Wednesday, June 29, 2011

NC Birding Trail Books


Shortly after the series of books came out, I purchased the book for the Piedmont area as these are generally closer to home and more easily visited without much planning. The dog shortly thereafter shreaded the book, stretching the ring binder and chewing pages. I had never gone back and gotten another.

My Mom gave me money for my birthday to get what I wanted so on my way home from work, I went by the Wildlife Resources Commission and picked them up. Not only the Piedmont area (central part of the State) but also the coastal plain trails and the mountain trails. The State is somewhere around 547 miles at the most distant points. The saying is from Murphy to Manteo (mountains to sea). The highest point in the State is Mt. Mitchell at 6684 feet and the lowest is sea level. The diverse topography provides a variety of birding opportunities and possible encounters in each different area.

Each region is broken in to groups then sub-groups. Each birding hot spot includes a brief description of the habitat, anticipated birds you may encounter each season, general directions to the area and any pertinent information such as if the land is open for hunting, prone to flooding, best time of year to visit, etc. For $10.00 a book, they are nice guides. Despite all the new high tech electronic media toys, there is still something to be said about holding a book in your hands. No batteries required.

I had considered taking off tomorrow and Friday and heading down to the southern coastal area of the State to go Painted Bunting hunting. As it is more fun to have a birding buddy, I called my friend to see if she could go but unfortunately other obligations. With already questioning traveling to that area this close to the July 4th weekend this trip will have to be delayed.

Next weekend would be perfect but unfortunately I have to work then so three weeks is a long delay. I may have to rethink this and go ahead and suck it up and work this weekend so I would have next weekend to go.

No comments: