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Bird Island Coastal Reserve
Bird Island, at the southwestern tip of Sunset Beach, has not actually been an island for many years, with storms and other natural movement of sand having filled in Mad Inlet in the late 1990s. The state acquired the nearly 1,300 acres of beach, marsh and wetlands in 2002, making it the tenth site in the N.C. Coastal Reserve Program.
The “island” includes 1.2 miles of beach and 1.5 miles of shoreline on the sound. Because Sunset Beach runs east-west, it has actually grown while other Atlantic Coast beaches have eroded through the years.
At low tide, the beach is very wide. At the far end of the island, looking west, a jetty protects the Little River inlet, which serves as a boat channel.
A well-known man-made feature on the reserve is the “Kindred Spirit” mailbox just beyond the beach about midway down the island. Many visitors stop to write their thoughts on notebooks in the mailbox, or to read what others have said.
The Division of Coastal Management says Bird Island has examples of upper beach, dune grass, maritime dry grassland, maritime wet grassland, maritime shrub thicket, maritime shrub swamp, brackish marsh, salt shrub, salt flat and salt marsh barrier island communities.
Mostly, Bird Island is a natural, open expanse of sand, grass and water.
Across the waterway behind the dunes, vacation homes are visible.
Because of its natural beauty and relative isolation, Bird Island has been a popular spot for weddings, as well as enjoying the sun and sand in the buff. Posted “Guidelines for Visitors” include “No public nudity.”
Bird Island is in Brunswick County, just above the state line. Reach it on foot by driving to the end of Main Street in Sunset Beach, where there’s parking and public beach access, and walking down the beach.
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