A few days ago, I arrived at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh at 8am sharp, just as the entrance gates were unlocked.
Now that the wetlands boardwalk repairs had been finished, I wanted to get out there as early as possible to see what birds I could find before more people arrived.

It was a little chilly along the trail to the bridge, but the golden sunlight reflecting off of the dew laden branches made it impossible to be unhappy with the weather conditions as I marveled at the sparkling world around me.

As soon as my feet hit the boardwalk, I heard the familiar call of a nearby Eastern Phoebe.
He seemed to be less than 25 feet away so I walked as silently as possible to try and avoid spooking the bird.
Within a few seconds, I located the bird perched in a low hanging branch of a small tree in the brushy area to the left of the boardwalk.
He looked so peaceful sitting there on that branch soaking up the morning sun.
Every now and again he’d chirp and call out feeeeeebeeeeeee, cocking his head listening to a distant reply from another bird further down into the swamp.

Eastern Phoebes are easy to ID at a distance by noting their distinctive tail movement behavior when perching. They’ll wag, pump, or bob their tails up and down, often spreading the tail slightly.
They can also raise their head feathers, giving them the appearance of having a small, wedge shaped crest the rear of the head as the one seen in this photo is doing 🙂
Such beautiful little birds!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds