It’s actually getting chilly-ish 😂temperature wise here in NC this weekend. These crisp cool mornings are getting me excited for the months of wintertime birding ahead. Watching the sun come up over the marsh with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and a camera in the other, scanning the grass at the waters edge for Snow Geese is my kinda vibe.
The Greater Snow Goose is a wintertime visitor to North Carolina and are often found in great numbers (by the thousands!) in the OBX. Each year, thousands of them descend onto the farm fields and tidewater marshes to feed and roost during the cooler months. Dedicated herbivores, their diet consists of leaves, grass, seeds and spilt grain found in agricultural fields. In fact, I’ve sometimes had better luck finding Snow Geese on land than on the water which is why I enjoyed photographing this flock chilling on the shore.
Interestingly, only one population of Greater Snow Geese exists in the entire world. In addition, the species movements as a whole is almost entirely confined to the Atlantic flyway of North America. Greater Snow Geese breed in the Canadian High Arctic, and on the western coast of Greenland. This makes the Greater Snow Goose one of the most northerly breeding geese in the world. These beauties arrived in N.C. during December with numbers swelling through early February. They’ll then stick around through late March before they make the trip north again.
Though they aren’t the most colorful bird around, I’m always delighted to encounter Field Sparrows when birding throughout the year in North Carolina. I spotted this little one snacking on some grass seeds near the Sandhills Gamelands Campground in Hoffman NC.
Unlike other species of sparrows which can be tough to identify, Field Sparrows are relatively easy to ID by that white eye ring, orange feet, orange legs and orange beak. They’ve also got a light tannish-orange patch of color behind their eyes and a clear un-spotted grey belly.
Field Sparrows are best found in overgrown fields, clearcuts, maritime thickets, and woodland borders, always where there is a thick grass and scattered shrubs and saplings. Their proclivity to spend most of their time in open areas and curious disposition makes them an effortless bird to photograph as I was able to get within just a few feet of this bird without it’s concern. These lovely feathered gems spend the entire year throughout the state of North Carolina so your odds of seeing one soon are pretty good no matter when you step outside. Aren’t they lovely?
This past summer I had the opportunity to go birding up in Maine. The plan was to scout out the state in preparation of my upcoming birding tours in Maine. After 3 days on the trails, it turned out to be an incredible trip which yielded 53 different species of birds plus epic views and really good food.
Day 1 was spent scouting around the Acadia NP area. Michael and I started off the day with a beautiful hike along the coast at Great Head. The morning was very foggy but gosh it was gorgeous up there in the woods.
Everything was silent except for the sound of a distant fog horn, a very noisy Winter Wren and a pissed off (yet adorable!) Red Squirrel who chattered loudly as we walked past him. It took about 20 minutes or so of hiking a gentle uphill slope before the forest opened up to a wide open cliff view overlooking the Atlantic. We stood up on the rocks taking in the grand view before us, marveling at the icy green North Atlantic slapping at the cliff below. Several Herring and Black-backed Gulls were circling overhead, it was neat to watch them preen and squabble over food once they landed on the rocks.
There were a couple Black capped Chickadees flitting through the pines as well as a curious Black and white Warbler who followed me as I wandered around the bluff in search of good photos and great birds.
A few minutes later it started to sprinkle a little so we headed down the Acadia Park Loop rd to look for more cool stuff. We ended up at Moose Lake SP where we encountered a few different species of Warblers including Blackburnian, Pine, Common Yellowthroat and a Northern Parula. It was neat to see these tiny feathered gems so far north.
By now we’d walked a few miles and were building up an appetite so we decided to grab a couple lobster rolls for lunch at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound. https://www.barharborlobsterpound.com The rolls were delicious!
Although they seemed a bit pricey ($72 for two rolls and a couple drinks!) it was still pretty fucking awesome to bite down into that buttery bread and sweet lobster. Washing it all down with an Old Soaker Root Beer really hit the spot so totally worth the price IMO.
