Tour features waterfowl
Published 1:51 am Saturday, December 10, 2011
Nature lovers will have a chance to enjoy a unique event in Hyde County as 2011 draws to a close.
The Friends of the Pocosin Lakes is sponsoring the Winter Waterfowl Tour on Sunday.
Sherryreed Moore, visitor outreach specialist from Pocosin Lakes, discussed some of what visitors can expect to see on the tour.
“People should be able to see tundra swans and many species of ducks such as wood ducks, mallards, pintails and shovelors,” she said. “Snow geese usually arrive around this time of year, but because of the warm temperatures that we have been having lately, their arrival has been delayed.”
Moore noted that trams transporting up to 30 people are usually full during such tours.
“The waterfowl are just beginning to arrive, and at peak numbers they can cover Pungo Lake like snow,” she added.
The Friends of the Pocosin Lakes will sponsor two more tram tours on Jan. 21 and Feb. 18, before the end of the wintering waterfowl season. Sunday’s tour will be the refuge’s last outreach event this year.
The tour will be led by Mike Dunn, senior manager of outreach, and Melissa Dowland, a teacher-education specialist with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. Visitors should bring binoculars, dress appropriately for the weather with comfortable shoes for walking, a snack and nonalcoholic beverage.