One of the most entertaining species of bird to watch in NC is the Tundra Swan. Each November, huge flocks of them arrive in our eastern coastal counties to spend the winter on waterfowl impoundments and agricultural fields. That being said, just because they travel together doesn’t mean that they all get along.
This was the case when I photographed a small group of swans on the North Pond at the Pea Island NWR. There were three swimming together when a fourth swan flew in. Upon landing, the first three birds immediately set in to attack the fourth bird but he was not deterred by their efforts in the least. Instead he fought back, biting and slapping his wings against his attackers before settling in to join the flock. Bird drama at its finest lol!
Tundra Swans nest in northern Alaska and in Canada’s Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northeastern Manitoba, northern Ontario, and northwestern Quebec. Interestingly, Tundra Swans break off into 2 distinct groups of eastern and western migrating populations when traveling between breeding and wintering grounds. Swans that nest east of Point Hope in northern Alaska winter on the Atlantic coast, while birds breeding from Point Hope south & west winter along the Pacific. It seems odd for the birds in the Coleville River region of AK make such a long trip east which spans the United States when a flight due south/west to California is quite a bit closer. Whatever the reason, I’m glad they are here!
These impressive birds will stick around eastern North Carolina until February before heading north so we’ve still got plenty of time to enjoy them over the next few months.
Check out this Rusty Blackbird! I spotted it a couple days ago at Lake Betz in Morrisville NC. While I’d have preferred to photograph it with some kind of wooded background (instead of the featureless sky) I was stoked to get a couple of “close up” pics of this understated beauty in frame.
As their name implies, non breeding male Rusty Blackbirds have a unique rusty mottled appearance with a copper colored edging pattern overlaying their glossy black plumage. *Breeding males are overall glossy iridescent black. Because the female’s are dressed in a buff plumage, they are often mistaken for female and juvenile grackles so the easiest way to make a solid ID is to look for their light yellow eyes. Rusty’s also tend to hold their tails straight up while foraging on the ground which can help you ID them when their feeding in a mixed flock of other Blackbirds or grackles.
Rusty Blackbirds are a winter visitor to North Carolina. They appear more numerously in the central part of the state but may be found in varying numbers in the lower elevations of the mountains to our west and in our eastern counties as well. Look for them in wet habitats such as bogs, marshes, swamps and along the shorelines of small ponds from November through March. Aren’t they lovely?
Each winter, I’m delighted to see the return of the Golden-crowned Kinglet to central North Carolina. I spotted this little one while walking around my property earlier this week. It was darting in and out of the brush fussing with a flock of Ruby-crowns (which the Golden-crowned didn’t seem to like!) stopping only for a second or so to see what I was up to.
At one point, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet got too close to this Golden which caused him to flare up his namesake flame colored Mohawk to show his displeasure. What a show!
Weighing in at just .19oz and measuring 3.1 inches from beak to tail, these tiny dynamo’s are smaller than their Ruby-crowned cousins and perhaps twice as fast, thus making them a frustrating (but fun!) bird to photograph! Although the lighting could have been a little better, I’m still pleased to have finally caught a few photos of a Golden-crowned at a semi-standstill.
Golden-crowned Kinglets are experts at finding a six or eight legged meal during even the coldest months. They are opportunistic insect hunters, pecking and prodding into the crevasses of the tree bark in search of prey. These guys also love to eat moth caterpillars so they’ll also spend a good bit of time raiding cocoons stuck on the side of branches and on the undersides of leaves. In my experience they appear to be most energetic in the mid morning hours which may coincide with an increase of insect activity or warmer mid-day temperatures.
You can find Golden-crowned Kinglets all year round in the Appalachians of western NC, but they only show up in the Triangle and in our eastern counties during the winter. Look for them in dense conifer stands and in brushy areas along the edges of mixed deciduous forests from October to April.
