First Day off the Hatteras Coast

The weather, as I wish it was that first day off the Hatteras Coast
I've had my heart set on a Atlantic Pelagic trips for many years. So when I woke in the pre-dawn hours in my Hatteras North Carolina motel room, I was very excited. I wasn't put off by the sound of rain beating on pavement outside. I could hear the wind too, and I supposed this morning's winds were the sort that helped get the Wright brother aloft.

Still, when I stood under the awning of a small closed shop, on the dock with several other birds an hour later, I was uneasy. Everyone else was far better clothed than I was - and no wonder! I was only wearing my down parka lining. I had no clue where or what happened to my parka shell. I had spent a good 20 minutes hunting for it before leaving the motel, but my beautiful navy blue parka was nowhere to be found. For all I knew it was back in the Raleigh motel I had stayed in on my first night in North Carolina.

Wet, Cold, Bundled birders, and HAPPY to be there!
The other thing I was thinking, was "I hope today's Saturday trip is canceled". I suspect that's what most of the other shivering birders was thinking too. The reasoning was, not only was it a particularly cold, windy and rainy Saturday, but the Pattenson's game plan was for 2 scheduled birding trips taken over a span of 3 days - Saturday, Sunday and if necessary from a canceled weather canceled trip, Monday. So Monday is the 'just in case of crap weather' day. How could weather get much worse than today's overcast skies, wind and rain? If we skipped today's trip, we might just score better weather for Sunday and Monday.

Gray Skies later on that Saturday afternoon, Day I of the pelagics
No such luck! Our skipper and trip leader Pattenson said the trip was on. I suspected Pattenson wanted his Monday free, but what the heck - maybe the weather would grow worse Sunday and Monday, and today would be my only one shot at the birdy laden waters off North Carolina.

Soon we were headed out to sea. We all sat in the ensie cabin of the smallest pelagic vessel I've ever traveled on; the Stormy Petrel. The passengers stared at each other and chated from cold as much as conversation. There were no comfy dining tables as I've experienced on most of the pelagic trips I've taken - there was only a horse-shoe shaped bench with space underneath for stowing our gear. I didn't feel annoyed about the tiny space - it only made me realize how easy and spoiled we are in California. And more importantly than the size of the boat's interior was that we were not overloaded with passengers. I've been on Shearwater pelagics that were so jammed full of passengers I would often miss viewings of birds because there were so many birders we had to practically climb over each other to access a view.

I was shivering away, when I noticed whenever someone entered or left the cabin, a flurry of snow flakes blew in. It was snowing on the ocean! Well 'DUH'. I suppose I have spent my life not ever thing such a thing happens. Come on, how often are snowmen seen on the ocean?

A single, cruising Northern Gannet with gulls
Birdwise, I was cheered by the sight of hundreds and hundreds of Northern Gannets, which are snowy, showy white seabirds with goofy looking bills and a goofier squeals. They sound like airborne bathtub toys. Click on the video below to hear some mid-Atlantic birdie noise.


At one point when I dared to leave the warmth of the tiny cabin, there was a stowaway! Somehow a gannet managed to land on board. Poor little thing was rather pathetic in its over sized webbed feet. Finally a deck hand lady picked up the bird - being careful to hold that razor sharp beak shut, picked up the bird and lobbed it overboard. The bird flew away, not the worse for its ship side pelagic adventure.

The Stowaway
Gannets swarming like bees over a nearby vessel
Wet, the coldest I can ever remember being in my life, but damn it, I got one lifer for the day, a small ocean going bird with a Jimmy Durante schnoz, the Razorbill! We ran across several of the birds, and I was thrilled to see them.

a lifer species; Razorbill

Another little Razorbill
What the skies looked like on day I - as gray as the ocean waters
So day one of my 2 days of pelagic trips ended. Score one lifer bird, with a few crappy photos - the Razorbill. Will I add some lifers tomorrow? We'll see.

Proof that it snowed on that first day

Touching Flight in North Carolina

Mosaic at Raleigh/Durham Airport

Bright and early on the morning of the 12th, I woke in my hotel room in Raleigh North Carolina and hit the highway, driving north in my rental car. I was indirectly headed for the outer banks of Hatteras, but first I wanted to visit a dismal spot.

The spot wasn’t too dismal really, that was just its name. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

Best name for a swamp, EVER!
To get to the Dismal Swamp I had to drive north and into the state of Virginia. I had never been to either Virginia or North Carolina, and it took the prospect of birds to get me to visit either state.

When I arrived at the Dismal Swamp, I looked around for the visitor’s center, and didn’t think I’d found it, until I realized it was there, only on a first viewing, it seemed to be disguised as a private residence.

Cleverly disquised Visitor’s Center
The visitor center was small in size but to counteract that, its employees were big on information. I asked the lady volunteer where I might get in an hour or two of a nature walk. She recommended a mint new wooden boardwalk, that had only been completed in the previous months.

Who can resist the call of the wild... I mean, souvenirs.
I only bought one, ensie little cloisonné pin, of a Prothonatory Warbler – a bird certainly not present on the swamp in winter. Speaking of winter, it was – proof being that the swamp was frozen, I kid you not!

Do you reckon they're ice skating in hell?
Soon I was walking down the boardwalk. The dominant bird, perhaps because of the weather, was woodpeckers of the Hairy, Red-bellied and Pileated sorts.

New Boardwalk Winding Through the Swamp
The swamp was fascinating. I loved the cypress - or at least that is what I think the trees were - the boardwalk was so new it hadn't had informational signage added to it yet.

