While birding yesterday morning along the Neuse River, I spied a pair of Brown Thrashers building a nest in a low shrub right next to the trail. I sat down for a few minutes and watched them gather twigs from the ground and then place the sticks carefully into the new nest. They both went about this endeavor thoughtfully, arranging and then rearranging the tangle of twigs and grass several times, sometimes squatting and spinning around to press the sides of the nest together juuuuuust right.
One thing that I noticed about this encounter was the fact that the pair was completely silent. No chirps were exchanged between the pair as they moved through the woods. This makes sense though because they were trying to be sneaky as building a nest requires a bit of discretion on their part. Nest construction aside, these birds are usually quite noisy as they go about the business of finding their next meal. Often sticking to dense undergrowth, the sounds of scraping of dry leaves and their loud whirring chirps are a distinctive clue that one is nearby. Primarily a ground foraging species of bird, Using their long, slightly curved bill as a rake, they’ll sweep the leaf litter around to uncover delicacies such as insects, fallen seeds, and berries.
Brown Thrashers are talented mimics too, nearly as talented as their close relative, the Northern Mockingbird. They boast a wide repertoire of songs which they’ll belt out from the top of the highest tree in the neighborhood letting every other bird know who’s turf they’re on. Look and listen for these handsome birds throughout the year in the Carolinas in suburban neighborhoods and in areas of deciduous forests that line open fields. Aren’t they lovely?
One of my favorite early spring arrivals is the Yellow-throated Warbler. With that bold yellow, black and white plumage, they’re absolutely captivating to photograph. I found this handsome fella this morning while birding along the Neuse River Trail Capital Area Greenway in Raleigh. Happily he was hopping and flying at a lower level of the tree canopy so that I could get a good view. Normally they tend to hang out much higher in the trees so it was neat to get a close up look at him!
This species of wood warbler are one of a handful which nests exclusively in the eastern part of the United States with a range that stretches from Missouri in Pennsylvania all the way down to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico. Their open cup-nests are constructed almost entirely by the female from bark strips, grasses, and weed stems, and lined with plant down and feathers. The nest is usually placed in the canopy of a pine, cypress or sycamore tree on the end of a a horizontal branch well out from the trunk at heights ranging from 15 to 60 feet above the ground.
Happily these gorgeous birds will spend the summer raising their families here in the Tarheel state. They will stick around until late September (or even into early October in our eastern counties) so there is still plenty of time for us to enjoy them this year. Btw, if you’d like to see a Yellow-throated Warbler too (along with many other beautiful birds!) I invite you to check out the link below to view all of my upcoming group birding tours.
I’m leading trips to destinations ranging from South Carolina to Maine. Join me in discovering why there’s a lot to love about the East Coast of the United States when it comes to bird watching. See ya out there!
Pleased to see that the pair of Baltimore Orioles are still visiting the feeder! They’d shown up this past December and haven’t left. I’m hoping they’ll just choose to stay here in Lillington NC and perhaps build a nest somewhere in the yard. We will see 🙂
As shown here, male Baltimore Orioles are known for their vibrant orange and black plumage, which resembles the colors of the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore, hence their name. They are also are renowned for their melodious and flute-like songs, which they use to attract mates and defend their territories. Their songs are often heard echoing through woodlands during the breeding season which begins in early May.
These birds are masters of nest construction, often weaving intricate hanging nests from plant fibers, grasses, and other materials. Their nests are commonly found hanging from the outer tips of tree branches anywhere from 30ft to 80ft up in the canopy. While they are commonly associated with the northeastern United States, Baltimore Orioles can be found across much of North America during the breeding season, ranging from the eastern and central parts of the continent to parts of the southwestern United States and even into Canada.
Baltimore Orioles typically begin their southward migration from North Carolina in late summer or early fall. Some (like this guy here) end up spending the winter in the Tarheel State. Depending on various factors such as weather conditions and food availability, their migration can start as early as August and extend through September. By October, most Baltimore Orioles will have departed from North Carolina on their journey to their wintering grounds in Central and South America. That’s a good thing because this means you’ve got plenty of time to see one before the year is through!
