Four intrepid students, Tia Brody, Ali Iyoob, Trevor and Matt Daw along with leaders Becky Desjardins and Rachel Banyal left Raleigh at 4:30 in the morning on May 2 for an 18 hour birdathon through Eastern North Carolina. We started our adventures off at Holly Shelter Gamelands, where highlights included a very cooperative Swainson’s Warbler, Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Yello-throated Warbler. We also saw a number of carnivorous plants, including Venus Flytraps growing in the wild. We continued our adventures to Carolina Beach State Park, where we found Painted Buntings, and then onto Fort Fisher where we had a few shorebirds including Terns and an Oystercatcher, Seaside Sparrow, and Greater Shearwater. Our final stop was Masonboro Inlet, where the Least Terns were doing their mating dances, a huge flock of peeps flew around, and late season Northern Gannets dove in the surf. We returned to Raleigh at 6pm. The species total was 100 birds, and though we have not counted up the money we raised we expect to have made quite a bit!
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