North Carolina county #44 Concord Mills Wetland
Near Concord Mills mall and behind the H.H. Gregg there is a preserved wetland. I guess the whole area probably looked like that before the mall was built. I had heard about this area for a while – it is not far from me – as an excellent place to view waterfowl in the late fall and winter. My plan was to try to wait until then before checking it out, especially since it was so close and I can stop by anytime. But this week I was meeting a friend for lunch in the Concord Mills area so I decided to just leave a little early and do some birding.
The area is really just a strip of grass alongside a parking lot where you can walk back and forth viewing the wetlands and some trees along the edge. There seemed to be a path down towards the wetland but it looks like there was some illegal dumping down there as I saw a complete toilet bowl sitting in the middle of the path.
As I pulled up there were two Cooper’s Hawks flying around together and I managed to get a photo of one. Later on there was a Red-shouldered Hawk as well. When I walked to the trees something blue flew away and I was thinking Indigo Bunting. But actually it turned out to be my first of year Blue Grosbeak.
It’s too bad it was the wrong season – I could see that the ducks would love this place. But I did see some geese, a couple of Great Blue Herons, two Green Herons, and a Mute Swan. I don’t really understand these lone Mute Swans I run into. I have a feeling they are purchased to make local ponds look good.
I stayed for an hour or so before I had to go to lunch. Even with the lack of waterfowl, I got 23 species. I was hoping for some warblers, but I left satisfied with the Blue Grosbeak. Plus the lighting was pretty decent so my photos weren’t too bad.
ebird checklist