Friday was a bit of a rainy day, with passing showers mostly from Avon south. We got chased off the beach in the afternoon and after waiting an hour or so for the rain to stop, we decided to head up to Pea Island.
As many times as I've passed by, I've never stopped at Pea Island. It doesn't look like much from the road, and generally when we pass by we're either arriving or departing and don't really have time to stop. The visitor center is pretty small and was closed when we got there, but out in back was a bird feeder that had a few geese and this muskrat.
We headed out to the "interpretive trail" (as the Park Service calls it), and the first stop is the turtle pond. It is full of turtles of all sizes and they come paddling up when they hear (feel?) you walk over the bridge. The water is pretty murky, but if you look close you'll see 'em.
From here, the trail goes trough some brush that creates a little bit of a tunnel. It's kinda nice.
Coming out of the brush, we spotted a small raccoon patrolling a tide pool. And a little bit later, a deer crossed the trail ahead of us. There were numerous birds of all types.
You finally come to an observation tower. It's about two stories high and gives you a great view over the island. In fact, it is mesmerizing to just stand and gaze out over the landscape. The picture at the top of this entry is from there. Here's another.
As we stood looking out, flocks of birds started flying by (coming from the south and going north towards Oregon Inlet). Here's a link to a video of a fly by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlXnuzF1Qw&feature=youtu.be. What's neat is that you are just about at the same height as the birds as they fly by.
Anyway, after all of that it was time to head back to the car, just in time for the sunset.
And that was our Pea Island experience.
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