Drought 2007 Effects on Middle Crabtree Trail and Creek, Raleigh NC

The drought of 2007 has placed central North Carolina between storms off the coast and floods in the interior cities. It is not unusual to have a spell of clear dry hot weather. That said, this has proven to be a tough hot year.

Consistent with my love of the greenways, I wondered how the drought is affecting the trails. Middle Crabtree Trail is one of the most beautiful trails, though not as well known to city residents as the lake trails.

This trail has had a hard time as it is easily affected when flooding occurs. The boardwalk, which covers a large portion of the trail, has been affected by both erosion near Capital Blvd. and buckling due to heat near Raleigh Blvd.

Bikers have enjoyed this trail when it is open as a connection between Buckeye trail to the east and a range of trails going westward across the city.

Though I have not seen many bird watchers out on this trail, I have seen a lot of birds. In particular the watery area beside the trail is often the chosen dining area for blue heron, plovers, seagulls and black birds. Occasionally the area's vast swarms of Canadian geese will join them, although usually there is only one or two here.

When the woods are flooded near here it is sometimes possible to spot wood ducks.

Along the wooded trails, song birds and other small birds are plentiful. They tend to be easy to see as they flit from one hiding place to another. It is incredibly difficult to snap a good picture of them.

Hawks and owls can occasionally be seen along the trail. The dense vegetation protects their prey except when it decides to cross the paved trails and boardwalks.

Turtles and small fish are abundant along this trail when the water is high. Sometimes black pools form in the water as small fish are spawning. The birds are quick to take notice of these opportunities.

Visiting the trail on September 9th, I noticed that the drought has had only a limited effect. Crabtree Creek, though it appeared a little sluggish, was flowing within its banks.

The wetlands beside the boardwalk have, however, nearly vanished. In the place of a small lake of shallow water; a huge field of grass, weeds and flowers has arisen.

This day only fledgling herons were present. These white birds will become blue herons as they grow to maturity. There were plenty of small fish trapped in shrinking pools of water. These are probably just right for the young birds.

I didn't see any of the adult birds that frequent this wetland. The seagulls and blackbirds were also missing.

In fact, as I walked off the boardwalk into the woods I noticed how quiet the trail was. Usually this trail is noisy with clicks, chirps and whistles. Not even a bird of prey was to be seen.

The drought is starting to show physically on the vegetation. Plants with shallow roots were withered and looked in pretty poor form. The vines seem to be failing first. Some trees, such as fir trees, appear to be losing the fight to stay nourished.

This trail is taking the brunt of the current dry spell. There were signs of buckling along the boardwalk, some of which has been repaired by the park folks.

The trail itself is in good condition up to Capital Blvd. The portion from Capital going east has some known problems with its boardwalk due to a hurricane last year that will close it for a bit.