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 Field and Swamp: Animals and Their Habitats

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Archived-by-Date Pages

Carolina Lake (unless otherwise specified), New Hanover County, NC

Carolina Lake, in the southern part of Carolina Beach near the main drag, is a gathering place of a wonderful variety of migrating birds in the winter.  For directions, see this live map.

Lake Park, Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/21/25

Tricolored Heron Same Tricolored Heron Tree Swallow Yellow-rumped Warbler White Ibis

   
White Ibises Female Ruddy Ducks Forster's Tern    

 
Bonaparte's Gull Juvie Little Blue Heron Forster's Tern Mallard pair  

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/20/25

 
Sunset in the east. Photo by Karl David Gottschalk. Double-crested Cormorants Afloat, the Buoy Art Project, a community-wide participatory public art project designed by Lauren Pallotta Stumberg and carried out under the direction of the Island Arts Council for display at the Carolina Beach Municipal Marina. Community members painted the buoys at two scheduled times. The announcement for the beginning of the project: https://islandartscouncil.net/afloat Mural  

Lake Park, Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/20/25

 
Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret White Ibises Tricolored Heron  

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/19/25

Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret Tricolored Heron Yellowbelly Slider Same Yellowbelly Slider

       
Double-crested Cormorant        

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/18/25

     
Asian Lady Beetle Male Boat-tailed Grackles      

Lake Park, Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/18/25

 
Male Boat-tailed Grackle with goodie Same male Boat-tailed Grackle with insect Same male Boat-tailed Grackle looking good Juvie Herring Gull cutting up  

 
Adult Herring Gull, also active but more dignified More Herring Gulls Yet more Herring Gulls And more  

   
Ring-billed Gulls and a splashing Herring Gull Splashing Herring Gull Maybe two Ring-billed Gulls    

It looks like a Ring-billed Gull, but acting like a Herring Gull Houses and clouds at lake edge Tricolored Heron Same Tricolored Heron Snowy Egret

     
Mallards Double-crested Cormorant      

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/17/25

 
Sunset at beach, looking south to Kure Beach pier Wave Double-crested Cormorant Brown Pelicans  

     
Carolina Beach, with Kure Pier in the distance      

Lake Park, Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC 12/17/25

White Ibis Same White Ibis Little Blue Heron Same Blue Heron Same Blue Heron

Great Egret Killdeer Mallards Snowy Egret Same Snowy Egret

       
Same Snowy Egret        

Carolina Beach, near the lake, New Hanover County, NC  11/16/22

   
Snowy Egret Male Eastern Bluebird Rose of Plymouth (Sabatia stellaris)    

Carolina Beach Lake (Carolina Beach), New Hanover County, NC  11/13/22

Bitter Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum) Fleabane Lanceleaf Frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata) Goldenrod Goldenrod

Killdeer Killdeers Rapid raptor Sabal palm fruits Sea Myrtle (Baccharis halimifolia)

Mystery wildflowers (faded) White Ibis in drainage canal Same White Ibis in drainage canal Part of a large group of White Ibises by the lake Same group of White Ibises

Same group of White Ibises Same group of White Ibises Original White Ibis in drainage canal White Ibises by the lake Beach Pennyworts (Hydrocotyle bonariensis) in a special section protected from mowing

       
Wild Poinsettia or Fine-on-the-Mountain (Euphorbia heterophylla)        

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  12/2/21

Double-crested Cormorant Marines helicopter Osprey aircraft Sea Oat Shrimp boat and gulls and pelicans

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  12/1/21

     
Boat offshore from the Atlantic coast Brown Pelicans      

Double-crested Cormorant   Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella)   Great Blue Heron and White Ibises

 
Great Blue Heron at the lake Gulls at the lake More gulls at the lake Killdeer  

 

 
Pink Muhly Grass Sanderling Willet Yellow-rumped Warbler  

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  11/30/21

 
Green Heron   White Ibis Canada Geese  

   
Canada Geese Killdeers Shrimp boat and gulls    

Shrimp boat with gulls Snowy Egret Same Snowy Egret Royal Tern Same Royal Tern

     
Royal Tern Royal Terns      

Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  11/29/21

Double-crested Cormorant Killdeer Adult Little Blue Heron Same Little Blue Heron Morning glory

Shrimp boat Snowy Egret      

 
Sunset   Turkey Vulture Another Turkey Vulture  

 
White Ibis     Carolina Beach downtown  

Carolina Beach, including Carolina Lake, New Hanover County, NC  3/29/21

Mystery aster Same mystery aster Double-crested Cormorant Same Double-crested Cormorant Male Eastern Bluebird

 
Male Eastern Bluebird Eurasian Collared Dove Boat-tailed Grackles Same Boat-tailed Grackles  

       
Male Mallards        

Carolina Lake, Carolina Beach, New Hanover County, NC  3/28/21

Double-crested Cormorant False Garlic (actually seen in field on the way to Carolina Lake) Green Heron Same Green Heron Same Green Heron

   
Henbits Laughing Gulls Laughing Gull    

Laughing Gulls having a good time More Laughing Gulls Snowy Egret Another Snowy Egret Laughing Gulls and a Ring-billed Gull

12/28/19

 
Snowy Egret Female Ruddy Duck Bufflehead pair and scaup pair Bear Grass  

       
Same Bufflehead and scaup pairs        

12/27/19

     
Female White-winged Scoter Same female White-winged Scoter      

12/26/19

Common Starling Same Common Starling Tricolored Heron Same Tricolored Heron Same Tricolored Heron, in new location

White Ibis White-winged Scoter American Coot American Coots Double-crested Cormorant with a Ring-billed Gull

       
Killdeer        

12/23/18

   
Male Bufflehead and juvie Red-breasted Merganser Female Red-breasted Merganser and male Bufflehead Same female Red-breasted Merganser and male Bufflehead    

 

 
Red-breasted Merganser Almost full moon Pied-billed Grebe Another Pied-billed Grebe  

In Town  12/23/18

Hurricane Alley's mural Gulls Rock Doves Ruddy Turnstone Town square

 

     
Willet Woodstock in the Christmas exhibit      

Atlantic Ocean  12/22/18

   
Sanderling Willet Sunrise    

12/22/18

Female Bufflehead Male Bufflehead American Coot and mystery duck Female Red-breasted Merganser Two juvie? mergansers

 

Snowy Egret Same Snowy Egret Another Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron White Ibis Same White Ibis

 

     
Belted Kingfisher      

12/21/18

Female Bufflehead Male Eastern Bluebird Full Moon Juvie Little Blue Heron Mallards eating feed left by resident, proof positive that they're the most intelligent duck species!

 

 
Pied-Billed Grebe Nonbreeding Male Ruddy Duck Female Ruddy Duck Tricolored Heron  

9/28/17

White Ibis Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean Snowy Egret standing barriers used in lake dredging process Dogday cicada exuvia Post-mating Common Green Darner pair

 

     
Post-mating Common Green Darner pair Male Common Green Darner in flight      

Carolina Beach in town  9/27/17

Gulf Fritillary Another Gulf Fritillary Long-tailed Skipper Another Long-tailed Skipper Yet another Long-tailed Skipper

9/26/17

     
Snowy Egret "dancing" Same Snowy Egret      

9/25/17

Snowy Egret Same Snowy Egret, in flight Snowy Egret crouching Great Egret taking off Four-spotted Pennant

Atlantic Ocean  9/25/17

Willet Same Willet in foamy water Same Willet Same Willet Ruddy Turnstone w/ prey

 

     
Sanderling Wild Poinsettia or Fire on the Mountain (Euphorbia cyathophorbia), in town      

10/22/14

       
Killdeers        

Atlantic Ocean 10/20/14

   
Willet with Sand Flea (Emerita genus) prey Same Willet, which shows tearing and joint dislocation injury. Maybe caught in a fishing line? Wave showing unusual pattern    

