Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Report for October–December 2025
A Core Banks Atlasing Adventure
by John Carpenter, Coastal Region Landbird Biologist; Silas Hernadez, Coastal Region Assistant Landbird Biologist; and Josh Emm, NC Bird Atlas Coastal Crew Lead
T he stretch of North Carolina barrier islands, from Portsmouth Island to Cape Lookout National Seashore, is collectively known as the Core Banks. These islands are interrupted by a series of narrow, shifting inlets that connect the Pamlico Sound and Atlantic Ocean while separating the island chain into two main sections, North Core and South Core. During most of the year, private ferries shuttle visitors and their 4x4 vehicles over to the islands to enjoy the scenery and wildlife, but access essentially grinds to a halt from January-March. This isolation, along with frequent freezing temperatures, high winds, and unruly tides, has presented unique challenges to fulfilling the data collection goals of the NC Bird Atlas. There are 9 Atlas survey blocks along the Core Banks, and as of October 2025, 6 of them had zero survey effort during the winter months. This all changed in mid-November as we packed up our sleeping bags and spotting scopes and set out on a ferry across the open water. The list of species we documented was impressively long and includes rarities such as the American Barn Owl, American Bittern, American Black Duck, Cape May Warbler, Long-billed Curlew, Hudso- nian and Marbled Godwits, Piping Plover, Saltmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrows, Sedge Wren, White-winged Scoter, and Virginia Rail. At one point during the trip, we stood on the beach, baffled by the ridicu- lously large number of Double-crested Cormorants we saw near and far and in every direction. These Core Bank Atlas blocks, now all nearly fulfilling our criteria for completion, would still benefit from a second visit (which we will attempt in early 2026), but it’s hard to imagine our Core Banks trip going any better than it did!
JOSH EMM/NCWRC
Cape May Warbler
JOSH EMM/NCWRC
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Double-crested Cormorant
JOSH EMM/NCWRC
12
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker