NC Outer Banks – Late March 2018

We took a trip to the Outer Banks area of North Carolina over the Easter Holiday weekend. Just the highlights of the trip still means a WHOLE BUNCH of pictures. I’ve put them in separate galleries with short descriptions. Pick the gallery you like if you don’t want to take the time to view them all. They include: The Currituck Lighthouse, March Nor’easter damage, the Bodie Island Lighthouse, Jockey’s Ridge Kites, the Bonner Bridge construction, and last but not least – Birds. But first, just a couple of sand dune pictures that didn’t fit into one of the galleries.

The Currituck Lighthouse

Arriving at the coast around noon the first day, we headed north after crossing over from Roanoke Island. There was a bit of hope to see the horses in the Corolla area. But when we got to the end of the paved road, it was four wheel drive only that was allowed to continue on the sand. And that’s where there was the best chance to see the horses. Oh well. So we back tracked a short distance and headed to the Currituck Lighthouse. Here are the pictures from that stop.

Nor’easter Storm Damage

We had seen the news about the storms. And then one of the lighthouse attendants told us about how the nor’easters in March had caused so much beach erosion in the area. So after the lighthouse, we searched for a place with public beach access. But the private homes are wall to wall along the beach and we ended up accessing from a private neighborhood. Although all of the homes we saw were ok, these pictures indicate a bit about how much of the beach was lost. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

I was up before sunrise the next day and headed south for the Bodie Island Lighthouse. I pretty much had the place to myself, except for a couple of other photographers. Interesting clouds, but not much of the sunrise color I was hoping for. Here are pictures of the lighthouse and the area close by.

Jockey’s Ridge Kites

That afternoon the wind was perfect for kites, and they were on display at there finest on Jockey’s ridge.

Bonner Bridge Construction

On part of the trip we headed south across the Bonner Bridge. That construction project continues in earnest, with an expected completion in late 2019. Most of these pics were taken through the car window, except for a couple that show the construction in the distance.

Birds on the Trip

It seems we hit the Outer Banks at an in between time when the usually plentiful shore birds are somewhat scarce – in between the winter birds leaving and the summer birds settling in. My own guess is that many are nesting and roosting at this time of year. Only visible in remote or inaccessible areas. So not a great trip for bird photography, but here are the pictures of what was available.