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Wings Over Water, etc.



Hello Carolinabirders,

Last week the wagtail was so exciting I decided to wait for a quieter time to
add to Jeff Pippen's comments about Wings Over Water.  I went down on Friday and
took three of the kayak trips offered for the weekend - what better way to see
some of the remote areas of eastern North Carolina.  Two trips were to the
Alligator NWR - Whipping Creek and Buffalo City Road. Buffalo City Road ends at
a put-in where there are marked kayak/canoe trails along Milltail Creek.  This
is an excellent spot for kayaking and enjoying nature but all of the birds must
have been on Roanoke Island and Pea Island because we saw very few.  I'm anxious
to try it again when some of the ducks may have found a good winter home.

My third trip was the moonlight paddle from Kitty Hawk Woods - it started off
with a great show - several fly-bys by the Thunderbirds in formation!  What a
way to start a paddle.  As with the other two trips, however, the birds were in
short supply although there must have been hundreds of Red-wing Blackbirds
sending up a chorus in the marshes.  The setting sun and rising full moon were,
however, spectacular and it was a great evening to be on the water.

Many of the people I met over the weekend were from out of state with a number
being from Canada.  WOW does provide a great opportunity to try out paddling, to
bird and to observe nature in a beautiful part of our State.  Hopefully next
year I'll see some familiar NC/SC faces because it really is a delightful
weekend.  I'm marking my calendar early!

On a more serious note, the Department of Defense is seeking a blanket exemption
from many of our environmental laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act -
in my opinion, a frightening turn of events.  The following website has more
information about this legislation and I would encourage all of you to contact
your legislators to stop this tragedy in the making.
http://www.ncaudubon.org/audubon_advisory.htm

This morning before coming to work I had two male cardinals sitting on the top
branches of my holly trees with their breasts shining in the sun.  Two females
were "arguing" and chasing each other a few branches below.  The two males
looked at each other as if to say, "now what are they fighting about" - could
not help but chuckle at the scene!

Have a great weekend and good birding,

Lena Gallitano
Raleigh, NC