10/20/14

   
White Ibis Male Mallard Natural abstract art    

8/29/12

 
Four-spotted Pennant Passionflower Sagittaria genus Blue Swede  

 

 
Cloudless Sulphur Bottlebrush flower Firewheel Grass  

 
Subadult House Sparrow Sea Oats Tread Softly Yellowbelly Slider  

 

 
Virgin's Bower Carolina Lake Rambur's Forktail Palm fruits  

1/21/12

     
Rock Doves and Boat-tailed Grackles Lesser Scaups (both male and female) and a female Bufflehead      

1/20/12

       
Crested Peking Duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica),  introduced from China        

1/20/12

View on sunrise from the downtown area

1/19/12

       
Bonaparte's Gull        

8/12/11

 
Carolina Beach: looking at approaching thunderclouds  

5/23/11

   
Black Skimmer, Carolina Lake, at 5:48 PM  Black Skimmers Eurasian Collared Dove    

5/22/11

 
Mallard family with frisky duckling, apparently out of control, Carolina Lake  Common Starling Eurasian Collared Dove Female Red-winged Blackbird, Carolina Lake  

1/18/11

This day was cloudy and cloud cover was light in the afternoon.  The lake was partially drained, creating artificial mudflats that the birds took full advantage of.

Male Wood Duck in breeding plumage Juvenile Brown Pelican American Coot Killdeer in flight Killdeer

 

 
Male Mallard Female Mallard Male Northern Shoveler Female Northern Shoveler  
       
White Ibis, which has a muddy bill Great Egret Lesser Yellowlegs        

1/16/11

It was already getting cloudy.

   
Non-breeding Pied-billed Grebe Great Egret This might be a female Redhead.    

9/27/10

The heavy rains caused flooding.  Despite a pump used to drain water from the lake, much grass was under water.

American Toad Bullfrog Tricolored Heron Male Red-winged Blackbird

Atlantic Ocean

   
Sanderling Willet Male Boat-tailed Grackle in Cabbage Palm at Carolina Lake Sanderlings flying    

In an undeveloped field

Wild Poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla), one of many in a patch

5/14/10

       
Tricolored Heron        

In town 3/9/10

   
Ground Beetle (Gnaphosa genus).  The presence of wings is a mystery, maybe the remains of prey. Purple Dead-nettle    

Carolina Beach Marina 3/9/09

This Brown Pelican came in for a landing, keeping an eye on me the whole time.  OK, the last picture was of a different pelican...  This was an ideal place for pelicans to catch fish, because the fish were confused by the dead end that the marina created.

     

 

   

Here are some more Brown Pelican pictures:

 

 

       
Double-crested Cormorant        

3/9/09

Male Mallards: Note how the angle of light makes their heads look purple instead of the usual green Pied-bill Grebe American Coot Lesser Scaup Long-legged flies (Hydrophorus genus), which raced in rapid circles on the water before landing on this mass of algae.

 

Common Starling (formerly known as the European Starling).  This bird actually showed up a few blocks away from Carolina Lake. Northern Mockingbird, a few blocks from Carolina Lake

6/25/08

This series of pictures shows what seems to be a decision-making process among some ducks (a male Mallard, a Blue Swede, and two white domestic breed ducks), with the passive participation of a Swan Goose.  The mallard and the Blue Swede seemed to be a mated pair.

The original plan seemed to be to march east.  The ducks are quacking together. This really looks like a discussion, but note that the Chinese Goose seems to be left out. Final checking for agreement?

 

   
All marching west, with the mallard in the lead. More marching Finally, the Chinese Goose falls to the rear, emitting pitiful-sounding wails.    

 

 
Mallard duckling Unusual male Mallard.  One Mallard family Another Mallard family  

 

     
Male Boat-tailed Grackle Rock Dove      

1/6/08

   
Breeding female Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) American Coot.  See those big feet! Blue Swede    

1/5/08

   
Redhead (Athya americana), male in breeding plumage Male Boat-tailed Grackle Nonbreeding adult Common Starlings    

 

Copyright © 2005-2019 Dorothy E. Pugh

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