North Carolina county #91 Pilot Mountain State Park - Ivy Bluff Access
After visiting the mountain, I went over to the river section of Pilot Mountain State Park, which is in Yadkin County. There are trails on both sides of the Yadkin River, and I went to the Ivy Bluff Access area on the opposite side of the river from the mountain.
As you can see, the entrance wasn’t much to look at, but the trail turned out to be pretty nice. It was about two and a half miles round trip, and it traveled down to the river and then alongside it to a small loop before you turn back. You do go down and then back up a good amount of elevation, but it is not very steep so although the trail is marked moderate, it is not bad at all.
I saw a pretty good amount of birds during my two-hour visit, and it was a very nice day out for a walk. A Red-shouldered Hawk flew low over me, two Pileated Woodpeckers were very close to me but I couldn’t spot them, and I saw several Golden-crowned Kinglets.
I ran into two different Hermit Thrushes, and got a photo of this guy looking at me through the brush. A Downy Woodpeckers was also being cooperative, and I got some photos of him against a nice red leaf background.
By far the highlight of the trip was when I got good looks at a Winter Wren. He was low on the ground near a log, and moved from place to place as I approached. I viewed him several times through my binoculars but couldn’t get him to stand still long enough for a photo. This was only my second Winter Wren ever, and the first of this year.
There was not very many good views of the river; most of them looked like this.
It was basically just a nice wilderness trail, with birds out enjoying the day along with me. I did not see or hear anyone else the whole time, except for a few park rangers at the entrance when I was leaving.
ebird checklist