By Will Cook
Overview: Crosswinds Marina is a good place to spend a few minutes checking in winter, when you can depend on seeing lots of gulls and other assorted birds resting on a breakwater. Though it was better in the past, when the breakwater was made of tires, it is still one of the best spots at Jordan for scanning for rare gulls, terns, and shorebirds. One of the oddest sightings was of an American Oystercatcher on April 15, 2000. A Snow Bunting took up residence in the gravel parking lot for a few weeks one winter. Who knows when something else might show up?
Getting there: The marina is a short distance north of US 64 on Farrington Road (1008). It is well marked on the left, just before you get to the first bridge over the lake.
Coordinates for Google Earth/Maps: 35 44 36.5 N, 79 00 28.6 W
Revised 12/29/2008 cwcook@duke.edu