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GVL NC WTP Birds



Sunday 29 April 2001,
Greenville Water Treatment Plant,
Old Pactolus Road, Pitt County, North Carolina.

Though the front entrance is posted “No Trespassing,” go through to the 
office, check in and sign the log.  Jerry Jones at the plant says it’s OK to 
drive or walk where gates are open, all the way to the river, but don’t go 
through cattle gates.  All gates are closed at night.  Plenty of 
bloodsucking insects - a great place to bird from behind closed car windows.

1815-2000 hrs, clear sky, upper 50s F.
“OH” = seen flying over field of view.
“HO” = heard only.

Double-crested Cormorant? - 1 OH (too distant for ID)
Great Blue Heron - 1 (along canal)
Canada Goose - 2 OH
BALD EAGLE - 1 adult OH (over trees near antenna tower)
SANDHILL CRANE - 1 (flew in from S, calling, just before sunset, landed by 
yellow flower patch in wet pasture SE of cattle gate bridge)
Killdeer - 1 HO (field by canal)
Mourning Dove - 5 (fields by canal)
Barred Owl - 1 HO (woods by river)
Barn Swallow - 20 (fields by canal)
Common Crow? - 2 OH (too distant for ID)
Carolina Wren - 1 HO (woods by river)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1 HO (woods by river)
Eastern Meadowlark - 20 (fields by canal)
Red-winged Blackbird - 10 (fields by canal)
Boat-tailed Grackle - 10 (field near office)
Northern Cardinal - 1 HO (woods by river)
Field Sparrow? - 1 (field by canal, bad light for ID)

Non-birds:
Cooter - 5 (basking along canal)
Beaver - 1 (diving, surfacing, and eating water plants in canal by cattle 
gate bridge)

J. K. Williams, “The Inner Coastal Plain Naturalist,” Greenville NC.
The Inner Coastal Plain is a land of “‘Carolina Bays’... blackwater 
rivers... swamp forests of Bald cypress, and Tupelo and Swamp gums... 
Cross-vine... Star-nosed mole, Marsh rabbit, and Rice rat... Greater Siren, 
Two-toed Amphiuma...  many bird species nest here, or migrate through... the 
freshwater aquatic vegetation is rich... Tape grass, Bladderwort, Pondweed, 
Arrow-leaved spatterdock, Duckweed.... floodplain forests... barbed with 
Greenbrier, and thickened with Poison ivy and Virginia creeper... unique 
fishes and aquatic invertebrates... the endemic Neuse River Waterdog of the 
Neuse and Tar rivers... Sweet pepperbush... Sphagnum... Black bear and 
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake... Longleaf and Pond pines... famous... 
seasonal wildflower displays....”, and “rumors of Panthers....”
- from Cooper, Robinson, and Funderburg,
Endangered and Threatened Plants and Animals of North Carolina.
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