Outer Banks: Lighthouses

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bodie island, cape hatteras, currituck, lighthouse, ocracoke, outer banks, photography, postaday

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving, or perhaps just an extra happy day for those outside the United States, to all who have been following this blog over the past two years!

The Outer Banks in North Carolina are about 200 miles long from north to south in the Atlantic Ocean. There are five lighthouses located on the islands, or six if you include Cape Lookout lighthouse at the southernmost end. Over a day and a half, we managed to visit four of the lighthouses and take the following photos.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla is not painted on the outside like the others. It is 162 ft tall with a beacon that can be seen 18 nautical miles offshore.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

The Bodie Island Lighthouse is 156 ft tall, with a light visible for 19 miles. Near this lighthouse on the left is where I took pictures of the Tundra Swans in a previous post.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the world’s tallest brick lighthouse at 208 ft. Up close it was very impressive. Its light can be seen 20 miles out in the ocean.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

To reach the next one, we had to take a ferry, which was free, to Ocracoke Island. The Ocracoke Lighthouse is the second oldest in the United States and is the smallest of the Outer Banks lighthouse, with a height of only 65 ft. Its beacon can still be seen 14 miles out.

Ocracoke Lighthouse

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Outer Banks: Sunrise

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dunes, outer banks, photography, postaday, sunrise

Looking out of our hotel balcony in Corolla, NC, I had to try to take photos of the sunrise, two mornings in a row. It was cold and windy, and most shots turned out badly. The following are the best that I managed to capture:

Outer Banks sunrise

Outer Banks sunrise

This last one is to show you what the dunes looked like in the morning light.

Outer Banks dunes and beach houses

Outer Banks: Tundra Swans

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bodie island, outer banks, photography, postaday, tundra swans

Tundra Swans summer near the Artic Circle, but in the fall and winter they migrate to the East and West coasts of the United States. They are also called whistling swans to differentiate them from trumpeter swans which look very similar but produce a more nasal honking sound.

I found a flock of Tundra Swans near the Bodie Island lighthouse in the Outer Banks. They appeared mostly peaceful, mingling easily with wigeons. Their necks were shorter than those of mute swans, but they were still very graceful.

Tundra Swans at Bodie Island

Tundra Swan and wigeons

There were the usual territorial or mate quarrels, as you can see in the following two shots.

Tundra Swans

Tundra Swans

Outer Banks Sunset

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curituck, outer banks, photography, postaday

We arrived at the Outer Banks in North Carolina last Tuesday afternoon. After a quick bite, we just had enough time to go catch the sunset, captured in the following photos taken near the town of Corolla, NC in Curituck county, at the northernmost end of the barrier islands.

This is looking from the beach, where wild horses are said to roam, toward the Atlantic Ocean. We did not see any horse, but were amply rewarded by the sight of the waves and colors of the deserted beach.

Outer Banks beach north of Corolla, NC.

After the above shot, I turned around and saw a gorgeous sunset behind a row of beach houses.

Outer Banks sunset

We got back to the car and drove quickly to the other side of the narrow island, looking inland. There the sunset was resplendent in its glorious colors.

Outer Banks sunset

Outer Banks sunset