Building Bridges (literally and figuratively!)

At Elderberry, we have access to over 140 acres of great hiking trails, mostly on Potluck Farm Property (the community adjacent to Elderberry), and there are a couple of beautiful streams that run through these woods. We have two bridges crossing these streams (and a few places where we can cross on rocks, with ropes to hold on to, when the water is low).  One of our bridges is a hanging bridge that we finished a couple years ago.  The other is a wooden footbridge that we made about 12 years ago.  The latter bridge was the victim of a weird windy afternoon about a week ago that took down several trees in the area.  The bridge was next to a huge beech tree that fell, and the tree fell right across the bridge and broke it in two.  Sad!!!  But today, a team of folks from Elderberry and Potluck Farm went out to try to rescue the bridge.  We cleared away much of the beech tree (the top part only, because the bottom main trunk is huge).  And we were able to pull the two halves of the bridge out from under the trunk, and put the broken ends up on the fallen beech until we figure out what to do next.  So the creek can be crossed - if one is careful and brave!

The beech tree (3 trunks!) across the bridge.  The little green dot on the tree was our trail marker to show that this was the Perimeter Trail!

Mary, Richard, Karolyn, Cynthia, Marj and Cathy (photographer) assessing the damage. 

Mary taking a break with Rosie and Riley

Dave and Richard hauling one of the large branches out of the stream

The team working on the tree - Mary and Richard were chain sawing and everyone else was trying to get the branches and logs moved out into the woods.

It was a beautiful day to work - our woods are lovely in the winter with the green from holly, moss and ground cedar; and the soft brown from the beech leaves that cling to their trees for the winter.

Richard freed up all but the largest trunk of the tree and it looked like the bridge could be salvaged

Richard finishing up the logs that we were able to cut.  Cynthia looking on - she used her 4-wheeler to get all of our equipment down to the stream.

Richard suggested that we might be able to rebuild the bridge over the remaining trunk.  We are not sure that will work long-term but we decided to try to free the bridge and set the broken ends up on the trunk for now. 

 Mary and Dave got their end up on the log (Mary could not find the waders so just plowed into the water when needed - cold feet!)

The team freed up the other end of the bridge, pulled it out from under the trunk, and lifted the broken end onto the trunk at mid-stream

And there we have it!  A broken, but sort-of usable bridge for the brave.  We're now thinking about how to fix it permanently.  That might take a while!

Unbelievable Birding!!

Five of us from Elderberry took a weekend excursion to Lake Mattamuskeet and Pungo Lake this past weekend to see the tundra swans and snow geese.  Thousands of them migrate through these two NC wildlife refuges in January and February, and they are an extraordinary sight.  We saw hundreds of swans, congregating on the wetlands and hooting softly, an enchanting sound when coming from so many birds at once.  At sunset, swarms of snow geese came into the fields.  They looked like glowing bumblebees in the sky - dark wings set off by a white chest that glowed orange in the setting sun.  We were awed.

In addition to the swans and snow geese, we saw 41 other species of birds.  A very special treat (thanks to our friend Glaeshia) was the black crowned night heron.  We saw an adult at Mattamuskeet and we saw a juvenile in the Swanquarter refuge.  We saw many great blue herons and egrets, and seven bald eagles.

AND, we had so much fun together!  We rented a house for the weekend in Swanquarter, ate some delicious meals at cozy restaurants, enjoyed relaxing mornings together at the house, and ate 2 meals at gas stations (not quite as bad as it sounds, but almost).  We are already planning next year's trip, and would like to add in a ferry ride to Ocracoke and a visit to Pea Island refuge.

For those who really want to see the list of birds (and I know some of you are out there.... Dick's son Rick for one) you will find it at the end of this post below the photos.


Dave, Cheryl and Joyce at one of the viewing platforms at Lake Mattamuskeet

The tundra swans.  There is no way to capture the immensity of the groupings of swans in photos.  Just look at these photos and multiply by hundreds in your head!

An great egret in the little canal in the front yard of the house we were renting. 

Dave getting a better view of the swans.  Can you tell that 4 of us had our stuff crammed into Dick's car?  The roads were SUPER muddy, especially the first day. In addition to chipping in for gas, we all chipped in to pay for Dick's car wash!

Dave, Mary, Joyce, Cheryl and Dick at Lake Mattamuskeet

We heard that the Visitor Center was great, and Mary and Cheryl LOVE visitor centers.  Unfortunately, it was closed due to the government shutdown!  This is Joyce and Cheryl making their saddest faces.

Swans, swans and more swans.  So elegant.

At The Tavern at Jack's Neck in Belhaven.  On Friday night we had a cozy table by the fire, so on Saturday night we called ahead for the same table and went back!

We almost didn't get out of town after the big snow, and there was also a lot of snow in Swanquarter (and they don't have snow plows!).  But driving was not a problem.  This swan didn't seem to mind the snow.

This black-crowned night heron apparently calls this post home.  Glaeshia told us where to look for him and said she sees him there every year.  Pretty amazing!  Most of them leave for the winter, so we were lucky to see this one, and also lucky to see a juvenile one the following day.

Thanks to Glaeshia for use of her spotting scope!  We are checking out a bald eagle here.  On a different hike, we saw three juvenile eagles together in a tree very near to us, and the three took flight together.  Stunning!  Joyce could tell you another story about the eagle experience!

 Lake Mattamuskeet

OK..... Here's the bird list!
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Greater Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Double-breasted Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
Forster's Tern
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
House Sparrow