I visited this beautiful barrier island coastal reserve on April 4, 2016. This was my first visit to this outstanding National Reserve which has an excellent reputation for its great shorebird population. For a complete description of this Reserve, please see the main page for the site under National Refuges . I used the Island Adventures Ferry Service at the Beaufort, NC waterfront to access Carrot Island, where the primary trails are located. The ferry trip across Taylor’s Creek takes only 10 minutes, and they will then pick you up at the time you want. Because I was interested in shorebirds and wading birds, I walked the circle trail which goes around the perimeter of Carrot Island(about a 2 mile trek). At low tide, this trail puts you at the edges of the many mud flats, and allows you to walk across the shallows to Bird Island, a treeless sandbar to the south of Carrot Island. Bird Island is about 3 miles long, and less than a half-mile wide.
As soon as I came to the first oyster beds on the edge of Carrot Island, there were Oystercatchers sitting on the beds. In the mudflats, there were Plovers, Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Willets, Dunlins, Gulls, Sandpipers, Ibis, and Herons. Terns were diving on small fish just offshore. I also saw Mergansers out on Bird Island. I walked to the west point of Bird Island, where I was told Black Skimmers hang out, but they were not home while I was there, There were birds all over the mud flats and along the sandy beaches. There were so many, it was hard to know where to point my camera! There was also the herd of Feral horses who live on the islands. It is recommended that you stay at least 50 feet away from them for safety, but about 20 of them decided to take the path I was on going in the opposite direction--so I moved about 10 feet off the path, and they single-filed past me, without so much as giving me a look--I was ignored! I did get a few pictures of them.
I was very impressed with the density and variety of birds here. If you are a bird photographer, you will love this site because of the numbers of birds and the photogenic environment they are in. I spent about 3 hours walking both Carrot and Bird Islands, and though I was tired, I hated to leave, but my scheduled time had arrived, so I met the boat and headed back across the creek to meet Glyn, my patient wife who is my taxi service and chief cheerleader-- We had a date for lunch at the Sanitary Restaurant in nearby Morehead City--great seafood!!
To see photos taken on this trip, see gallery below.
As soon as I came to the first oyster beds on the edge of Carrot Island, there were Oystercatchers sitting on the beds. In the mudflats, there were Plovers, Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Willets, Dunlins, Gulls, Sandpipers, Ibis, and Herons. Terns were diving on small fish just offshore. I also saw Mergansers out on Bird Island. I walked to the west point of Bird Island, where I was told Black Skimmers hang out, but they were not home while I was there, There were birds all over the mud flats and along the sandy beaches. There were so many, it was hard to know where to point my camera! There was also the herd of Feral horses who live on the islands. It is recommended that you stay at least 50 feet away from them for safety, but about 20 of them decided to take the path I was on going in the opposite direction--so I moved about 10 feet off the path, and they single-filed past me, without so much as giving me a look--I was ignored! I did get a few pictures of them.
I was very impressed with the density and variety of birds here. If you are a bird photographer, you will love this site because of the numbers of birds and the photogenic environment they are in. I spent about 3 hours walking both Carrot and Bird Islands, and though I was tired, I hated to leave, but my scheduled time had arrived, so I met the boat and headed back across the creek to meet Glyn, my patient wife who is my taxi service and chief cheerleader-- We had a date for lunch at the Sanitary Restaurant in nearby Morehead City--great seafood!!
To see photos taken on this trip, see gallery below.
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