I got up early in the morning to get in a little birding last weekend and ended up spotting a Loggerhead Shrike near Lake Wheeler Rd. in Raleigh NC.
Yeah, I know that these photos aren’t “pretty” yet, the fact that this bird was sitting on a power line is indicative of where you’re most likely to spot one here in NC. Given that these guys usually fly off as soon as we see them, I was surprised that I was able to get so close to this bird from my vantage point below his perch to get a good close up look at him. Someday I’ll get that “beauty shot” but today I’ll take what I can get and happily add this species to my yearly list!
Loggerhead Shrikes are predatory songbirds. Their diet consists primarily of mice, voles, grasshoppers and other insects and like their cousin the Northern Shrike, they occasionally will 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”. *I prefer “murder floof” but I guess “butcher bird” sounds more intimidating idk, lol!
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 the fence lines (and power lines) overlooking the fields, constantly scanning the ground below for a snack.
Though Loggerhead Shrikes may be found throughout the central and eastern regions of Tarheel State year round, the highest amount of recorded sightings occur in the south central counties of NC (near the SC border) during the spring & summer months. Because I don’t usually see them here in the Triangle in the winter, it really was a nice surprise to catch a glimpse of this tiny predator.
Check out this sweet immature Red-shouldered Hawk I found this past weekend along Mid Pines Rd. in Raleigh, NC.
Allowing me to walk within 30ft of his position, this bird was remarkably relaxed, calmly preening and occasionally watching the ground below for prey. At one point, the hawk dropped down into the grass to catch an insect and then returned to it’s perch to finish it’s snack. Normally it’s difficult to get up close to a raptor so it was neat to be able to encounter one at this range! We spent about 30 mins eyeballing one another before something rustling in the woods caught the hawks attention and it flew off to investigate. So cool!
At this age, Red-shouldered Hawks look similar to immature Red-tailed Hawks. When I first saw this bird from across the field, I wasn’t sure exactly which species this was. It wasn’t until I drew closer that I was able to figure it out. Juvenile Red-tails are beefier birds with larger beaks and thicker legs than the Red-shouldered. In addition Red-tailed Hawks have mostly white or light buff colored breasts with a spotting pattern running down its belly and sides. Juvenile Red-shouldered like this one show spots on their breasts.
Those observations aside, one of the best ways to ID a Red-shouldered Hawk is by that pale, buff colored, crescent-shaped mark on the outer edge of it’s primary feathers at the top of it’s wing (shown in the above photo) , which is shown clearly in the last photo of the hawk landing on the post. This mark can also look like a translucent crescent when viewed from below and backlit from the sun above.
Red-shouldered Hawks are a year round resident of North Carolina may be found in all 100 of counties from the mountains to the coast. Their preferred habitats include bottomland forests, swamps and beaver ponds where they have access to their favorite food of amphibians, insects and reptiles. That being said, Red-shouldered’s also may be spotted hunting in the mid and lower canopies of deciduous forests near lakes and rivers. Seeing this one perched on a fence post out in the open was pretty neat!
Here’s a familiar sight found on North Carolina’s beaches, the Black bellied Plover. I spotted this one looking for a snack in the sand along the shoreline of a small cove near Oregon Inlet in the OBX. It was quite amicable to my presence and walked up to me a couple times which allowed for some good close up photo opportunities.
The bird featured here is likely a juvenile or non breeding adult due to the streaky pattern on it’s breast and overall spotty appearance. Adult male Black bellied Plovers display jet black plumage on their face, running down the front of their necks and down across their breast and belly. The adult females look similar to the males but showing less contrast in their appearance.
Black bellied Plovers are a wintertime visitor to coastal areas of the Tarheel State. That being said, a small population of non-breeding birds will spend the summer months here too. They are best found on our beaches but also in tidal mudflat areas and on short grass lawns searching for a meal. They’ll stick around until April before heading north to their nesting grounds in the tundras of Alaska and Canada so we’ve got plenty of time to enjoy these sweet birds for the season ahead.
