Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Wilsons Warbler at Brumley Nature Preserve, NC

By Sally Siko

It’s the last week of May and spring migration is winding down here in central NC.
Luckily, (with the help of @latta.ridge & @isaacmcshanephoto) I was able to get a good look at a lone male Wilson’s Warbler last week at Brumley Nature Preserve.
These handsome birds breed across the entirety of Canada and into Alaska which is why I was excited to catch a glimpse of a Wilson’s on his hurried journey north.



A somewhat rare sighting in the Tarheel state, Wilson’s Warblers are spotted here only during migrational periods.
They are tiny birds measuring 4.7” in length which makes them kinda tough to spot in the brush.
To make matters more difficult, Wilson’s prefer to hide out in dense willow thickets and dark forests with a water source nearby.
Their yellow plumage seems to absorb the green light of the sunshine filtering down through the leaves which provides an effective camouflage while they flit about on the branches. This makes them a challenging bird to find and photograph!
Though I spent about 15 minutes observing this one, I only managed to capture this single photo from the encounter as the tiny bird emerged from the woods to a field’s edge.

Wilson’s Warblers are found in central and eastern (rarely in the mountains) portions of North Carolina in mid to late May and again from late September through early October.
There still may be a few hanging around out there right now so be on the lookout this week!
Otherwise you’ll have to wait for autumn for another chance at seeing these beautiful feathered gems.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News

Canada Warblers in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina

By Sally Siko

One of my favorite species of birds to find in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the Canada Warbler. With that slate grey, black and bright yellow plumage pattern standing out in the tangled brush, it’s hard to ignore these tiny feathered dynamos as they flit from limb to branch.
Though they’re small (measuring about 14cm in length) Canada’s are relatively easy to find at higher elevations by listening to their loud calls which starts with a starts a chip, followed by a series of warbling notes that often ends on a higher pitch.



These handsome Warblers nest across the southern boreal region of Canada, from extreme southeastern Yukon to Nova Scotia, and south to the Great Lakes region, New England, and into the Appalachian mountains all the way down to Georgia. It’s neat to have a species like this calling the Tarheel state home during the summer.



When looking for Canada Warblers, investigate areas which provide their favored habitats of dark brushy cover in the understory layer of mixed deciduous forests along the higher elevations of the Parkway.
They are best found foraging in dense, dimly lit patches of rhododendron and mountain laurel.

Though they can be hard to spot at times, luckily Canada Warblers relatively common in the Blue Ridge so you should have multiple opportunities to see and photograph them if you take the time to search for these feathered gems.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Wilsons Plover on Figure Eight Island, NC

By Sally Siko

One of the cutest species of birds we’ve got scampering across the sand flats of North Carolina are the plovers.
This is a Wilson’s Plover which I photographed recently while birding with a friend on Figure 8 island in southeastern NC.
We were thrilled to see this small shorebird searching for a meal and even got a chance to hear it calling out to an unseen mate in the nearby low dunes.



Named for ornithologist Alexander Wilson, this little bird stands at about 6” tall.
They’ve got bigger, thicker beak relative to our other similar plover species (the Semipalmated & Piping) Additionally, its breast band is wider and they tend to stand and walk a little more upright in the sand.
When hunting for a snack, Wilson’s Plovers usually tend to stick around inlets and sheltered coves in areas where there is wet sand present. That being said, you may occasionally find them searching for their favorite food (fiddler crabs!) on the beach on calm days.



Wilson’s Plovers are generally summertime residents of North Carolina but a few small flocks are known to spend the winter in the far southeastern corner of the state. That being said your best chance to see them is from now through mid October so get out there and enjoy them this year!

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Kentucky Warbler at Bynum Bridge, Pittsboro NC

By Sally Siko

With as many KY birds as I’ve been posting recently, how about this Kentucky Warbler that I found while birding here in NC with my freind Corie Latta @latta.ridge earlier this month?
Isn’t he gorgeous?!
We spotted this feathered gem while exploring the area around Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro.
The neat thing was that this particular bird was super accessible as it popped out of the underbrush frequently to sing offering us multiple opportunities to snag a good photo or two.
Big props to Corie for putting us on this bird!



This brightly colored warbler, (unlike so many other geographically named warblers lol), is actually well-named, as the center of its range lies squarely in the center of the state of Kentucky.
They are quintessential birds of the Eastern deciduous forest, breeding across nearly all of North Carolina from the mountains to the coast. Though they are considered a common bird west of the Appalachians, east of the Blue Ridge mountains there isn’t a particular region where Kentucky Warblers are found in great numbers so it’s always a treat to spot one here in the Triangle area.