By now it was mid day and actually a little warm outside so we took a quick drive to take in the sights and sounds of Bar Harbor. Gosh what a beautiful town! Tons of great restaurants, hotels and shopping plus it’s a hub for a few boat tour companies which dock on the area. *more on that later…
Once the sun was a bit lower in the sky, we drove up onto Cadillac Mountain in hopes of enjoying a good sunset and maybe a great view of the Northern Lights which had been forecasted to be extra bright that evening. Unfortunately, mother nature had a different plan in mind as the mountain peak quickly was enveloped by a bunch of clouds rolling through.
There was no way that we’d get to see the aurora borealis with these weather conditions but gosh it was absolutely gorgeous up there watching the sun sink into the hazy horizon below.
Cadillac Mountain turned out to be a pretty good birding spot as well with sightings of Wild Turkeys, a Herring Gull (yes there was an actual Herring Gull sitting on a rock wall in the parking lot at the top of the mountain lol!) Common Ravens, Blue Jays, American Crows, a Hermit Thrush, an American Robin, two Song Sparrows, several Dark-eyed Juncos, a couple White-throated Sparrows and a cheerful Common Yellowthroat. Truly a nice way to wrap up my first full day at Acadia!
Day 2 and we were hitting the road again, heading inland to check out the Moosehead Lake area. I’d found an interesting birding spot called the B&A Railroad North which I’d targeted as being a good spot to find Boreal Chickadees and White-winged Crossbills. (Lifers I’d yet to tic off my list). While we were driving along a gravel track through the woods, I got lucky and spotted several Ruffed Grouse as they crossed the road. It was thrilling to actually grab a couple photographs of these birds, as I’ve never managed to do so before.
Continuing on we ended up at an intersection of gravel paths so we walked a bit from here. It wasn’t long before I heard the calls of Boreal Chickadees emanating from the woods, so I started pishing in hopes of drawing a couple of out into the open. Happily, one did fly out and landed onto the outer edge of a pine bough which allowed me to grab a couple photos before it flew back into the deep woods. Success!
In addition to that Boreal Chickadee there were a bunch of other cool birds at that spot too such as a Hermit Thrush, an American Robin, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, a Nashville Warbler and as always, several cheerfully singing Common Yellowthroats. Although I didn’t get to tic off a White-winged Crossbill here at the Railroad site I was pleased with what I saw!
From there we continued heading north to our destination of The Birches Lodge at Moosehead Lake. https://www.birches.com
We’d booked a Moose Cruise for later that day but since we arrived a little early, we decided to grab a quick lunch at the resort’s restaurant. Omg the food was delicious! ( roasted & chunky carved Turkey on that sandwich, yum!) As great as the food was, the service was even better.
One thing I have to share now is how awesome the people of Maine are. Everyone was super nice and welcoming. It didn’t matter where we traveled throughout the state, the people were just awesome. Our waitress at The Birches was very friendly and made us feel right at home as we ate lunch in the north woods. As a bonus, I even got to meet the owners wife Tania Willard. She was so excited once I told her that I was a birding guide! We talked for a few minutes about all of the great birds in the area and it warmed my heart to encounter another business owner who loves the outdoors and birds as much as I do. Tania told me to be on the lookout for Belted Kingfishers and White-winged Crossbills (a lifer for me) during the Moose Cruise. As luck would have it, we spotted both species while out on the water! Yay!
The Moose Cruise was a lot of fun. At first everything was quiet, the water was smooth as glass and the world around us was an impossible shade of green. My gosh what a peaceful place!
Then as the boat made its way up the river the birds started making an appearance. It started with seeing a beautiful Common Loon sitting on its nest (wow!) and got even better from there lol!
There were Canada Geese, a Wood Duck, Mallards, Hooded Mergansers, Wild Turkeys, Double-crested Cormorants, Turkey Vultures, an Osprey 2 Belted Kingfishers, a Blue-headed Vireo, a couple Winter Wrens, 7 White-winged Crossbills (yay!) and a Pine Warbler to round out the boat trip. We even lucked out and spotted a mother moose and her calf crashing through the brush along the shoreline. Freak’n awesome!
