By Richard Seale
Strange 2021 year-end realities
Phew, I don’t know about you, but I am glad to see 2021 roll into history.
Along with the events of that year of time, I also hope a bunch of words that
became all too common fade from everyday use as well; words like COVID, vac
cinations, Delta variant, Omicron, masking and testing.
As I write this in early January, the USA is suffering record numbers of new
COVID cases, so we are not off to a great start. I must report another start-of-
year concern as well—drought. Linda and I went to the Pungo section of Poco-
sin Wildlife Reserve and found the overall water level down several/eet. Most of
the normally flooded ponds and swamp lands were devoid of any water. The lake
still had water in it, and there were snow geese and tundra swans on the lake, but
all other usual viewing
Image clipped from a video of snow geese filling the sky.
—Photo by Richard Seale
sites had no birds due
to no water.
We did get to expe
rience the 5 p.m. fly in
and out of thousands
of snow geese at the
reserve’s eastern fields
along Pat’s Road, but,
in general, the reserve
was the driest we have
ever seen it in our 48
years of visits, which
was very disappoint
ing. There are still
some nice hikes, and
you can come upon
deer, bears, otters
and many different
non-waterfowl birds,
but the reserve is not
going to be much of a
host to waterfowl this
winter. I would advise
just going to Matta-
muskeet. The couple of
minutes of snow geese
action was spectacu
lar but was really just
a few minutes. Most
of the time the flock
was sitting on the lake far from the viewing platform, as were the few swans and
ducks.
The 2021 North Carolina big game hunting seasons ended with temperatures
in the mid-70s. I found it very unrealistic to be able to go afield in shirt sleeves.
That said, all of our hunting crowd did manage to get drawn for tundra swan
permits, and we got permissions from our usual farmers to set decoys in their
winter wheat fields in Hyde County. We had hunts in mild temperatures while
hiding in dry ditches instead of the ditches that were several inches deep with
cold water and mud in air temperatures below freezing. As usual, most of our
hunters were young folks, 10 to 20 years of age, with fathers and grandfathers
like me as unpaid coaches and guides. This year most of these younger hunters
were women. Our setup was good, and all permit holders filled their tag.
Incredibly, as we moved into early 2022, the speckled trout fishing remained
pretty good in the upper estuaries of Pamlico Sound and rivers flowing into
Bogue Sound. The warm air temperatures over the year-end holidays kept the
water temperatures in a better range than is normal. On some days it was even
possible to fish 17s and 18s MirrOlures at about normal speeds, but generally it
was best to do the slow twitch, very slow reel to keep liiie tension just enough to
feel light bites and thus be able to set a hook. Slow trolling with various lures un
der bobbers also produced results. Staying in ,near shores, but in slightly deeper
four- to seven-foot water, also seemed to get better results. Fish in the 18- to
22-inch range were around, as well as plenty of undersized fish. Fish in the 20-
plus-inch sizes are usually females starting to grow eggs. It is always a good thing
to let these fatter, larger fish go so they can soon “do their thing” for next year’s
speckled trout “crop.” The inlet sea mullet run was not far off as I wrote this.
Feathered fishers, bald eagles, are being seen quite often around Pine Knoll
Shores in trees and on various landing poles along the sound. Perhaps my last
month’s photo showing two of them on the BS McNeill osprey platform got
more folks looking for eagles. The population of eagles all around the sounds
and coastal rivers of Eastern NC is increasing, and we are seeing them along the
Pamlico, Pungo and Neuse rivers on a daily basis, from mature white head and
tail birds to brown immature birds.
Warm temperatures kept most ducks happy further up north, and small game
seasons for rabbits, quail and squirrels remain open into late February. The next
special season will be wild turkey season, which is in April and May.
Get outside where being properly socially distanced can be the norm. You
can forget all this COVID mess in bright sunshine, which will certainly brighten
your outlook for 2022.
PKS Officer Recognized
(Continued from page 1)
search warrants for electronic devices, social media accounts and commercial
and residential properties. Having these professional working relationships es
tablished helps ensure the thorough investigation these child victims deserve.
Sgt. Bishop has been integral in prosecuting child sexual offenders across
Eastern North Carolina in local and federal court since 2019. To say that I am
proud of his efforts and professionalism would be an understatement. I am
incredibly grateful that our town administration and Board of Commissioners
recognize the importance of these professional relationships and are supportive
of the task force endeavors.
4 The Shoreline I February 2022