National Wildlife Refuges Welcome Migrating Birds

Migrating waterfowl are returning to the North Carolina’s National Wildlife Refuges along the coast, and reservations for Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge’s annual birding tram tours open November 20.

Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, including sveral varieties of ducks and coots, Canada geese, tundra swan, ibis, egrets and bald eagles, migrate to Lake Mattamuskeet, ponds at Alligator River and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuges, and other waterways on the East Coast each fall and winter.

At Lake Mattamuskeet, the Swan Days Festival on December 8 celebrates the return of the Alaskan tundra swan. The day’s variety of events begins with guided birding tours around the lake at 8 a.m. Participation is limited, and reservations open at 8 a.m. November 20 at 252-926-1638 or 252-926-1639.

We joined the open-air tram tour in 2011 (below). It visited wetland impoundments on the lake’s eastern shore near the Lake Landing Canal and provided several opportunities to see waterfowl. The tour was narrated by a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and at one stop a spotting scope was available to view birds. The tour concluded early enough for us to spend a few more hours exploring the refuge’s trails and observation platforms.

Tundra swan Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge …

See our page about Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and the Swan Days Tram Tour

This year’s Swan Days Festival takes place at the refuge and at Mattamuskeet School from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other events on the schedule include talks about the lake’s history, a decoy carving workshop, photography workshop, presentations by Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Scotland Neck and the North Carolina Estuarium in Washington, N.C., kids’ programs, and vendors’ booths.

The Mattamuskeet refuge is 9 miles east of Swan Quarter by U.S. 264 and N.C. 94 in Hyde County. Mattamuskeet School is at 60 Juniper Bay Road in Swan Quarter.

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge offers tram tours at 9 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month (but December 15) through May. They cost $10 per person age 13 and older and require reservations.

At Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge just south of Nags Head, visitors have already reported sightings of Canada goose, Tundra swan, Northern pintails, mallards, and many more waterfowl. Pea Island offers self-guided tours of short, flat nature trails alongside large ponds, an observation tower and a visitor center, all just a few steps off of N.C. 12.