Yesterday, we got up before daybreak and headed out to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. It was a fairly foggy morning so we had to proceed with some caution down all the twisting, curving, bumpy, backroads across four North Carolina counties to our final destination, Pungo Unit. The Old Turnpike Road is one of the most bumpy curved paved roads I have ever traveled on in my life, I think. It was rebuilt by slaves and prisoners in 1846.
We did not exactly beat sunrise but it was a close race and there was some sweet pink light. It wasn't all that chilly so it was not uncomfortable to have the truck windows down while trying to locate the waterfowl. We drove to our favortie spot and was met with some disappointment to discover that our favorite impoundment for watching the ducks, coots and swans had not been fully flooded. There were not very many birds and the few birds that were present were all at fair distance away. There were no ducks or coots but a lot of Killdeer and about six to eight Sandhill cranes keeping a safe distance away from everything.
It's a good 45 minute to an hour drive from our house to not have a very successful day of photography but really did enjoy seeing the Sandhill cranes and watching the Swans but had hoped to see a lot more migratory waterfowl like last year and the year before. We also did see from a considerable distance a lot of Snow geese landing in a field. Hopefully more birds will show up soon.