Happy to catch up with a pair of Bachman’s Sparrows this morning while Birding at the Carver’s Creeks State Park near Fayetteville, North Carolina. Although I’ve heard the species singing before, I have never laid eyes on one until today which was very exciting! I located the birds by their song which is very loud. In fact I nearly stepped right on top of one that was chirping from a pile of pine straw underfoot. Then I got tremendously lucky as the sparrow flew up into a small tree, and began to sing right in front of me. So cool!
Although they are found year-round in North Carolina, the Bachman’s Sparrow is a species in decline due to habitat loss. They strongly prefer habitats containing stands of old growth Longleaf Pines and are most often spotted on the ground hunting for a meal in tufts of dense Wiregrass and oak shrubbery. They once nested and all of our southeast counties, but today are mainly found in the Sandhills region of the central portion of the state. Nest sites within areas burned the previous 12 months are highly favorable so it’s useful to look for them in areas where prescribed burns are regularly scheduled. Bachman’s sparrows also use recently planted clear-cuts and young pine plantations of longleaf, loblolly, shortleaf, slash pines where native grasses dominate the ground cover and perches are available. Alternatively, they will occupy relatively grassy open fields and prairie sites with extensive grass for hiding, especially in the southern US from Florida to Louisiana.
Though this species is very difficult to see (due to the fact that they spend most of their time hiding in dense grass) spotting one of these beauties is incredibly rewarding if your patient enough to wait for one to pop out and start singing from a sapling. I know not everybody cares about sparrows, but I think that they are just lovely!
New for this year I’m offering birding tours in the Sandhills, so if you’d like to see a Bachman’s Sparrow too (along with a whole bunch of other gorgeous birds!), check out the calendar link below to book your date today.
With as much traveling as I do throughout the year chasing birds, I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t given much attention to my feathered friends right here at home. That changed in February when Michael offered to build me a bird and pollinator friendly yard. Now I’d originally envisioned something low key. Perhaps an 10×4 ft long strip of wildflowers and fruiting shrubs with a row of bird feeders skirting the row. No big deal, just a pretty strip of flowers and feeders set off to the side of my backyard.
The thing is that my better half had a far better vision for the space! This isn’t surprising given Mike’s extensive background in landscaping and his passion for gardening, yet I was blown away with the final results as this project far surpassed my expectations. Here’s how we set off with this transformation from ho-hum boring grassy lawn to a beautiful backyard bird oasis!
Here is what the yard looked like before we started the work.
The first order of business was to remove the sod from about a third of my backyard to prep for planting. We rented a sod cutter from Home Depot and got to work clearing three sections of the yard. Two areas would be for planting flowers, trees and shrubs, the third will be a dedicated vegetable garden. If you’ve never cut sod from the yard before I highly recommend that you buy or rent the most powerful machine you can afford. The idea is you want the cutter to work quickly and efficiently. Another tip is to make sure that you have help moving the sod squares out of the cut area as they can be quite heavy to carry after pushing the sod cutter all day. I’m so grateful that Michael and my son were there to get this part done. The adage “more hands make less work” applies here for sure lol!
Next up was tilling. Again, don’t skimp on the price of a rental if you can afford to do so as the more powerful machines will get the job done in half the time. Here’s a good tip: you can save money by purchasing a used high quality tiller. Use it to complete the job, clean it off and then sell it after your done. We did that and actually made an additional $50 on the resale after the fact lol!
I also recommend that you cut the sod and till the dirt on days where the soil is dry. It’s much harder to carry the sod when it’s wet and tilling muddy dirt on a rainy day isn’t the most fun lol! In addition, watch out for grubs and worms which will pop out from the freshly turned soil.