Day 3 had arrived and with it, a powerful offshore storm. The winds were high and the surf was churning like a washing machine. This was a problem because I’d reserved a boat to take out onto the ocean in order to photograph the Puffins who nest on the small rocky islands which line the coast. Unfortunately the rough seas prevented any boats to depart so unfortunately, I was unable to get out there onto the water. It’s okay though! I’ve been in contact with a bunch of great Puffin boat captains and will be heading back to Maine in July 2024 to try again to share these birds with my guests.
Not wanting to waste a single moment feeling unhappy about missing out on a boat trip, we decided to explore more of the trails of Acadia National Park at Schoodic Point. This area is even better IMO for birding since it’s far less crowded here than along the Loop Road on the western side of the park.
There was a gentle light mist of rain falling as we hiked in the Blueberry Hill area and along the Anvil Trail. All was quiet save for the sound of the surf hitting the rocks and the occasional calls of the gulls flying overhead. The air smelled so good along the coast with the gentle scents of pine, saltwater and beach roses wafting on the cool breeze. When we ventured deeper into the woods, we were quickly enveloped in a world of emerald green ferns, spongy soft moss and ancient pine trees. Walking these trails felt like stepping back in time.
At first there wasn’t much activity going on (wildlife wise) but as we walked the shorelines and forests of Schoodic Point, the birds started to become a little more active despite the foul weather. Here we saw a raft of Common Eiders, Canada Geese, a Black-throated green Warbler, an Ovenbird, several Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Gray Catbird, a few Dark-eyed Juncos, a couple Song Sparrows and a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Not too bad considering that the weather was a bit dodgy. We ended the morning by getting a bonus sighting of a juvenile porcupine making its way across the road.
I’ve never seen one before in my life, so it was very cool to finally lay eyes on a real live Porcupine! He was super cute and we were absolutely thrilled to see one of these remarkable creatures up close.
The day ended with a stellar dinner at the Union River Lobster Pot. https://www.lobsterpot.com Oh my goodness that was a great meal! 1 1/4 lobster served with clams, a big red potato and one of the sweetest ears of corn I’ve tasted. So much buttery goodness I can’t even describe how good it was without drooling a little lol!
I’ll tell ya, it was a difficult decision to make in order to point my car south to head home. Don’t get me wrong I do love North Carolina, but Maine is an incredible place. The people are lovely. There’s zero traffic. The food is superb. The views, unbelievably beautiful. And the birds, omg there are so many up here that we don’t get to see often (or ever!) in the south. I left dreaming (and yeah now seriously considering) about buying some land so that I can offer birding tours on a frequent basis in Maine. At least it will be great to spend the summer working in Maine where it’s cooler during the hottest months in NC. Lol we will see!
Photo by Michael Wildrick
Anyway, to sum it all up, Maine is freaking awesome and I cannot wait to get back there again soon. I’ve got space available for reservations in 2024 so if you’d like to join me, feel free to hit up the link below for details 🙂
Here’s a beautiful little Prairie Warbler which I was lucky to encounter while birding at the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Preserve near Pinehurst NC. My guests and I were making our way down the wooded fern lined trail when the bird flew down and began to forage in the brushy undergrowth down low beneath the pines. Usually these tiny birds fly away as soon as I spot one so it was super cool to get an eye level view of one at close range.
These lovely little beauties are active birds, often wagging their tails as they search for the six or eight legged snacks that make up the bulk of their diet. When they get stuck for the winter in colder locations (like central NC) they’ll also supplement their diet with the sap flowing from trees and even berries when available.
