Last week I had the opportunity to go check out the North Carolina Museum of Art to see what kinds of birds I could find there. From Indigo Buntings, Goldfinches and Orchard Orioles to Red tailed Hawks and Nuthatches, I was in heaven.
With the sunflowers blooming in the back field, this was the place to be to catch some beautiful photos and nice clear sightings of all sorts of different species of birds.
Check out the video below to see what I found and click on the map link at the bottom of this post so that you can visit this amazing location for yourself.
A few days ago, I headed out to go bird watching at a park in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina which does not have a gate restricting trail access. I like the fact that it’s possible to get out here early before a few of the joggers and dog walkers arrive which would give me the best opportunity to see the birds.
Here is a video below of my highlight birds which included my first sighting of 2020 of Barred Owls!
Here is my eBird list which included 11 species 🙂
One of the things I liked about this park is that there are two distinct habitats for birders to explore. Deep woods and a narrow open field with a small creek winding through it all. In the late spring and summer months it’s a haven for breeding songbirds and a real gem of a birding spot when other parks get busy (or get shut down).
Below is are a few of my favorite photos from the trip which are featured in the video above. Although I did not net a whole lot of different species, I had a great time just being outdoors in the woods. I’m really looking forward to returning here in a couple of weeks to see what is flying around once spring migration gets underway.
Barred OwlYellow-rumped WarblerAnother Barred Owl just because they are awesome 🙂Black and white Warbler
If you’d like to visit the Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park for yourself, here is a map of the location below…
Be on the lookout for videos and photos from my next trip back to this nice little birding spot next month. Hopefully I’ll have a longer species list to share with you then 🙂
Until next time, Happy Birding!
-Sally Siko
Photos and video captured with my mighty Canon 5DS. If you are
interested in getting shots like these with this 50 MP beast of a
camera, please check out the link below to Canon USA.
Birdwatching NC is sponsored by Canon USA and I am proud to be a
Canon shooter. After 13 years of trusting my professional photography
business to Canon’s line of products, I cannot recommend this company
strongly enough. If you have have any questions about my gear, shoot me a
message!
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photography website gallery and hosting company. I’ve been using
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Finally got a decent photograph of a brown-headed Nuthatch at Jordan Lake! Have you ever heard the sound of what seems to be a squeaky toy emanating from the treetops here in North Carolina? You may have just had an encounter with a brown-headed Nuthatch too!
This bird’s diminutive size and active lifestyle make it tough to spot, but once you know what to look and listen for, you’ll realize it is a common year-round resident throughout our state’s pine woods.
By virtue of their strong, sharp claws, brown-headed Nuthatches are capable of crawling head-first down the trunk of trees as easily as going up. Their coloration creates perfect camouflage against the tree trunks that the birds can be found foraging on, in search of seeds and insects.
This one was rather friendly and don’t didn’t mind one bit that I was taking his picture. It was neat to be able to see one of these lovely birds at such a close range!
Photo by @sally_siko Canon 5DS Jordan Lake, Apex NC
Have you ever watched a Ruby-throated Hummingbird stretch before? Yes, they are elegant little gems but check out the second photograph below see what they look like in all of their awkward glory, lol!
From floof, to zoot, to sleek in just seconds…
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird boasts an average 55 wing beats per second. That’s pretty fast right?! However, during mating season, males will fly back and forth in front of the female with a wing-beat rate of 200 per second during courtship displays.
These tiny birds even hold a Guinness record for its speed, which is probably why taking the time to stretch their incredible muscles is so important 😉 Photo by @sally_siko Canon 5Ds
This Great Crested Flycatcher was a total camera hog as he fluttered from branch to branch among the limbs of the dying Oak tree in my yard. It’s not often enough that these hyper little birds will sit still long enough to get a good picture! 🌿 Great Crested Flycatchers are an edge-dwelling species: they prefer places where wooded areas adjoin grassy places. This is the reason why they seem to enjoy living on my property so much as this description fits my backyard here in central N.C. perfectly. They are also known to set up shop in unused woodpecker holes and will use shed snake skin to line their nests. Makes me wonder if they will stalk a snake waiting patiently for it to shed a crinkly nestling “mattress” for its young, lol!
