Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

Amazing birding refuge — too many different kinds of birds to list. You can see them from inside the visitors center where they have telescopes setup or you can see them from the trail that goes around the refuge.
We also saw deer, lots of blue crabs, turtles, and many different animals. It’s definitely worthy of an hour or two stop (or more) on the way to/​from Hatteras.

Quite a different experience for this guy. I recommend that any one stop in and take a short hike and see what you can see by the sea. I really enjoyed the monster sized snapping turtles on the sound side. Plenty of birds and if you have the opportunity to Kayak here I recommend that as well. Mostly shallow waters and hopefully calm waters.

Nature deserves 5 stars. This is a self tour and it’s free. *Please however utilize the donation drop boxes.
Start out at the turtle gathering. Very large and also smaller turtles. Lots of birds. Ducks.
You could walk the ½ mile to the lookout tower or keep going on the 4 mile tour around the salt marshes. I chose the 4 mile tour. It was Hot. 97 + humidity. I saw lots of birds that my camera couldn’t focus in on. You really had to keep moving or the flies would bite the heck outta ya. I did apply spray but they got through my clothes at me. No shade. Another reason to keep moving. It was soooo hot. The trail was sand so you really have to pick up your feet. Got tired and thirsty half way. Dang bugs. Made it to the street. Thought I’d pass the heck out. Walked forever by the road in the sand. I think I started to hallucinate! Finally I made it to the truck. Glad I went though. Nice to preserve habitats.

Thought about fours stars for this place but was a bit disappointed despite it being nice. Good that they are maintaining a wildlife area and it was quite big.
Positives:
–Peaceful and a nice walk
–Tons of birds
–long walk option of four miles or short of a half mile out to the tower.
–lots of long range viewing things along the way
–nice gift shop
Negatives
–tons of horse flies constantly buzzing around your head. And this was in mid May before it got real hot.
–not very shaded
–if you aren’t a bird enthusiast only a few turtles and the birds were really far away
–sort of boring and more marshy then pretty

Stop in at the visitors’ center, ask about borrowing a pair of binoculars and a bird identification field guide. Then make your way over to the trail, stopping at overlooks on both side to check out the lovely sweeping views of the marshes, and see how many birds you spot. So glad that I stopped here — it is a beautiful peaceful spot.

It’s been many days since I was at The Pea Island NWR; It’s very late as I go through a mess of images taken during the last four months while I was on a trip. I want to review the NWR at Pea Island objectively but cannot. I am reminded of the sight of a broken Killdeer egg.
Here’s the story:
I was visiting the area with a good friend who drove me up here on the back of a motorcycle! She knows I love the outdoors and especially wildlife. My passion is photographing wildlife more and more each year. While walking the trail, we saw a Killdeer, which I immediately identified since I see Killdeer in San Francisco — where I am right now — along the coastal and marshy areas. She was shrieking loudly and we didn’t know why, till minutes later we saw the nest. She was complaining of us humans invading her nest’s space, so we snapped a few pixs at a distance and went our way. We stayed at the lookout points at the end of the trail for some time, then started on our way back. I knew we’d see the Killdeer again so this time I was ready. We passed a small family with a young boy. Later as we neared the spot where we saw the Killdeer, we saw it BUT it was flying around, far from her nest. I knew some birds move away from the nest in a bid to have predators follow instead of getting closer to a nest and/​or babies. I didn’t think nothing else of it. There was a man near where I finally saw the nest; we both looked down at the nest, located a mere five inches away from the trail on gravel. The single egg was destroyed. The man standing there with me stated he thinks the young boy stepped on the egg unknowingly, because as the boy walked, he suddenly turned around and looked at the ground.
Sigh…
Earlier when we first crossed paths with the Killdeer and later saw the nest and egg, a family of three had stopped also. their little boy was at the father’s side as the father snapped pixs (with a Nikon no less). While he did that, his little boy of about 5years constantly threw stones at the Killdeer. The parents said not one word. I don’t even think they knew he was throwing rocks!
Parents: please instruct your children to respect the environment and the wildlife. They shouldn’t be screaming, throwing rocks, or getting too close. Respect the wildlife as you would respect a fellow human’s personal space. They should be aware of their surroundings when out in the wilds or even on a trail. Thanks to stupid humans, we have a tiny Killdeer without a chick to hatch. In this age, this is a senseless act.
Kids, please follow closely in your guardian’s or parents’ footsteps. You may not even realize you are nearing a nest of a bird, a snake, or other wildlife. If you see or hear a bird behaving loudly, you are too close. Stop, move away, and move on very slowly. If there are any birders who thinks I am wrong in my instructions, please message me the correct methods and I will update this portion of my review.
Please: If you take things with you, take them out with you too. Don’t trash our world; this is the only one we have. Teach all to respect the environment and the wildlife. Don’t feed any birds, reptiles or any other animal. Let’s have animals stay wild and not be dependent upon humans for food. Our food is so lousy and will just get them fat anyways. I hate fat wildlife.
And please: be sure everyone in your group or family watches where they step. Sure, it’s just a little bird. No worry. Nothing serious. If you believe that, what would you think if something stepped on your little baby? It’s not okay for a human nor any bird or any other animal, no matter size or species. Watch where you step please.

This is a regular stop for me and my camera on my annual summer trip to the Outer Banks.
In the summer (the only time I’ve been) you definitely want to be wearing long sleeves and pants, as the bugs can be very intense. It is a salt marsh, after all.
The variety of wildlife is amazing, and I’ve been told by many people if you venture here in the fall or the spring while the migratory birds are on the move that you will see tens of thousands of birds instead of merely a few hundred in the summer months.

The view is beautiful, plenty of wildlife to observe, dress for NUMEROUS BITING INSECTS!