Prairie Warblers breed across the entire state of NC. Now that spring has arrived, they’re busy building their nests in openings with patches of dense woody understory vegetation, such as overgrown fields with shrubs, or young regrowing forests. Their cup shaped nests are placed in trees or shrubs, generally less than 10 feet above the ground. Once the eggs are laid, it takes between 12 to 14 days for them to hatch. Both parents share the duties of rearing the chicks.
Prairie Warblers are generally a spring and summertime resident of North Carolina but each year there are reports of a few of them which end up spending the winter here. For the most part though they’ll stick around until late September before departing to their wintering grounds in the Caribbean, and along the east coast of Central America.
While leading a birding tour last weekend, I spotted this handsome Painted Bunting singing his heart out and fluttering around the shadows of the brush scattered behind the dunes of Wrightsville Beach. Although this bird isn’t adorned with the familiar rainbow plumage, I was able to identify it as a first year male. The reason why is because of its song as only male Painted Buntings sing out in varied warbling song, while the females are generally silent save for a few chip calls every now and again.
It can be difficult to identify a juvenile male versus female Bunting though! First-year males (like this bird) look similar to the females (which are dressed in subtle green hues), but the vibrantly colored green color of the young males plumage is much brighter and may have flecks of iridescent blue in it. Male Painted Buntings retain their green plumage until they are 15-18 months old, then molt into the multi colored feather gems which we are most able to recognize in the field.
As seen in the last couple photos in this post, the adult male Painted Bunting’s upperparts are blue, with a lemon-green back, green wings, reddish rump, and red eye ring. The underparts of their plumage is bright red. But what is the point in being so flashy? As with other members of the Cardinal family, the brightest hued Painted Buntings are most likely to attract the mates of their choice. Not surprisingly, the breeding plumage of the adult Buntings tends to attract the attention of photographers and others the most too lol! And for good reason, they are truly stunning.
Now that we are in mid-May the breeding season has arrived and the woods are noisy with bird songs. A few familiar calls ring amid the din. Cardinals, Wrens and Ovenbirds all sing at high decibels but one of the loudest is the voice of the Great Crested Flycatcher. Their emphatic screeches and high pitched whistles are easily picked out amongst the chaotic symphony of chirps and squeaks encountered when birding in Central North Carolina during the spring.
Great Crested Flycatchers are busy birds at this point of the year as they pair up with a mate and begin the task of building a nest. These guys are the only species of flycatcher in the state which nests in the cavities of trees. Yet instead of creating their own holes, they use old woodpecker cavities and even bird boxes and Purple Martin condos for nesting sites. Their breeding habitat is found in a varied array of forests, though they slightly favor drier habitats as found in pine-oak forests, open longleaf pine forests, oak-hickory forests, as well as in bottomland and swamp forests. For some reason they tend to avoid areas with spruce or fir trees. A bird familiar with suburban life, Great Crested Flycatchers can also be found nesting in wooded residential areas, especially in our Coastal Plain regions.
These lovely feathered gems may be found in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties from now through mid September. This means you’ve got plenty of time to go out there and see one for yourself soon!
While leading a tour this past weekend I was pleased to share this Louisiana Waterthrush with my guests. I found the bird via its beautiful song emanating from the woods, so we set off down the trail to look for it. It didn’t take long to locate the bird perched on a branch overhanging a swift moving, steep banked creek. These birds are generally pretty shy so it was a real joy to get a good clean look at the it from a relatively close range!
The Louisiana Waterthrush nests across nearly all of the eastern United States. That being said, they are a scarce sight in Florida and near the coastal areas farther north and west during the breeding season. Generally speaking, they are not one of North America’s more common species, as their breeding territories are well-spaced along narrow streamside corridors. Yet, if the right habitat is found, this species can usually be seen and heard without too much trouble.
During the spring and summer months, the best places to look for them are along streams and rivers, under the shade of hardwood trees, and as with the case here in the woods at the PeeDee Wildlife Refuge, near creeks with near-vertical banks where the nests are placed. These beautiful birds favor slightly running waters of rocky creeks, as opposed to standing water of larger streams and rivers, but they can certainly be quite numerous along some of our larger rivers such as the Roanoke and Cape Fear.
