Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Birding at Carroll Howard Johnson environmental park – Fuquay Varina NC

Today I went birding at the Carroll Howard Johnson environmental park in Fuquay Varina. This local patch has been reaching hot spot birding status lately so I thought I’d make the trip to check it out for myself.

I arrived at about 7:15 am and set out on the trail. My goal was to reach the open field in the middle of the park. Upon reaching the clearing, I was greeted by the sounds of birds singing and the fluttering of wings. The first bird I observed was a cheerful Carolina Wren preening himself on a branch. After watching him for a few minutes, I headed down the trail into the woods. Here I found an Oven-bird and a black-and-white Warbler.

Continuing on the path I also found a summer Tanager sneaking through the leaves of the canopy above. What a handsome bird! I was pleased to also catch a glimpse of his mate too.

Once the fog lifted and the sun came out, the heat became a little bit too much so, I decided to head back up to the parking lot. As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of a eastern-wood- Peewee high up in a tree overlooking the field.

Driving home, I decided that that would not be my last trip to this interesting little park. Going forward, I plan to post more pictures from future trips so stay tuned for more!

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Red Tail hawk on the run

Went out for a quick hike this morning at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh and found a Swallow chasing a Red Tail hawk.

The Swallow was relentless in his pursuit. Diving and twirling in the sky, taunting the hawk to try something, lol!

Finally the hawk made it to the tree line where he disappeared into the pines. It was pretty cool to see such a small bird defend his territory against a much larger foe.

Field Notes, Instagram Birding, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A speck of blue

One of the prettiest birds we’ve got here in N.C. is the Indigo Bunting.

With these lovely blue-hued feathers, about the only place he’s got a hope in camouflage is when he’s high atop a tree against a backdrop of sky, lol! This Indigo Bunting was photographed at Yates Mill Park near Raleigh, NC. I found him easily because he was singing his heart out 🙂

Weird fact: Indigo Buntings have no blue pigment; they are actually black, but the diffraction of light through the structure of the feathers makes them appear blue. These gorgeous birds are often found in rural roadside thickets, where woodlands meet open areas. That’s exactly the kind of spot at Yates Mill where I found this one 🙂

Indigo Bunting at Yates Mill Park.