While searching for that Snow Goose in Raleigh last week, I spotted an interesting looking Canada Goose feeding in a nearby cornfield. It had the conformation of a regular Canada but it’s head, neck and breast were speckled with white feathers. This goose’s unique color pattern may likely attributed to a genetic mutation called leucism.
Leucism, (or leukism), prevents melanin from being properly deposited on a bird’s feathers resulting in the abnormal growth of white plumage. Birds like this Canada Goose displaying this genetic mutation end up with white splotchy areas of feathers called a piebald pattern while others may be covered with white plumage all over. The entirely white birds affected with leucism might be confused with albino birds but the easiest way to tell them apart is to check the bill, leg and eye color. This is because the albino mutation also affects the bird’s other pigments in the skin and eyes, and albino birds show pale pink or reddish eyes, legs, feet, and a pale bill. Leucistic birds, on the other hand, usually have normally colored eyes, legs, feet, and bills.
I enjoyed watching this beautiful goose for several minutes. He spent most of the time with his head down in between the broken cornstalks searching for a snack. Every now and again he’d chase a rival away from his spot but for the most part this was a peaceful scene. At some point, a few of the sentry birds started honking and the call was made for the flock to depart the fields to fly over to the pond where I eventually found the Snow Goose. Not a bad way to spend some time in the field!
Canada Geese (to the chagrin of some lol!) are a year round resident of North Carolina and are found in all 100 of our counties. Look for them feeding in large flocks in agricultural fields, golf courses and suburban lawns in the morning and late afternoons. During the midday and overnight they can be seen resting on ponds, lakes and marshes.
After finding the Say’s Phoebe last month I invited Corie @latta.ridge to head back out to Gibsonville NC with me the day after I found it to see if I could locate this rare bird again to show her. After all, sharing a life bird is better with friends and I’m always happy to try and get better photos whenever I can because dang it I just can’t help myself lol 🙂
We arrived around 10am and searched fields and fence lines for the Say’s for a couple hours with no luck. At one point I thought I’d spotted him but it turned out to be an Eastern Phoebe lol! Our bird was nowhere to be found so we headed into town to grab a bite to eat. Once lunch was done we decided to have another crack at getting this sneaky Say’s since we were still in the area. This time the Say’s Phoebe finally showed up and was easily viewable while perched on the barbed wire fence. Corie and I had plenty of great photo opportunities to frame the Say’s up nicely as it flew from the fence down into the field below.
Since I posted about this species a few weeks ago, I’ve had a few people ask me what this bird would be eating since the Say’s Phoebe’s diet consists almost entirely of insects. Now that winter is almost here, there aren’t many opportunities to catch a six or eight legged meal here in North Carolina. Should this bird decide to stick around for a few months, survival will be difficult without a good food supply. After all, he’s supposed to be soaking up the sun in warmer locals down in the southwestern United States and Mexico this time of year. No need to worry though!
As it turns out, (like the Eastern Phoebe) this bird also will eat small berries and fruits when other food resources are scarce. I was even able to capture a photo of the Say’s enjoying a berry snack while perching on a fence post. Pretty neat huh?
Back home after my trip to the Alligator River NWR & the OBX this past weekend and thinking about the importance of pre-bird tour groundwork. Because nature is somewhat unpredictable, I’ve found it useful over the years to do a little location scouting a day or two before my tour dates. This time allows me to check the conditions of the trails and routes plus be able to confirm that all of the seasonal bird species are where I’d expect them to be. Most of the time it’s all good but in this case, yikes! Thank goodness I headed out to the Alligator River NWR earlier in the week before my guests where scheduled to arrive because apparently the impoundment areas were bone dry.