With the breeding season just now getting underway, you still have plenty of time to see one for yourself this year. They’ll stick around until mid August here in the central part of the state and until early August in other regions before heading south to Central America in the West Indies to spend the winter.
One of my favorite moments from my trip last week to the mountains of western NC was an encounter with this Brown Creeper near the Walter Knob Overlook at Balsam Gap. Normally these shy little guys are tough to see, let alone photograph lol! Even when viewing up close, that brown and white camo pattern of plumage allows them to disappear into the background of any forested habitat. Making matters more difficult, Brown Creepers tend to spiral upwards along tree trunks, usually staying on the shady side of the trunk (this making for crap photo opportunities lol), and then after a minute or less on one tree, quickly fly down toward the base of another tree. Tracking the movements of these stealthy feathered gems is difficult to say the least!
Though their numbers are particularly widespread across the state, Brown Creepers are known to breed in the higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains in western NC. They construct their nests beneath loose bark on tree trunks (the only North American bird which does this!) thus it requires mature forests of Spruce Fir (as seen in these photos) and mixed old growth deciduous areas containing trees with bark loose enough to push up underneath. Crazy huh?
These little ones are voracious eaters of insects including larvae, beetles, flies, gnats and spiders. When winter arrives and insects become scarce, they’ll snack on nuts, seeds and fruit. You can even attract Brown Creepers to visit your yard if you offer fruit and nut based suets at your feeding station.
Brown Creepers may be found year round in the western counties of NC throughout the year but especially at elevations of above 4,500 ft during the spring and summer. Throughout the rest of the state these birds are mainly spotted the winter months from October through late March. So, if you’d like to catch a look at one soon, just head to the mountains and be prepared to squint your way through the trees to achieve a Brown Creeper tic.
It was so cool to spend a little time with an American Oystercatcher yesterday at Wrightsville Beach, NC. These are gorgeous birds, always interesting to watch as they roam the beach in search of a snack. They’re voracious eaters of mollusks, crustaceans, worms and other marine invertebrates which inhabit the intertidal areas of the Carolina coastline.
American Oystercatchers are a year round resident of southeastern NC.Each spring, they lay their eggs in shallow depressions in the sand among large nesting colonies of Terns, Skimmers and Plovers.
Unlike other shorebirds who hunt for fish above the water and dig for shellfish and marine worms on the sandy shoreline, Oystercatchers prefer to look for it’s namesake snack in exposed sand bars and mudflats during low tides. They’ll also forage on rocks, such as those found at jetties and around bridge pilings. Aren’t they beautiful?
One of the coolest birds to see in the mountains of western North Carolina is the Chestnut-sided Warbler. I spotted this little guy singing on a sunny wildflower covered slope last Sunday morning while birding at the Bass Lake Trail in Blowing Rock NC. Like their neighbor the Canada Warbler, they’re quite curious about people and will fly in quite close to see what we are doing. I had no trouble at all trying to get a good look at this one as he foraged in the brush after tiny insects.
Chestnut-sided Warblers hunt for food by flitting between branches of shrubs and small trees, finding their six legged prey among leaves and twigs. Every now and again they’ll dart out of the brush to catch flying insects in midair. When they’re not looking for a snack you can find them singing loudly in the thickets, sending messages warning others to stay out of their territories or to attract a mate.
Primarily Chestnuts tend to nest to the north in New England however their breeding range does extend south down the narrow spine of the Appalachian mountains. They hide their nests low in dense shrubs, blackberry tangles, rhododendron stands, or even in young saplings of alder, maple, and other hardwood shrubs and trees. They are commonly found between 3500-5000 feet along the Blue Ridge Parkway throughout May and June and will stick around until the first week of October before migrating south to Central America to spend the winter. You’ve still got plenty time to go see them this year so get out there if you can!
