As wintering waterfowl begin to return to Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County, the annual Swan Days tram tours at the refuge have sold out and an additional free car caravan tour has been added to the schedule.
Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest natural lake in North Carolina at 40,000 surface acres, is a prime wintering spot on the Atlantic Flyway for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl, including tundra swan (below), Canada geese, snow geese, ducks and coots.
Swan Days, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. December 7 this year at Mattamuskeet School, is the annual celebration of the return of the tundra swan to the refuge. The day includes a variety of educational presentations about area history, wildlife and conservation; a free nature photography workshop; and arts and craft and food vendors. (See the Swan Days Facebook page also.)
Swan Days Birding Tours
A highlight of Swan Days is a series of tram tours to see birds in areas of the refuge that are not normally open to the public. The 120 available seats went on sale October 16.
- See our Swan Days Tram Tour adventure and more about Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.
While this year’s tram tours are sold out, any seats open because of no-shows will be re-sold just prior to each tour on a first come, first served basis for $10 cash.
Tram tours depart at 7:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. and last about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Meet at the school, 60 Juniper Bay Road, off of U.S. 264 East / N.C. 94.
In addition to the tram tours, the refuge has organized a free guided caravan of private cars to areas of the refuge “where there is a high probability of seeing large numbers of swans and other migratory birds.” The birding caravan will form at the school at 9:30 a.m. and depart at 10 a..m. Plan now to carpool to minimize the number of vehicles in the caravan, the website suggests.
Easy Birding at Lake Mattamuskeet
If you cannot make Swan Days or one of the guided tours, the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is open daily during daylight hours and offers several bird watching vantage points along an eight-mile drive.
There are observation decks with free scopes on the N.C. 94 Causeway, which bisects the lake, and along the refuge entrance road. Another deck on the lake that is part of the Charles Kuralt Trail has a spotting scope that looks out toward the small stand of cypress that was populated by bald eagles when we visited a few years ago (below).
The refuge’s small visitor center has a few exhibits, some merchandise for sale and staff offices. Across from it, the quarter-mile New Holland Trail provides a scenic walk through a stand of bald cypress and open marsh.
The state’s other national wildlife refuges along the coast are also stopovers for migrating birds, including Alligator River NWR in Manteo, Cedar Island NWR in Swan Quarter, Currituck NWR in Knotts Island, Pea Island NWR south of Nags Head and Pocosin Lake NWR in Columbia.
- See our visit to birding trails and observation decks at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.
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