Dry as a bone at the Alligator River NWR
Normally the fields are flooded in October to provide safe haven for migrating waterfowl over the winter but due to dry conditions, a shortage of workers, and a beaver dam stopping up the pumps, they were unable to start the pumps to flood the fields this year. Thus, aside from a small flock of Tundra Swans, a half dozen Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles, there were hardly any birds to be found along the first stop of my tour. Not exactly the best conditions to start off a birding trip…
Red-tailed Hawk at Alligator River NWR
So, I contacted my guests before the tour day and explained the situation on the ground. My new plan was to spend less time at the Alligator River NWR and add an extra stop at the end of our tour on to find a rare species of bird (a Snow Bunting) on Pea Island. I don’t like to have to change things last minute but I always want to make sure that my guests are getting in the most birds (and the most fun!) out of the time we spend together so this felt like the right move.
Black Bear at the Alligator River NWR
As it turned out, Alligator River NWR was still worth the short visit as there were plenty of opportunities for my guests to spend time photographing the resident Black Bears which was pretty cool!
It was such a joy to see so many happy bird loving photographers getting their first ever shots of a bear. Plus, I got to show the group a family of Bald Eagles hunting Swans in the fields.
All in all, not a bad way to start the day 🙂
Thankfully our next stop on Pea Island came through with thousands of ducks and swans to see swimming on the ponds in the refuge.
American Wigeon at Pea Island NWR
There were Redheads, American Wigeons, Ringnecks, Scaups, Pintails, Gadwalls, Black Ducks, Mergansers, Buffleheads and more including American Avocets, Clapper Rails, Godwits, warblers and sparrows! Plus uncountable numbers of Tundra Swans, geese and American Coots to round out the day’s list which you can see in the photos below.
Lesser black backed Gull
Common Merganser
Savannah Sparrow
Hooded Merganser & Bufflehead
Clapper Rail
Black Duck
Red winged Blackbird
White Ibis
Redhead Ducks
White Pelicans
Pintails, Redheads & Gadwall
American Avocets & Godwits
Tundra Swans
American Coots
Pintail Duck
American wigeon
Assorted Waterfowl
Yellow- rumped Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone
Black bellied Plover
Oh and yes, I was able to deliver that Snow Bunting too (a new lifer-bird for every guest!) which was a total cherry on top.
Snow Bunting at Oregon Inlet
All in all and despite an unexpected start, a wonderful day 🙂 I can’t wait to get back out there for the next tour later this month!
All smiles on the OBX!
If you’d like to join me this winter on a birding trip, click on the dates shown in green on the calendar below for tour availability, locations and booking info.
PS. Shout out to my friend John Carter who completed his goal to go birding in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties!
He say’s that he is now officially retiring from birding (to focus on his Raleigh – Durham Real estate career) and that his last bird of the year was the Snow Bunting we found on this trip 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS JOHN! Hope you come out of bird retirement again someday. Never say never my friend 😉
This is a gorgeous bird which may be often overlooked just because they’re so common in central NC, the Song Sparrow. Admittedly I’m guilty of doing this myself from time to time, especially if I’m looking for something else lol! It’s a shame though because these guys are quite charming little feathered gems in their own right.
For one thing, Song Sparrows are the first birds to respond to pishing efforts and will often fly in close to check you out when in the field. This is nice because they are more typically found in brushy areas and grassy fields and slightly less inclined to visit bird feeders as often as other sparrow species. As their name suggests, their cheerful songs are indeed the soundtrack of the Tarheel State’s open county. Did you know that their song sung here is not the same as the ones sung across the country? There are numerous regional variations which at first may be confusing but thankfully, the basic pattern is uniform: a few introductory notes followed by a buzz or trill. It is essentially the same music, just transposed for a slightly different instrument or remastered with a regional accent lol!
Song Sparrows are a year round resident of North Carolina and are found throughout the state from the mountains to the coast. Look (and listen!) for them in agricultural areas, and in open overgrown fields which also contain brushy thicketed areas for the birds to hide in when their not eating.
