North Carolina: Pelagics & Pine Savannas

After breakfast, we’ll make our way south to North Carolina’s famous Outer Banks, a remarkable chain of barrier islands stretching along the Atlantic coast. We’ll spend much of the day exploring coastal habitats around Bodie Island, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and Oregon Inlet.

Beaches, saltmarshes, impoundments and tidal flats provide opportunities for American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Least, Gull-billed and Royal Terns, Wilson’s Plover and Seaside Sparrow, along with a variety of herons, egrets and shorebirds. Pea Island is particularly rich in waterbirds, while the varied habitats around Oregon Inlet can attract shorebirds, terns and other coastal species.

By late afternoon, we’ll settle into our hotel in Nags Head, conveniently located for our next two days of pelagic birding. Night: Nags Head.

Today is the first of our two back-to-back pelagic trips! We’ll be up before dawn and make the short drive to Oregon Inlet, where we’ll board our boat for a full day exploring the productive offshore waters of North Carolina.

The warm waters of the Gulf Stream and the edge of the continental shelf make this one of the premier locations for pelagic birding in North America. Black-capped Petrel is a headline target, alongside Cory’s, Great and Audubon’s Shearwaters and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, while Band-rumped Storm-Petrel and Bridled Tern are other exciting possibilities.

These waters are also famous for producing unexpected birds, so we’ll keep a constant watch for rarities. Marine mammals and other wildlife can add to the excitement, with Short-finned Pilot Whale, Atlantic Spotted Dolphin and Common Bottlenose Dolphin among the possibilities.

After a full day offshore, we’ll return to Oregon Inlet in the late afternoon and enjoy dinner before doing it all again tomorrow. Night: Nags Head.

We’ll return to Oregon Inlet early this morning for our second full day offshore. Conditions on the ocean can change considerably from one day to the next, and changes in wind, currents and water temperature can bring a very different selection of seabirds within reach.

We’ll have another opportunity to search for the regular Gulf Stream specialties while remaining alert for something unexpected. Having two consecutive days offshore greatly increases our opportunities to experience the diversity and unpredictability that make North Carolina pelagic birding so exciting.

We’ll return to shore in the late afternoon and celebrate our adventures over dinner. Night: Nags Head.

After two early starts and long days offshore, we’ll enjoy a more relaxed morning before spending the day exploring the Outer Banks. Our plans will remain flexible, allowing us to concentrate on the most productive areas based on recent sightings and conditions.

We plan to make our way south along Hatteras Island, with possible stops at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Point and other coastal birding sites. Beaches, tidal flats, saltmarshes and impoundments provide opportunities for breeding shorebirds and terns, including American Oystercatcher, Wilson’s Plover, Least Tern and Black Skimmer. We’ll also keep a careful watch for the much scarcer Piping Plover.

This flexible day gives us another chance to enjoy the distinctive birdlife and landscapes of the Outer Banks before we leave the coast tomorrow. Night: Nags Head.

Today we’ll explore the diverse habitats of Croatan National Forest. Extensive longleaf pine forests, pocosins, wetlands and hardwoods support a distinctive community of southeastern birds.

Our primary targets in the open pinewoods will include Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrow and Brown-headed Nuthatch. As we explore other habitats, we’ll search for species such as Swainson’s, Prothonotary, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers, Acadian Flycatcher, Northern Bobwhite, Blue Grosbeak and Painted Bunting.
We’ll spend the day moving between habitats according to bird activity and our success with the various specialties.

After dinner, we may have an optional evening excursion to some coastal marshes to listen for Chuck-will’s-widow and other nocturnal birds and possibly the secretive Black Rail. The outing will depend on weather and local conditions. Night: Morehead City/Atlantic Beach.

We’ll begin our final full day with birding around Fort Macon State Park and nearby coastal habitats. The park’s beaches, dunes, maritime vegetation and surrounding waters offer another selection of coastal birds and give us an opportunity to look for anything we may have missed earlier in the tour.

Depending on our previous successes and current bird activity, we may also revisit another nearby site before beginning our journey north to Norfolk.

We’ll gather that evening for a final dinner and recap some of the highlights of our journey. Night: Norfolk, Virginia.