I picked up about a dozen grubs and put them on the top of my fence which the Bluebirds gobbled up immediately. A couple of happy Yellow-rumped Warblers found snacks hidden in the freshly turned dirt which was pretty cool too. Mike also found a sleepy Bumblebee snoozing in the dirt which he carefully picked up and set free so that it wouldn’t get injured by the tiller.
Next it was time to build a pergola. This was 100% Michael’s idea. I’d told him that the yard was his blank canvas so whatever he thought would look cool while serving a greater purpose would be fine with me. As it turned out this was a good move because now we’ve got a place to hang several bird feeders and a nice place to sit and enjoy the birds under the cover of semi-shade. The pergola took about 3 days for Mike to build including construction and staining. No formal plans were drawn out. Just straight out of his brain into my yard, lol! It was neat to see how the structure came together in such a short time built with nothing more than scrap wood, concrete, wood stain and willpower.
Now it was time for the fun stuff, adding plants! Although I absolutely adore my Hostas, Hydrangeas, Daffodils, Irises and Lillys, I really want this space to eventually be 90% filled with plants native to North Carolina. I also didn’t want to have to spend a tremendous amount of money to fill the garden so I turned to Facebook marketplace to see if I could score a deal or two on some new plants. As luck would have it, we ended up finding some nice native Blueberry and Elderberry bushes which we purchased from private individuals here in the Triangle. I also scavenged a few raspberry and blackberry bushes from the woods behind my house and transplanted them into the yard too. I’m really looking forward to seeing how happy the birds are going to be once these bushes start yielding fruit!
We also planted a ton of mixed wildflower seeds, scattering them by the handfuls throughout the garden. I’d tell you what species they were but unfortunately I fucked up and threw away the seed packets and have forgotten exactly what all was in there lol! It’s gonna be an incredible sight watching that array of color bloom in the backyard this summer. Hopefully once the flowers come out, I’ll be able to identify them then. In addition I thought it would be cool to see sunflowers outside my bedroom window so Mike cut out an additional bed and planted a ton of sunflowers and Zinnias too. I’m sure the neighborhood flock of Goldfinches are going to be stoked once those flowers go to seed.
Finally, it was time to plant a couple trees. I’d already purchased a Peach tree a few years ago. Unfortunately I had planted it in a dumb spot too close to my fence (rookie mistake lol) so Mike dug it up and transferred it to a better spot in the new garden where it would have plenty of space to grow. Next up was the Dogwood which had already been growing near the back corner of my yard. Again, Michael and I dug it up and transplanted into a better spot in the garden where it would thrive. I’m hoping that the berries from this tree will provide the Cardinals in my neighborhood with plenty of nutritious food later this year. Mike also picked up a beautiful little Apple tree which yielded a gorgeous cluster of blossoms shortly after planting it. The bees absolutely loved diving in and out of those flowers which was freak’n awesome!
With new plants in the ground now things were really starting to get exciting! Still there was more to do. Up next, mulch… So. Much. Mulch. 10 yards to be exact. 160 wheelbarrow fulls. Thank goodness the temperatures were in the 50s that day or we might have died from heat exhaustion haha! Shoveling, pitching and spreading. 2 people, 6 hours = super tired but incredible results!
That mulch looked awesome. I love how the black contrasts with the green plants!
Now came some finishing touches. Mike had some extra scrap wood left over from the pergola construction. Not wanting anything to go to waste, he spent a couple hours and built a bench and a small patio at the back fence. It’s a simple design with clean lines and set right at the perfect height for someone to sit and hold a camera comfortably.
To help make the birds feel at home Mike also built a couple of bird houses and installed them on top of the fence. He also picked up a few cedar versions from WalMart that were only $12 a piece so that was a great deal! It only took about a week before a family of Eastern Bluebirds and Carolina Chickadees took over to the nest boxes. I’m so excited to see the sweet little birds raise their families later this spring!
