This Land, Your Land

The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge celebrates its 28th anniversary this Saturday with a free tram tour from 9 a.m. to noon.

The refuge comprises 154,000 acres on the Alligator River and Intracoastal Waterway, Albemarle Sound, and Croatan and Pamlico sounds in Dare and Hyde counties. It is about 190 miles east of Raleigh.

A news release says "as you discover why this place is important for wildlife and YOU, be on the lookout for black bear, bald eagles and other animals. Watch for the budding of wildflowers and many plants along the way."

While we haven't had the chance to get to Alligator River, we rode the same tram (below) for a tour at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in December. Get a look at that tour here.

Reservations for the tour are not required. Contact Cindy Heffley at 252-475-4180 with questions, the release says.

Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest natural lake in North Carolina at 40,000 surface acres, is the heart of the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County. It is best known as a wintering spot on the Atlantic Flyway for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl, including Tundra swans (below), Canada geese, snow geese, ducks and coots.

The refuge is also open to fishing and crabbing, and hunting for waterfowl and deer in season.

We visited last Saturday and joined one of the annual tram tours of wetland impoundments on the lake's eastern shore.

Except for ducks and coots in the canal along the dikes the tram followed, the tour mostly provided the opportunity to see birds from afar. The refuge provided a spotting scope at one stop.

Most of the refuge's levee system is closed to the public from November through February, but roadsides and observation decks provide several spots for bird watching. The causeway bisecting the lake, which is a part of N.C. 94, has several places to stop.

A gazebo on the causeway, below, is part of the Charles Kuralt Trail, a series of similar spots on the 11 refuges in North Carolina and at the national fish hatchery in Edenton dedicated to the North Carolina-born journalist's fondness for out-of-the-way points of interest.

Lake Mattamuskeet attracts birds because its waters are shallow - ranging from half a foot to 4 feet deep and averaging 1.5 feet deep - and clear, Stanton said. The Fish & Wildlife Service also allows farmers to plant 125 acres of cropland on the refuge, and some corn is left unharvested to feed the birds.

The group of Tundra swans below includes two juveniles, identifiable by their gray plumage.

A small visitor center has a few exhibits, some merchandise for sale and staff offices. Across from it, the quarter-mile New Holland Trail provides a scenic walk through a stand of bald cypress and open marsh.

Beyond the New Holland Trail, the dike passes one of lake's two state-operated boat ramps on the Central Canal, below, and ends another quarter-mile away at a photo blind on the lake shore.

Find our entire report, with additional photos and video, at Carolina Outdoors Guide - Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.

Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge begins taking reservations tomorrow morning for next month's guided tours to see wintering waterfowl at one of the best birding sites in North Carolina.

Four one-hour tours in open-air trams are scheduled for Saturday, December 17. The refuge got "overwhelming positive feedback" after offering the tours last year, a news release says.

Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina's largest natural lake, has significant wintering populations of ducks, Canada geese, snow geese and tundra swans (below). Bald eagles also winter at Lake Mattamuskeet and are frequently seen perched in trees along the shore, the release says.

Tours are set for 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. Refuge staff will begin taking reservations, which are required, at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday (November 29) at 252-926-4021.

"Unless the weather is so bad it poses a safety hazard, the tours will go on, rain or shine, windy or calm," Refuge Manager Deb Pierce says in the news release.

"It is critical that participants dress for cold weather, including heavy coats that will break the wind, scarfs, gloves, and especially hats," the release says.

Tundra swans at Lake Mattamuskeet on the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge near Swan Quarter. Click on the photo for more information.