DayTrippin' - Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge

I'm sorry Folks, I've been a busy bee. Brian and I have been to Key West, camping in Newport News, camping in Hatteras, day trips to Carova Beach, Oregon Inlet, First Landing Park, Munden Point and so on! Plus I work for the city of Virginia Beach Parks and Natural Areas department, so I have been neglecting the whole blog thing, which is kind of sad because I love it so much!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Great Blue Heron "][/caption]

Alligator river is an amazing place. It's an 154,000 acre refuge that has tons of roads to drive and explore including a few places to to launch your kayak or canoe and also a couple of walking trails...Today, our objective is to look for bears and red wolves... We started our trip in Moyock, NC (where we  now live) and drove down 17 through Elizabeth City, Hartford, and Columbia... The Town of Columbia is a really cute older waterfront area... I recommend stopping and checking out their wildlife center for the sounds. It's beautiful! There's a pier-style trail to walk and who knows - you may even have a chance of spotting a bear!

We stopped and ate lunch at Mikes Kitchen in Columbia just over the bridge. This place was actually realllly good, I will definitely be looking forward to going there again! Usually when Brian and I go to Alligator River Refuge we try to just go down whatever driving trails  are open... because you never know which ones are open and if it is you should go down it, because you might not be able to go down that trail again until the following year. We drove around and spotted tons of Tree Swallows and Yellow-rumped Warblers... along with a few Sulphur butterflies fluttering around.

....And as we were driving on one of the roads, we saw a large bird fly into a tree next to the Jeep....

Originally I thought it was a hawk of some sort, but then it turned and looked at us and Brian says "Holy Shit!! -- look an owl!" I couldn't believe it! I didn't know what to do..... I tried to hurry up and turn on my camera, but as usual when I want it to turn on quickly it takes FOREVER then I have to change the settings to manual and blah blah blah, because remember I use a Point and Shoot....ha..so I tried to get a shot before he flew off. This is the only shot I got....

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Barred Owl"][/caption]

Honestly, I was happy with that single shot I had gotten, but then...the owl decided to fly across the road and landed on a branch...It looked back at us, not really worried about us being there.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Barred Owl checking us out"][/caption]

I decided to get out of the Jeep.  Figured if the owl wasn't that worried about me, then it wouldn't mind if i tried to get a few more shots! Well, once I got out of the Jeep the owl flew off again, but not that far. I decided I would walk down the road a little - very quietly and try once again to get another shot of this beautiful owl! It was almost impossible for me to find this amazingly camouflaged creature. I kept loosing sight every time I would have to take my eye off of the owl for a split second to raise my view finder to my eyeball. Oh man, It was insane how much it blended in with its surroundings!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Camouflaged Barred Owl"][/caption]

On our way out I saw a Cormorant diving in one of the "ditches".... when Brian passed him, he was going sort of fast. I asked him to stop and reverse because there was a bird I wanted to get a shot of.... He said, "Won't the bird fly off?" I said, "Nah, probably not this one" and sure enough, there was the Cormorant...now out of the water. He posed.... several times, and then we drove off. Oh it was great. I can't wait to visit this place again. Every season is beautiful!

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Cormorant Drying Plumage"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Double-crested Cormorant"][/caption]

Beach Day - Ocracoke Island, NC

I can't begin to explain how relaxing it is to have sand between your toes, whispers of ocean breeze play with your hair, and the sun kissing your skin. It's my idea of a perfect summer day!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Beach go-ers and Willets relaxing on Ocracoke Beach"][/caption]

Have you ever been to a beach where you can drive straight down to the water? Honestly, You will never want to tote your chairs, coolers, toys and what not down a mile long trail to the beach while your feet burn in the sand EVER AGAIN! All beaches should be like this really. It would make the beach experience that much better. I feel very fortunate to live so close to the outer banks. There's beach driving on several beaches within an hour or two of our home. I know it sounds silly for me to drive that far when I live blocks from the Chesapeake Bay Beaches and within minutes of Virginia Beach Oceanfront - seriously folks - those beaches are nothing in comparison.

Brian and I started our trip in Chesapeake; we would have gone the usual Caratoke Hwy way through Nags Head BUT- it was bumper to bumper with people heading to their beach rental homes or hotels. So, we decided to take the longer route down 17 and over to 64 through Alligator River and Manteo. We expected to get there an hour later than going the other route, but I think it may have been 20 minutes longer than taking our usual route. We stayed the night at Avon Hotel which online it's reviews are horrible, but people need to get off their high horse, nothing is perfect! If you pay a small amount for a hotel in an area where they are all very high, chances are its not going to be what you expected. It's an older hotel, with older TVs ect...but I love it! I love the OLD beach feel, oh and I like the price tag... because when I go somewhere the only time I spend in the hotel room is when I'm sleeping...so who cares!? Plus All the money we saved on the hotel, goes toward doing more fun stuff! whoo hoo!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414" caption="Cape Hatteras Light House"][/caption]

In the morning we stopped at the best bakery ever. The Orange Blossom Bakery. If you happen to stop in there, you HAVE to get an Apple Ugly. They are amazingly delicious!! After getting breakfast we stopped at the Hatteras Light house ramps. We were really anxious to check out the beaches but the sand was really soft, so we turned around and went on our way to Ocracoke Island. I really wanted to be sitting in the sun!