We then picked up some pavers from Lowes and started lining the sunflower bed. As of the time I’m writing this post, we still have plans to line all the flower beds with these beautiful pavers which look like natural stone. Hopefully we’ll get that done within a couple of weeks!
One of my favorite elements of the new garden area are these cool looking solar lights. They are pretty bright for a solar set up and really set off the design of the garden at night! We’re thinking of adding some additional lighting on the back fence line to give the space more depth but still need to decide what kind of lights would look best. I’ll keep ya updated 🙂
Lastly… the pond. Errr what will be a pond lol! I’ve got an idea to build up some dirt at the front end of the garden and install a waterfall trickling down into a creek which empties into a small pond at its base. The thought is that it will attract more birds into the yard to drink and have a bath. Plus, I really like the idea of listening to running water while sitting on my porch in the evening. There is an offside chance that I might include some fish in the pond, perhaps catfish or goldfish. We’ve got a number of Great blue Herons in the area so I don’t imagine they would last very long, but it might be worth a try.
So there ya have it. This project took one month exactly to complete (February 28 to March 28th). So far my backyard bird species count is up to 62 species and I can’t wait to see what new birds show up later this year.
Bird seed and suet was purchased at Tractor Supply Co. in Fuquay Varina, NC. It’s my go-to place to feed all my feathered friends! So far the favorite blend with my backyard birds is the fruit and nut blend and the warblers really love the berry flavored suet. Order some for your flock at the product links below!
I’ve had backyard gardens in the past, but nothing like this. I’m still blown away by the transformation in the yard and could not be more grateful for Michael’s help. It’s been hard work getting all this together in such a short time, but absolutely worth it!
Pleased to spend time with a Hermit Thrush this morning while birding at Cape Fear Shiners Park in Lillington, North Carolina. I hadn’t spotted one since last year so it was nice to catch up with this beautiful bird again.
In my opinion the Hermit Thrush has one of the most beautiful songs in the entire United States. There is a distinct melody, delicate thread of song rising and falling between the birds notes. Sometimes they sing quite loudly, others at a near whisper. Often they may be the only bird singing in the entire woods, as was the case this day. Truly, this is a bird that beckons you to linger just a few minutes longer to enjoy your time outdoors.
Although they do breed in the higher elevations in the Appalachian mountains in western North Carolina, Hermit Thrushes are generally a winter time visitor to the rest of the state from late September through mid March. Once you’ve located a Hermit Thrush by its song, it’s pretty easy to ID them. As you can see by the photos, they are nice, warm copper, reddish, brown color, which stands out among the gray trees. They’ve also got bright white breast plumage with a pleasant spotting all over.
My advice is to find someplace comfortable to sit and wait for the bird to start singing again. I’ll warn you, though, these enchanting little performers will pull you in so you might not leave the forest again until dusk lol! They’ll only stick around central NC for another week or two so get out there while you can to see this bird before they head north and west to their breeding grounds this spring.
By the way, I’ve added 80+ new birding tour dates to my 2024 calendar for destinations in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Maine. Check the link in my bio for booking availability 🙂
By the way, I’ve added more than 80 new birding tour dates to my Best Life Birding trip schedule including trips to Shiners Park in Lillington. Check out the calendar below and book your next birding adventure with me today!
By the way, I’ve added more than 80 new birding tour dates to my Best Life Birding trip schedule. Check out the calendar below and book your next birding adventure with me today!
One of the prettiest duck species that visits North Carolina each year are the Green-winged Teal. I was so happy to get a nice look at this pair last month! As you can see here, the drakes have a green stripe going across their faces which is absolutely gorgeous when the sunlight reflects off of it. The hens are just as lovely dressed in a mottled plumage of buff and brown tones. Both sexes sport their namesake bright aqua green wing patches (called the specula) with white borders which are best viewed when they’re in flight. Usually they are pretty skittish so getting a couple photos of this pair at a relatively close range felt really good!
