By Lynn Ingram
Why is a willet a willet?
How fast is a ghost crab?
Who eats sea turtles?
Answers to those questions, and a buffet of others, entertained and enlightened attendees of Peter Vankevich’s Tuesday morning bird walk.
The 90-minute event might well have been billed “Amazing Ocracoke 101,” as Vankevich and volunteer park ranger Michaela Davis extolled and explained the island’s natural wonders.
The Sept. 12 walk began with a description of the effects of the massive Hurricane Lee, fiercely churning way out in the Atlantic.
Despite forecasts that Lee wouldn’t hit North Carolina, she still threatened Ocracoke with severe rip currents and overwash.
Ocean safety was top-of-mind that morning not only because of Lee, but also because of three water-related deaths on the Outer Banks the previous week. (None had occurred on Ocracoke.)
Davis’s presentation was punctuated by a whoosh of wings, followed by Vankevich’s observation, “Cooper’s Hawk!”
All eyes searched a nearby treetop, where the bird, barely visible, perched.
Noting that several present did not have binoculars, Vankevich suggested that beginners might have more bird identification success if they hone identification skills not reliant on devices: Learn flight patterns and distinguishing marks, like the Carolina Wren’s white eye line.
Learn songs and calls of birds that frequent one’s viewing area. That will help to know when an unusual bird is present.
As the group meandered toward the beach, the aforementioned Carolina Wren burst into song. Birds, like people, Vankevich said, have accents.
The trilling of Ocracoke’s Carolina Wren varies somewhat from the melody sung by their inland kin, as does that of the Eastern Towhee.
The next avian attraction, a Belted Kingfisher, whizzed quickly into and out of view, stridently voicing its rattling call.
An elegant Osprey soared overhead moments later. Ospreys frequently construct enormous nests on utility poles, Vankevich said, prompting utility companies to erect poles with nesting platforms to tempt the birds away from problematic pole-nesting. (See story, page 1.)
Where there are birds, there must be bird food.
Protecting and planting native species such as wax myrtle and yaupon holly, rather than imported exotic plants, is vital, Vankevich said.
Introduced invasive flora may choke out native plants, depriving wild creatures of both food and habitat and then humans of their delightful company.
Everything on Ocracoke—flora and fauna alike—is interconnected, he said; each element lives and thrives in concert with others.
Next, Davis pointed out gaillardia, a gold and red flower, and told the legend why they are known locally as Joe Bell flowers on Ocracoke.
Then, she noted a ghost crab hole in the sand. These transparent-bodied crabs with eyes perched comically on stems above their heads can run 10 miles an hour, she said, making them chief predators of newly hatched sea turtles, along with the ubiquitous black-headed Laughing Gulls, opossums and other mammals.
This year, Davis said, 111 turtles nested on Ocracoke, primarily loggerheads, with a few green turtles and, unusually, one leatherback with 71 successful hatchlings.
Because Hurricane Lee threatened to overwash the remaining nests, rangers were excavating those in the 50- to 60-day hatch window, to release any early hatchlings so that they don’t drown in the overwash. Rangers will rebury unhatched eggs, hoping that they’ll survive the overwash and hatch later.
A party of cavorting Willets welcomed the group upon its arrival at the beach.
A tall shorebird on stilt-like legs, the Willet stalks the tideline, poking its bill into sand in search of tasty crustaceans.
Like many other birds, Vankevich noted, the Willet is named for its call: “Will-it, will-it, will-it.”
Flying Willets are also easily identified by a pronounced white wing stripe.
On cue, providing a fitting finale to the bird walk, a Willet took flight to demonstrate.