We hopped on the ferry and scooted across the Pamlico Sound over to our destination. On the ferry ride to the island we saw lots of wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, and skimmers - one of my favorite birds!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="White Ibis struttin' his stuff after catching a small mud fiddler - Taken from the Ferry"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Spotted Sandpiper"][/caption]

Ocracoke is way too beautiful to describe. Its just miles of inhabited beach and sound. The water is absolutely Stunning! Brian and I could see our toes in the water!! The beaches I hang around have a sort of green color to them. This was simply amazing to see! we could see the shells in the water, even as the waves were breaking and huge crabs swimming by in the current. I felt like I was in Florida!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Ocracoke turquoise colored ocean"]/[/caption]

We sat on the beach and enjoyed the day relaxing and watching the birds. Right before we left, the Skimmers kept coming by....I felt like I could sit there for hours watching them delicately skim the wave break-line hoping to catch a fish or small crustacean.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Black Skimmer delicately skimming the waves for food"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Black Skimmer heading back down the break-line for more food"][/caption]

...and persistence pays off!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Black Skimmer with his catch!"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="YUM! Did you know black skimmers have webbed feet but rarely swim in the water"][/caption]

Brian and I spent the entire day on the beach. It's so relaxing...I can't imagine life with out days spent on the beach. n our way home we stopped at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge to switch drivers. I asked Brian if we could walk down the trail a bit and get a picture of the sun setting....on our way down the trail I could hear the loud call from an Eastern Towhee, a bird I hear often...but hardly see.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Eastern Towhee "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="458" caption="Eastern Towhee singing his heart out in the sunset"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Pea Island Refuge Sunset"][/caption]

George Washington National Forest

Elizabeth Furnace recreation area, located in George Washington National Forest just north of Fort Valley, Virginia is the comfy and very awesome campground we stayed in this weekend... It was a 5 hour drive, but well worth it! The campground was packed but we ended up finding a spot that was mostly private. All of the campsites are pretty private and well spaced and come with a tent pad, a fire ring, and a picnic table. Brian and I arrived at the campsite a little late in the afternoon .. we set up our tent, took a short walk to make sure we got the best campsite..then did a little relaxing in the tent. We hung out for a little while  discussing what we would do the next day and eventually went to sleep. The next morning I woke up early as usual! and as I lay there, I could hear two chickadees calling to each other outside of our tent window. I Got  up.. quickly got dressed and went outside to check out the little bird couple. I sat outside at the picnic table for a little  and noticed the female kept flying towards our lamp-post....because I'm too short, I couldn't see down inside of  the lamp-post so I put my camera down in the hole and tried to get an idea of what she was so worried about...Well, apparently she had a nest down in there! The little chickadees eventually understood that we meant no harm to them and started going down in the lamp post to tend to their eggs. It was such a cute couple to watch!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Ma & Pa Chickadee"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Mama Chickadee at the campsite lamp-post where her eggs are hidden"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Papa Chickadee standing guard while his mate tends to their eggs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="very cleverly hidden chickadee eggs"][/caption]

We were so lucky to have several other chickadees visiting our campsite as well! I love these tiny little birds. Did you know, Carolina chickadees are able to lower their body temperatures to get into a state of hypothermia. They do this to keep energy during extremely cold winter. Chickadees find a place they can hide in and lower their body temperature and can stay in a state of hypothermia for up to fifteen hours!

We took a nature walk around the campground on our way down to the Shenandoah river. WOW! It was a hot day! We really couldn't wait to get near the water where it was much cooler.... Along the way we spotted a couple different types of  Pretty wild flowers and  a few birds... The Baltimore Orioles were singing high in the tree tops and were very pretty! I also saw lots of little Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Eastern Phoebes.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Eastern Phoebe"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Gray Catbird"][/caption]

Once we arrived to the very comfortable river edge, we cooled off and put our feet in. Brian brought his chair to relax in while I ran around looking for things to take pictures of : ) The water was flowing over the rocks and down into a big pool...oh my was it clear! We could see the fish swimming! The water is nothing like this in the area I'm from. It was very breathtaking...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="fish swimming in the clear Shenandoah water. I counted 7, how about you?"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Canada Darner (I believe) munchin on a leaf"][/caption]