Weighing in at less than 16oz, these little ones are among the smallest of the dabbling duck family. What they lack in size they make up in appetite though lol! During the spring and summer, they are voracious eaters of mollusks, worms, insects and crustaceans. When winter arrives they switch up their diet to feed on the seeds of aquatic plants grasses, sedges, and agricultural grain.
Green-winged Teals are a familiar wintertime resident of North Carolina. Each November they arrive in droves from their breeding grounds in Canada and the northern parts of the United States to spend the coldest months in the mid Atlantic region. Mainly found in the central and eastern regions of the state, look for them in fresh & brackish water areas, marshes, ponds and lakes. They’ll only stick around until late March (and occasionally through early April) so get out and go find ‘em soon before they head north 🙂
By the way, I’ve added more than 80 new birding tour dates to my Best Life Birding trip schedule. Check out the calendar below and book your next birding adventure with me today!
The state bird of N.C. is the Northern Cardinal, a familiar backyard feathered gem boldly colored with a cheerful song. Have you ever wondered what gives their plumage that bright red color?
The coloration in these birds comes from three naturally occurring chemical compounds: melanin, porphyrins, and carotenoids. Melanin is present in humans, giving us our skin, hair and eye colors — and it’s what gives cardinals black, brown, and buff hues. Porphyrin is responsible for reddish and brownish shades. But it’s the carotenoids, which create yellow, orange, and red colors, that are perhaps the most important to the male cardinal’s striking red coloring.
These carotenoids are found in plants. Cardinals that are especially bright red, are most likely dining on a healthy diet of carotenoid-rich fruits and berries. You can aid these gorgeous birds in their development of rich coloration by planting native berry bushes like raspberries and mulberries in your yard. Another excellent food source is the Dogwood tree as their berries are particularly favored by Cardinals. In addition to offering black oil sunflower seeds, you can also mix in some safflower seeds into your feeder which will add a bit of extra carotenoids into their high protein diets. Such a gorgeous bird!
By the way, I’ve added more than 80 new birding tour dates to my Best Life Birding trip schedule. Check out the calendar below and book your next birding adventure with me today!
A couple of weeks ago, I set out on a soggy Saturday morning to go birding at the Sandhills Gamelands in central NC. Although it poured rain for the first two hours of the day, seeing these Loggerhead Shrikes made venturing into deluge worth it! Normally Shrikes are difficult to approach (especially in open areas) but I think the birds were less inclined move due to the stormy weather. It was neat to get a look at them from such a close range.
Aa predatory songbirds the Northern Shrikes diet consists primarily of mice, voles, grasshoppers and other insects. Like their cousin the Northern Shrike, they’ll occasionally eat other songbirds as well when the opportunity presents itself. It gets crazier than that though! Because they lack strong talons or claws, shrikes often impale food on branches, thorns or barbed wire fences to help them tear their prey into bite-sized pieces. For this grisly meat hanging characteristic, shrikes have earned the moniker of “butcher birds”. Though it’s indeed an unsettling means to a meal, it behavioral adaptations like these which ensure the Shrikes survival.
Their favored habitats include wide open, tall grassy fields, overgrown hedge rows and agricultural areas where their prey is found. Usually they are spotted sitting on dead tree snags, on fence lines and power lines overlooking the fields, constantly scanning the ground below for a snack.
Interestingly, this is the third year in a row that I’ve encountered the pair of Shrikes at this location during early March. I’ve since visited the Gamelands a few times during the summertime to see if they around but with no luck. This makes sense because although Loggerhead Shrikes may generally be found throughout the central and eastern regions of Tarheel State year round, the highest amount of recorded sightings annually occur just a bit further south closer to the SC border during the summer months. It really was nice to catch an early glimpse of this tiny predator once again!
By the way, I’ve added more than 80 new birding tour dates to my Best Life Birding trip schedule. Check out the calendar below and book your next birding adventure with me today!
Bird watching tours, trips, adventures and birder news in North Carolina and beyond