Kentucky Warblers are usually best found in moist, rich forests, containing a thick underbrush zone near creeks and streams beneath a hardwood canopy.
Most breed in our floodplain habitats (particularly in brownwater ones) while avoiding blackwater regions such as the Lumber River area.
In our western mountains, where broad floodplains are scarce, Kentucky Warblers may be found nesting on slopes, but usually on lower ones or on others that are very rich and lush.
Look for these beauties from late April through early September here in the Tarheel state.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birdwatching News

A bilateral gynandromorph Northern Cardinal at Bynum Bridge, Pittsboro NC

By Sally Siko

One of the best things about birding is that there’s always a potential to be surprised by something unexpected out in the field.
Case in point, a possible bilateral gynandromorph variation of a Northern Cardinal which I photographed last week at Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro NC.


If you look closely at the photos you can see that it’s colors are split right down the middle with bright red, male plumage on one side and buff-brown, female plumage on the other.



So, how does a Northern Cardinal end up being dual-plumaged?
It involves a cocktail of chromosomes, which work slightly differently than the X and Y sex chromosomes that mammals carry.
Female birds carry both sex chromosomes — which in birds are labeled W and Z — while males carry two Zs.
Gynandromorphy is thought to occur when female egg cells develop with two nuclei — so that one nucleus contains a single Z chromosome and the other contains a single W.
When that egg is fertilized by sperm carrying two male Z chromosomes, the egg develops with both ZZ (male) and ZW (female) chromosomes.
The bird then develops with half of its body containing male ZZ cells while the other half contains female ZW cells.
If this chromosomal mix-up occurs early on in the animal’s development, before many of their cells begin to divide, it can result in the sort of perfect bilateral split which may be the case seen in this bird.



In addition another thing that fascinated me was that I managed to capture a photo of the Cardinal with it’s male mate during a food exchange. Then the bird flew down into a shrub and settled onto a nest!
As it turns out, gynandromorphic birds will sometimes have at least one functioning ovary which means that they can lay eggs and reproduce.
Pretty neat huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Kentucky Birding, Kentucky Birding Tours & Birdwatching Trips, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Cerulean Warbler in Lexington, KY

By Sally Siko

As a birder & photographer, I’m always excited to see & photograph a new species whenever I get lucky enough to add a lifer to my list.
Weirdly enough, it seems that every time this happens my photos aren’t very good lol!



I don’t know if it’s the excitement of seeing something for the first time that throws me off my photo game or just bad luck with lighting and angle but this happens to me a lot.
Case in point, my first photos of a Cerulean Warbler that I found while on a birding trip in eastern KY.
While I was very, very happy to finally lay eyes on this gorgeous bird, it stayed high up in the canopy of the trees, backlit under bright sunshine or perching in the shadows of the leaves. Not great conditions for getting quality portraits but certainly good enough for an ID and the making of wonderful memories 🙂



The aptly named Cerulean Warbler is indeed a handsome bird with adult males sporting that light (cerulean) blue, white and black plumage.
Females are equally as lovely adorned with a greenish blue upper body plumage with a yellowish green underside.
From a distance or in poor lighting conditions I’ve found it’s possible to mistake a male Cerulean with a Black and White Warbler until the bird comes out into the sunlight.

With populations of this species in decline (due to habitat loss) it can be somewhat challenging to find these shy warblers.
Your best best to spot one is to search the mid to high canopies of the trees during the summer breeding season on the east coast. Ceruleans prefer to hang out in mature deciduous forests throughout the eastern United States, but are particularly abundant in oak-dominated forests that contain canopy gaps and a complex canopy structure.
Look for them in Kentucky from late April through early August.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News

A Scissor tailed Flycatcher at Ft.Fisher NC

By Sally Siko

Happy to have caught a few good shots of a rarity in North Carolina, a Scissor-tailed flycatcher!
I was lucky to spot it last month along the ATV / off road beach access trail at Ft. Fisher.



I’d spent a few minutes walking along the adjacent Basin Trail when the path veered left towards the beach.
Knowing that flycatcher’s typically like to perch on places which give them maximum visibility in open areas (fences, power lines ect.), I decided to head towards the beach and out of the marine scrub forest.
As it turned out, this was the right move because I spotted the flycatcher just a few yards ahead on the right, sitting on a post in the dunes next to the trail.



Affectionately nicknamed the Texas bird-of-paradise, these long-tailed birds are members of the kingbird family.
Measuring nearly 14in long, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are relatively large birds. Not surprisingly though, half of their total body length is that deeply forked black and white tail that is nearly a nearly unmistakable ID point when referencing them in the field.

The reason why this bird is a special sighting in the Tarheel State is because their range typically extends from eastern Colorado and Nebraska down south to Texas and Western Louisiana. Isolated breeding patches of these feathered gems have been found in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
Why it’s shown up in southeastern NC is anyone guess!
I hope that I’ll encounter this beautiful species again next spring during my High Island TX birding tour (learn more about this trip here!) because I’d love to share the experience of seeing one for the first time with my east coast guests 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Field Notes, Kentucky Birding, Kentucky Birding Tours & Birdwatching Trips, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Worm eating Warbler at Indian Creek in eastern Kentucky

By Sally Siko

Here’s another shy species of warbler which I was stoked to see in the woods while birding at Indian Creek in the Red River Gorge area of eastern Kentucky, a Worm eating Warbler!
Yeah I know he’s not as brightly colored as other species, but I think they’re elegant birds which are interesting to watch while they hunt for a meal.
This little guy moved fast along a brushy steep slope, working the cover nearly as quickly as a Ruby crowned Kinglet does when looking for a six legged snack.
It was pretty challenging to photograph this bird since it was hanging out in a dark patch of the woods. Still it was fascinating to see one of these little beauties up close, plus being able to add him to my yearly eBird list was a definite win.
In the end, patience paid off and I did get off a couple decent shots when it flew up a little higher out in the open to perch on a sparsely leafed sapling in better light.
Success!



