to many tropical and subtropical countries.   Spanish Moss lends a mysterious character to the forests and swamps where it lives.  Since it is a bromeliad, I like to think of Spanish Moss as treebourne pineapples. 

Ecuador: Hummingbirds and Butterflies

 

Golden-tailed Sapphire (Chrysuronia oenone).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

I am finishing this series of blogs about Ecuador with a return to hummingbirds and a brief detour into butterflies.  Going from North Carolina with its one summer resident hummingbird to Ecuador with over 100 hummingbirds is brain boggling.  Butterflies that amaze with their size or brilliance is the norm.

Hummingbirds with their range of iridescent colors, their speed and fearlessness make them quite appealing.  It takes a while to get all the hummingbirds in an area in your head.  They move so fast that you often have only a few seconds to take in their field marks.  Conversations about hummingbird ID often went, “Did that one have a blue head and green throat or was it a green head and blue throat?”  The fantastic hummingbird names add to the appeal.  Some had hummingbird in the name but others were called mangos or sabrewings, thorntails or brilliants, violetears or sapphires, or even woodnymphs.  Hummingbird feeders allowed us to have extended and repeated looks at the hummers that would have been impossible to identify in thick forests.

Among the insects the visual counterpart to hummingbirds are the butterflies.  Like the hummingbirds, butterflies were bright, brilliant and fast.  The butterfly counterpart to the hummingbird feeder is a wet gravel road.  Butterflies land on the road and sip water laced with minerals in a behavior call puddling.  Puddling allows for longer looks at these brilliant insects.  

Here are some of the hummingbirds and butterflies of the Ecuadorian cloud forest and rainforest.  

Gould’s Jewelfront (Heliodoxa aurescens).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Male Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Female Black-throated Mango.
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Golden-tailed Sapphire.
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

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Wire-crested Thorntail (Discosura popelairii) on the left and
Golden-tailed Sapphire on the right. 
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Black-throated Brilliant (Heliodoxa schreibersii).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador.

Napo Sabrewing (Campylopterus villaviscensio),
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Fork-tailed Woodnymph (Thalurania furcata).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Many-spotted Hummingbird (Taphrospilus hypostictus).
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador.

While the butterflies were bright and memorable many do not have common names.   Several butterflies shown here will have only the binomial scientific name in the caption. Many of them were puddling on gravel roads. 

Siosta bifasciata. 
This small butterfly has brilliant blue and orange
spots on the black wings. 
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Adelpha sp. This brown butterfly with yellow bands belongs 
to a group of butterflies called Sisters.  They got this name
because their brown color resembled the habits on nuns.
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Caligo idomeneus, the Idomeneus Giant Owl butterfly is 
native to the Amazon basin.
Sacha Lodge, Ecuador. 

Idomeneus Giant Owl butterfly eggs
Sacha Lodge, Ecuador. 

Red postman (Heliconius erato) advertises its
toxicity with bright warning colors.
WildSumaco Lodge, Ecuador. 

Archonias sp. is related to the whites and sulfurs (Pieridae)
in the Southeastern United States. 
Cabañas San Isidro, Ecuador. 

Our trip to Ecuador was a birding excursion and we did see a prodigious number of birds, including hummingbirds.  But the real takeaway from our travels to the páramo, cloud forest and rainforest was the exuberant diversity of life.  From tiny plants at high altitude to giant trees emerging from the Amazon canopy, from butterflies to soaring condors, life was abounding.  It was a privilege to see this spectacle.