North Carolina Pelagics & Pineywoods

Land Tour
Highlights

Highlights

  • An incredible opportunity to observe deep-sea pelagic birds and mammals not normally seen from shore like petrels, shearwaters, jaegers and pilot whales.
  • Breeding terns, shorebirds and waders along the barrier islands of the Carolinas.
  • To see the successful efforts of the conservation work of the Pineylands and observe the critically endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
  • A chance to see southeastern breeding bird specialties like Swainson’s Warbler, Painted Bunting, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Bachman’s Sparrow.

Tour Overview

A short but bird-filled run to the Southeast US, this tour is centered around two days of pelagic birding in search of seabirds like Black-capped Petrel, Great, Cory’s and Audubon’s Shearwaters, Wilson’s and Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, Long-tailed and Pomarine Jaegers, South Polar Skua, and Bridled and Arctic Terns and good chances for other rarities. Marine mammals like Short-finned Pilot Whales, Atlantic Spotted Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins are also regularly observed on these pelagic trips.

We then head to the Pineywoods of the coastal plain for a couple of days of birding targeting the highly endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, as well as more common species like Brown-headed Nuthatch, Prairie and Yellow-throated Warblers and Bachman’s Sparrows. Other southeast specialties to track down include Swainson’s, Worm-eating, Kentucky and Prothonotary Warblers, Acadian Flycatchers, Blue Grosbeak and Painted Bunting. We will also take some time to bird the coast looking at shorebirds, terns and waders like Wilson’s Plover, American Oystercatcher and Least Terns.

What's Included

Tour Price Includes

  • 2 full-day pelagic tours
  • Good quality accommodation
  • Includes all breakfasts and lunches
  • 4 - 8 participants with one guide, 9 - 12 participants with two guides and two vehicles
  • Gratuities for pelagic tour
  • All park, conservation and entrance fees

Tour Price Does Not Include

  • Flights to and from start of tour
  • Travel Insurance
  • Evening meals
  • Items of a personal nature

What to Expect

The climate of North Carolina is most certainly warm in early June. Daytime highs average from the mid 70s-mid 80s (22-30°C) with nighttime lows dropping to the low 60s (15°C). However we will be on the coast a bit and it can be windy so having a long-sleeve shirt may be handy at times. Certainly it can be cooler over the ocean and a light jacket for our pelagic may be needed. Rain is certainly possibly and raingear with boots to keep your feet dry will be possibly needed. Most walking will be easy to moderate on trails and some sand.

We will have mostly early morning departures to observe the dawn movements of birds and be having continental breakfast at the hotel before departure each day. Picnic lunch will be supplied on most days, perhaps one day we will break for a restaurant lunch. All dinners will be at restaurants. Each night at dinner, we will compile the bird list for the day and finalize our plans for the next day.

Featured Wildlife

While we cannot guarantee sightings of the birds or mammals listed below, we believe that encountering these species is quite likely during this tour.

  • Black-capped Petrel
  • Red-cockaded Woodpecker
  • Great Shearwater
  • Cory’s Shearwater
  • Audubon’s Shearwater
  • Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
  • Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
  • Bridled Tern
  • Pomarine Jaeger
  • Long-tailed Jaeger
  • Bachman’s Sparrow
  • American Oystercatcher
  • Brown-headed Nuthatch
  • Yellow-throated Warbler
  • Prothonotory Warbler
  • Swainson’s Warbler
  • Acadian Flycatcher
  • Painted Bunting
  • Wilson’s Plover
  • Short-finned Pilot Whale
  • Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
  • Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Past Tour Checklists

View the list of birds and other wildlife we encountered on our past tours.