Nature of Outer Banks
Is there something iteresting about The Currituck Sound wild life and geography you can tell?
With 150 miles of pristine coastline, and some of the East Coast's largest swaths of undisturbed maritime forest, the Outer Banks is a popular destination for nature lovers. There are also very attractive parks for the region.The nature received a grand to establish a unique climate to its unique geographical location. the island has predisposition to be affected by hurricanes. The winters are usually milder. The spring and fall are milder seasons as well and warmer than inland. The spring and the summer are slightly cooler of being surrounded by the water. Although snow is possible but there are many times when years pass between snowfalls. As un important spot on America's "flyway", with is the route that migrating birds take on their northern and soutern treks across the country. The Outer Banks is the temporary home to hundreds of species of birds. Combined with numbers of deers, foxes, waterfowl, fish, turtles, and even alligators, and it's clear that Outer Banks is a truly wild.
Our coastal region is a birding hot spot. It consistently provides some of the highest species counts in the world. No less than ten national wildlife refuges, two national seashore parks and many nature reserves provide at least a quarter million acres of protected habitat. This rich environment makes North Carolina's coastal lands and the Outer Banks a magnet for hundreds of bird species. It also attracts many thousands of people who watch and photograph them.Without question, the most visible wildlife on the Outer Banks is certainly the bird population. Gulls, terns, geese, ducks, pelicans, egrets, cranes, plovers and other shore birds are a constant presence. The many songbirds flitting about in the pine forests, shrubs and marsh grasses of this coastal habitat are a bit less noticeable, unless you are paying close attention, but they are plentiful and varied. In fact, coastal North Carolina, with its plethora of protected wild habitats, is one of the hottest spots in the world for bird watchers.
Brown Pelicans are quite plentiful, usually seen skimming the waves and diving for fish. Sunrise can be a great time to watch their graceful moves, and sudden kamikaze dives. They will often hang around fish cleaning stations at piers and marinas, scavenging the leftovers from fishermen's catches. Gulls and terns are everywhere, of course. If you throw bread crumbs, or Cheerios, or other such edibles into the air behind the ferries, or at a marina, you can draw a flock of them like a magnet. But before you do that, consider the visitors around you. Some folks aren't as fond of gulls as others. They can be boisterous, noisy and obnoxious, and so can the gulls.
Great Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Great Egrets, Little Egrets and Snowy Egrets are plentiful as well. The herons are more difficult to spot than the Great Egrets, and seem less inclined to hang around where there is human activity. It is a common sight to see Great Egrets and Little Egrets feeding in marshy ditches along roads, seemingly quite indifferent to the traffic which passes by them.
Ducks, geese, cormorants, plovers, sandpipers, avocets, ibis and many other kinds of shore birds abound here. Many ducks and geese winter in the protected habitats afforded by national and states refuges and parks all along the coast. Pea Island National Refuge is a good place to view wintering species.
Great flocks of Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Canada Geese and many species of ducks draw birders