We headed back to the campsite to unwind for the day. Brian cooked me an yummy dinner and built us an awesome fire. We had a beautiful day, and it was nice to relax with the stars above us and a nice warm cozy fire to sit by.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Cozy Campfire - of course we made s'mores!"][/caption]

The next morning we both woke up early. Brian and I wanted to drive the entire Skyline Drive, A beautiful 35 mph 105 mile windy but smooth drive along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park.There are 75 breath-taking overlooks!  We made breakfast before we set out on our journey, and got visited by a few tiny critters.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Eastern Tent Moth checkin whats for breakfast"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Tiny Brown Jumper Spider"][/caption]

We quickly packed up and headed to Shenandoah National Park to drive down the scenic Sky Line. This drive has to be the most peaceful drive I've ever been on... The sights, the smells, the wildlife, It really just doesn't get any better! We stopped at literally every other lookout and checked out "SkyLand", a really neat resort area and its elevation is 3680 which is the highest point on Sky Line Drive! Driving down skyline we usually see tons of deer, but this time we only saw one...she was older and didn't seem to mind the cars riding by. About half way down the skyline we came across a bear in a tree over the road! It was just sniffin' around in a tree and looked a little confused. Brian and I agreed it looked younger, and didn't want to wait around for mom to come around.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Black Bear sniffin around in a tree"][/caption]

When we finally arrived home, 11 hours later... We went to Chicks Beach on the Chesapeake Bay and watched a stunning sunset. It was a perfect ending to a fun-filled day from the mountains to the bay!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Sunset - Chicks Beach on Chesapeake Bay"][/caption]

Camping at Chippokes Plantation State Park

Chippokes Plantation is one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever been to. The campsites aren't on top of each other and the bathroom is conveniently located. There's so much to do! (be sure to read my earlier post) Brian and I had a great time checking out The Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum and we got to meet a cute little pot-bellied pig  with so much personality! His name was Taz and he was the sweetest little guy! We spent two nights at the campground and met wonderful camp hosts, Doug and Cathy, very nice folks and very helpful! I will definitely visit this campground again.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Eastern Bluebird after an early morning shower"][/caption]

Our first night went kind of fast, we didn't get out of the house till late but we managed to get to the park before it got dark. We set our tent up and built a campfire. It was a beautiful night the stars were out and we were relaxing around the fire with s'mores yum! The next morning I work up early - this was our first camping trip of 2010, so of course I was overly excited! It rained a little in the morning, but the sun shined through and pushed out the clouds. I didn't want to wake Brian up so I took a quick walk through the campground to check out the birds.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Chipping Sparrow foraging in a campsite "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Bald Eagle soaring high over the campground"][/caption]

On the way back to the campsite I got to see a few smaller butterflies. I was very fortunate for them to land and let me take their picture.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="464" caption="Horace's Duskywing Skipper Butterfly basking in the sun"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="443" caption="Eastern Tailed-blue having a short rest on a clover leaf"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A very curious Silver-spotted Skipper "][/caption]

I walked back to the campsite after watching the little butterflies flutter around. We made a bowl of cereal and discussed what we were going to do first. We walked to the beach and the visitor center. Lots of Zebra Swallowtails fluttered by on our way down the shady road. when we got to the visitor center we looked through the binoculars and checked out the James River. I spotted a Blue Heron who was on the hunt.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="476" caption="Blue Heron hunting"][/caption]

After leaving the beach & visitor center we went and looked at all the farm and forestry exhibits, we headed over to the plantation house. I don't think i could ever get tired of walking through the garden - It's such a beautiful place!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="433" caption="Five-lined Skink basking in the sun on the plantation house"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Close your eyes, make a wish...& BLOW!"][/caption]

On our way to the car, I stopped to look at the beautiful bluebells again...to my surprise there was a tiny white crab spider! I think they are the most interesting looking spiders.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="White Crab Spider guarding a set of Bluebells"][/caption]

I really didn't want to leave Chippokes... but on our last day we decided to get up early, get on the ferry ride it over to Jamestown and ride the entire colonial parkway to Yorktown. Once we got on the ferry we were literally 10 ft from an osprey in the middle of constructing a nest, and once we got to the other side of the James river I could see inside an Osprey's nest from the top deck of the ferry. It was so awesome!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Osprey building a new nest"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Osprey Mom from the top deck of the ferry"][/caption]

Yorktown Battlefield National Park has a lot to see as well, but we only drove through this time. I got to see a Mute Swan very briefly. They are so graceful to watch glide through the water.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Beautiful Mute Swan"][/caption]

Brian's Mom Sibyl and Her Husband Norris Live in Yorktown. It would have been silly for us not to have stopped by and at least say hello for a bit while we were in the area. We chatted, caught up on what everyone was doing and Sibyl told me they had Canada geese babies at their little pond in front of their neighborhood. It was so sweet to see them!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Momma Canada Goose and Goslings"][/caption]