Tag Archives: bird watching yates mill park

Birdwatching News, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Downy Woodpecker at Yates Mill Park, Raleigh NC

Oh wow am I stoked! I finally captured a photo of a Downy Woodpecker right-side up while on my CBC a few weeks ago at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh, N.C.


Haha, every other picture I’ve ever got with one of America’s smallest Woodpeckers shows one hanging upside down or partially hidden by the tree trunk or branches!
Am so pleased to get a lovely shot after all this time 🙂

Ya know, there is a certain advantage to being so small. Downy Woodpeckers are able to hunt for food where larger woodpeckers can’t, including on the thin branches in the upper canopy’s of trees. They are acrobatic little climbers, (as proved by every photo I’ve ever taken of them ) they can even cling upside-down like a Nuthatch or Brown Creeper.

Being opportunistic little birds, they’ll follow the Pileated Woodpeckers through the forest, taking advantage of the larger bird’s excavations and will devour any insects the Pileated might overlook.
During the cooler months, Downy Woodpeckers can be found traveling with mixed-species flocks of chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches, thereby maximizing opportunities for an easy meal.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds

Birdwatching News, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Sparrow begging for food from a cardinal at yates Mill Park

While birding at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh, N.C. a few weeks ago, I photographed a skirmish between a female Northern Cardinal and a juvenile Song Sparrow.


It was an odd situation in that the Sparrow was not acting aggressively towards the Cardinal.
Rather, it appeared to be begging for food!


The Sparrow would creep up right next to the Cardinal and squat low fluttering it’s wings with its mouth open in a submissive stance.
Very strange behavior!
For her part, the female Cardinal was having none of it. She chirped at the smaller bird loudly and tried to bite it. Eventually she chased him away before setting back into the typical Cardinal floof-ball resting stance.

I’ve seen a ton of weird behavior in the years I’ve spent watching birds but have never seen different species acting like this (apart from parasitic behavior by Cowbirds).
Crazy!

Have any of you ever witnessed this kind of interaction between two totally different species before?

Photo by @sally_siko
Canon 5Ds

Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

NORTH CAROLINA BIRDING TRAIL / YATES MILL PARK

Just published a new video from my latest bird watching hike along the North Carolina Birding Trail at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh, N.C.

With three distinct habitats located in a small area, this park is a great stop if you’ve got a long list but are short on time. Check out the video and then view some of the photo highlights below.

Located just five miles south of downtown Raleigh North Carolina,
Yates Mill is one the best bird watching destinations in the Triangle.

The thing that I love about this place is that
it offers a wide range of varied bird habitats
within the boundaries of a relatively small park.

The trails best viewing opportunities include
a 20 acre lake, swampy- bushy areas, forest lands,
and a wide open farm field.

All of those spots are within a quick 15-20 minute walk from the parking lot.

Birdwatching News, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin, Uncategorized

Birding at yates Mill County Park

One of my favorites, the Gray Catbird!
I spotted a few of them while birding at Yates Mill County Park in Raleigh, N.C. recently. These secretive birds are often heard, but not seen when walking along the trail. Normally they stick to hanging out in the shadows of dense brushy undergrowth which makes getting a proper view of one a bit difficult at times.
Was stoked to get a clean photo of this beauty before he disappeared back into the shade!

In addition to Catbirds, I also documented 16 other species (including a lifer of white-eyed Vireo) in the span of about 90 minutes walking around the Park.
Here’s my eBird list of what I saw… Yates Mill County Park
Oct 1, 2019
8:00 AM
Stationary
90 Minutes
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.9.5 Build 17

1 Great Egret
2 Turkey Vulture
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
1 White-eyed Vireo
2 Blue Jay
46 American Crow
5 Carolina Chickadee
4 Tufted Titmouse
4 Gray Catbird
2 Brown Thrasher
3 American Goldfinch
2 Song Sparrow
7 Common Yellowthroat
4 American Redstart
3 Northern Cardinal
2 Indigo Bunting

Number of Taxa: 17

Not a bad morning! 😃

Btw, are you new to using eBird or want to learn how this listing system is used?
Here’s a helpful post to get you started!

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-use-ebird

Happy birding!

Photo by @sally_siko
Canon 5Ds