So many birds

Yesterday we went to Pungo Lake, which is located in the Pocosin Lakes NWR, and Swanquarter NWR. It was a beautiful, sunny day and just a little on the cool side. When we first got to Pungo Lake we were not sure about the place. It was dirt roads and we really were not seeing or hearing anything, and did not want to get stuck. When we found some protected water we were all set and watched birds for an hour or so. Among the Tundra Swans we saw some Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers and Coots. My favorite finds for that spot were finally seeing some Snow Geese and spotting an American Wigeon. While we were observing those birds a flock of hundreds of Snow Geese took off from the lake behind turning the sky white. Talk about a racket!! As we were making our way out of the Refuge the sky in front of us darkened with hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds. They were also very noisy. When we looked in the field where they came from we noticed that it was corn that had not been harvested. They were feasting. A little further down the road we spied a hawk. It was nice enough to sit still for several minutes and then when it took off it stayed close by so we were able to get some more field markings. We were quite excited when we were able to say that it was a Northern Harrier. That was a first for the both of us.---- When we left there we ended up at Swanquarter NWR. They had a pier there that really went out into the bay. Terry and I were amazed at how peaceful it was there. We met a nice local gentleman who gave us some fishing pointers and told us of some good birding spots. We saw some Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks and a beautiful sunset. It was a really great day.