Great? Sure. Dismal? Sure looked the part.
Aside from numerous woodpeckers, the only other visible bird was a Carolina Wren, that was singing it's teeny heart out.

Crap Photo? Yeah - click and/or squint to see Carolina Wren
I enjoyed my walk, then got back in the rental car and headed south, to Hatteras.

A couple of hours later, when I saw the entrance to the Wright Brothers National Monument, I bubbled over with excitement!

Flight, the human kind, began here.
After paying my enterance fee, I circled the humongous hilly mound known as Kitty Hawk - where Orville and Wilbur Wright, from Ohio, came out to test their 'aeroplane' contraption on the windy low hills of Kitty Hawk. I was so excited and moved by the thought I was tromping around where human flight got it's upward start, I was on the sniffly edge of being blubbery teary mess for my entire visit.

Cool View of Monument from the Bottom of Kitty Hawk
To my total delight, there was on the back side of the huge monument, a statue - of sorts - honoring the first flight. It was bronze, it was awesome, and I mean that from the bottom of my altitude loving heart.

Bronze Statue and figures
Behind the Bronze aeroplane are joyous Bronze First-flight Witnesses
When I had completed sniveling my way around Kitty Hawk, I went to the visitor center. There I found loads of great stuff, including a full size model of the 1901 flying machine.

Life size Copy of the Wright Brother's Aeroplane
The visitor's center also honored other firsts of aviation. My favorite was a young woman I first heard of the only time I visited the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. - Bessie Cole! The first licensed Black Aviatrices.

Spunky, Aerialist, Bessie Coleman
There was also a painting of Tuskeegee Airmen.

Those Magnificient Men with Their Flying Machines

Thing is, it may be 2010, but face it, in the great scheme of things, 1901 wasn't that long ago. I mean, my father was born only 7 years after the invention of flying. I can practically reach back and touch the world's first aviators.

Next I was off to my hotel down the Hatteras Coast in Sandy Bay. I wanted to get to bed early so I could be alert and ready for the first of two ocean roaming pelagic trips I was taking over the coming three days. I couldn't wait to find myself hanging over the deck, aiming my binoculars at ocean going birdies.

The usual sort of, pastel colored, high off the
ground home, on the Hatteras Outer Banks
[Management wishes to point out, Ms. Miller discovered a fascinating aspect of The Dismal Swamp is it was used by Underground Railroad and in fact, many runaway slaves lead their lives there for up to 30 years, hiding and building homes for themselves and their families in the swamplands. Management is disappointed that no hint of the swamp's rich history was found on the actual premises, but maybe Ms. Miller didn't exactly scour the place looking for historical tidbits. In honor of slaves who tramped through, or lived in the swamps, here is a poem about it by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (proof someone knew what the heck was going on there amid the cottonmouths)].

THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP

In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp
The hunted Negro lay;
He saw the fire of the midnight camp,
And heard at times a horse's tramp
And a bloodhound's distant bay.

Where will-o'-the-wisps and glow-worms shine,
In bulrush and in brake;
Where waving mosses shroud the pine,
And the cedar grows, and the poisonous vine
Is spotted like the snake;

Where hardly a human foot could pass,
Or a human heart would dare,
On the quaking turf of the green morass
He crouched in the rank and tangled grass,
Like a wild beast in his lair.

A poor old slave, infirm and lame;
Great scars deformed his face;
On his forehead he bore the brand of shame,
And the rags, that hid his mangled frame,
Were the livery of disgrace.

All things above were bright and fair,
All things were glad and free;
Lithe squirrels darted here and there,
And wild birds filled the echoing air
With songs of Liberty!

On him alone was the doom of pain,
From the morning of his birth;
On him alone the curse of Cain
Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain,
And struck him to the earth!

A Visit with Judy and Julia.

Barbara and Tante Judy
My buddy Barbara and I haven't had a visit since the Hen Party last September - an unbelieveably long time for us. We had a great time catching up with our doings in Fairfield. Then we drove over her Aunt Judy's pretty home in the Napa Valley for an overnight stay. It was a great visit - we chatted from noon to midnight - literally! I haven't stayed up that late in ages.

At the risk of presenting another 'food and friends' post here I must carry on about the food. Ok, I admit, it's my choice to focus on the food when visiting, but when visiting with Tante Judy, how could I not be so inclined? She has fed me the only Julia Child recipes I've ever had the great pleasure to dine on. See an example of Judy's talent just below. I mean, could Julia have made a prettier presentation of her Cheese blintz with Cranberry sauce, sour cream and a dusting of lemon zest? I think not.

Judy & Julia Present: Cheese Blintz - Yummm...
Judy is Barbara's Aunt. I've know Judy since I was around 21 years old and visited with her family around the holidays with the Albertson family. Not to sound greedy, but very-nearly my first memory of Judy was her making homemade truffles at Thanksgiving - home made truffles were an unknown concept for me - and she let me have the bowl of gateau au chocolat and cocoa powder - the equivalent of letting 'moi' lick the spoon. I was in love with Judy in an instant - yes, sadly, my affection can be bought for chocolate. But then, again, I'd love Judy anyway, she's one great lady.

Judy - on second thought, sweets or no, I love her
Judy's "Mr. Entertainment Committee" - Nicholas

[Management appologizes for Miss Miller who upon returning from a short trip discovered she neglected to post this blog entry before leaving. Sorry for the delay.]