As it so often goes with other species of birds, the Worm eating Warbler IMO is misnamed lol! They do not pull earthworms from the soil as American Robins do, rather this insectivore gleans its diet (insects and their larvae as well as spiders) from foliage.
A hungry Worm eating Warbler uses tactics such as probing curled live or dead leaves for hidden prey while hanging (sometimes upside down) from a twig or small branch, probing crevices, fluttering from limb to limb in order to grab flying prey while picking off slow-moving insects from open leaves and young twigs.


Worm eating Warblers breed in the Appalachian mountains and despite their shy disposition are relatively easy to find from late April through early October.
Their seasonal range extends from southern New York, west into southern Michigan and east Texas, all along the mid Atlantic states of the US and down into Central America.
Look for them in large tracts of deciduous and mixed forest, particularly in those with moderate to very steep slopes and patches of dense understory shrubs.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Behind the scenes of Best Life Birding trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive-to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Marcus Aurelius -Meditations

Had a good time birding in the Blue Ridge Mountains yesterday…
Because Isaac & I like to make the most of every second of sunlight, we set out at 2:30 am to arrive early enough to start the day at sunrise.

The weather was not ideal for a 4hr road trip, with rain and dense fog making it a challenge to drive in the dark through those winding curves.
The higher we climbed, the thicker the fog became, dropping visibility down to about 3ft at times!
Finally we ascended high enough to break through the mist and the skies became a clear blue with growing orange light in the east.
Although it was cold (in the 30s) it was well worth the time to stop on a ridge to step outside to watch the sun come up over what looked like an ocean or glacier field of clouds.
Truly an incredible sight well worth getting up early for 🙂



At the end of the day it was honestly a tough decision to set off to the east to return to the Raleigh area.
I did not want to watch those blue peaks receding in the rear view mirror, but my heart & responsibility calls me elsewhere in this season of life.
Still, leaving the mountains behind always makes me immediately homesick for a place I’ve never lived since I’ve dwelled primarily in suburban flat-land for most of my life.
A peculiar feeling for sure!
Someday I hope to change that & wake up to a cloud deck at my feet every morning 🙂

And the birds? Oh yes we found a ton of beautiful species out there which will be of use for my guests needs on future trips.
We snapped off several great shots of some tough to find warblers and even managed to tick off a rare species for good measure.
A kick ass day of birding!
More to come on that soon on bestlifebirding.com

Birdwatching News

Rare bird alert NC- A pair of Scissor tailed Flycatchers have been spotted in Charlotte

By Sally Siko

Last month, I took a quick trip to try and find my first Scissor tailed Flycatcher at Ft. Fisher NC.
That lone fly catcher was a vagrant in the area and I certainly didn’t expect to lay eyes on another one until next year when I head out to Texas for my spring migration bird watching tour on High Island.

Scissor tailed Flycatchers in Charlotte, NC June 2nd, 2022



But as luck would have it, a pair of Scissor tailed Flycatchers have shown up in the Charlotte North Carolina area!
So on June 2nd, I met up with my friend Corie Latta to see if we could capture some better photos of this beautiful species.
This time I think I nailed it and am very pleased with how the photos turned out 🙂



The Scissor tailed Flycatcher’s normal range extends south from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, in areas of western Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana, all the way down into Mexico and Central America.
This species is a rare sight indeed east of the Mississippi and certainly not a common bird to spot in North Carolina!
That being said, there seems to be an increase in sightings of the aptly nicknamed ‘Texas Bird of Paradise here in the Tarheel state which I find absolutely fascinating.

Scissor tailed Flycatchers North Carolina



The flycatchers appeared to be a bonded male & female pair which makes me wonder if they’ve got a nest in the area.
I’d learned that they prefer to nest in trees or tall shrubs, usually on horizontal limbs about 7 to 30ft above the ground so I did spend some time checking the trees in the area to see if I could locate a nest but to no avail.
I plan to revisit the spot in a couple weeks so perhaps I might get lucky and confirm a nest site then.
We’ll see I guess 🙂

Btw, if you’d like to see these birds for yourself, I’ve included a Google Maps pin drop of their exact location below.
Be respectful of the property owners though as the land the birds are on is actually an Amazon distribution center!
Best advice is to stay on the side of the road where the drainage pond is.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds