Tag Archives: birding south carolina

Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in SC, Birding Trips in SC

Spending time with Red-breatsed Mergansers in SC

By Sally Siko

One of the obvious challenges that comes with photographing a bird is of course that they move around quite a bit.
 Add the Atlantic Ocean waves and a species of diving duck and now I’ve got a whole fresh set of obstacles to deal with.
 In this case I was incredibly lucky to be able to catch a fair amount of shots of this male Red-breasted Merganser swimming right offshore of the rock jetty at Huntington Beach SP which was freak’n awesome!



A member of the “Sawbill” family of ocean faring ducks for its long, thin serrated bill, Red-breasted Mergansers are voracious eaters of fish.
 The young ones will also eat crustaceans and insects until they learn to hunt on the open water.
 These guys are strong underwater swimmers, easily able to catch a slippery fish in that serrated bill and there are even reports of flocks of RBM’s hunting for schools fish cooperatively by driving them into shallow waters. Red-breasted Mergansers aren’t just speedy underwater, they happen to be one of the fastest flyers of all the duck species in North America with speeds clocking in approaching 80mph at level flight.
 Crazy!



Red-breasted Mergansers are usually found in brackish and saltwater habitats in the eastern counties of the Carolinas. That being said, smaller numbers also frequent our fresh water impoundments, lakes, and ponds, usually for short periods of time, both inland and coastal areas.
 They’ll stick around until late May before they heading north to their breeding grounds so you’ve still got plenty of time to see them.

By the way, I’ve added 80 new birding tour dates to my 2024 trip schedule so if you’d like to join me out there in South Carolina to see these beautiful ducks for yourself, check the calendar below for details & booking info!



Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Biridng Trips and Tours in SC

A Black necked Stilt at the Bear Island WMA

While birding at the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area in South Carolina this past weekend, I was pleased to find a pair of Black-necked Stilts wading through a shallow pond.
While they were a good distance away (resulting in these super cropped photos lol) from my vantage point it was still pretty cool to lay eyes on these elegant birds.



Black-necked Stilts can be found in the coastal counties of the Carolinas looking for a meal in fresh to brackish, still waters. They seem to prefer hunting in man-made bodies of water such as flooded out impoundments, dredge ponds, roadside runoff ditches and sewage treatment ponds. A nice thing because this gives us better opportunities to access areas for viewing them.
Always on the lookout for a snack, these long legged waders forage by probing the mud with its bill and by gleaning for flashes of sunlight bouncing off of its aquatic prey such as crustaceans and other arthropods, mollusks, small fish and tadpoles.
When their main source of food is scarce they’ll even eat plant seeds.



Black-necked Stilts are known to breed in the Carolinas may be found from now through late September. Unlike many of our other shorebird species, they are quite intolerant to cold weather so as soon as autumns chill arrives, they head south.
Luckily we are just getting into spring so you’ve got plenty of time to go see these gorgeous birds for yourself.

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Field Notes

Black Swans in South Carolina

I finally experienced my first Black Swan event…


Nope, I wasn’t filled with a sense of uneasiness or foreboding normally associated with the term, rather I was elated to finally have an opportunity to photograph these lovely birds for the first time.
As was the case with the Mute Swans I posted late last year, I spotted this pair of Black Swans near a roadside pond along Rt.17 near Murrells Inlet SC.

Black Swans are not native to the Carolina’s. They are found in southern regions of Australia and have also been introduced into England and Japan. Most of the ones spotted here in the United States are either captive farm birds or escapees who have found a home in the wild.
With those intense orange eyes, onyx plumage, a wingspan reaching 6.6ft and a weight of nearly 20lbs, these beauties are impressive birds to catch a good look at.


Although I’ve seen Black Swans in the past, I’d never had a camera in hand during the encounter so it was really cool to be able to photograph this intense looking species up close.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa#R5

Birdwatching News, Out There with the Expert

Wintertime Limpkin sighting in South Carolina

Recently I took a quick trip down Murrells Inlet SC to see what kinds of birds were spending the winter south off the Raleigh area.
One species in particular I looking forward too seeing again were this pair of Limpkins which have been calling a neighborhood drainage pond in SC home over the past year.


The fact that these birds are here in South Carolina is pretty special because the Limpkins typical home range extends from south Florida to central and South America.
But what is the thing that is keeping them here?



The answer is snails.
Apple Snails to be precise!
While they certainly consume a fair amount of mollusks, worms, amphibians and insects the Limpkins favorite food is the Giant Apple Snail.
In fact their bills are bent and twisted at the tip, a unique physical adaptation solely developed for removing the snails from the shell.
Even during courtship the Apple Snail plays a part as the males will feed their mates the slimy snack in an effort to win her affection.
Apparently that tactic has worked in the case of these two birds since they successfully nested and raised several chicks in this location last year.


I’m hoping that this spring will yield another successful nesting season for the pair and am looking forward to seeing little ones running around the shoreline in May.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Hooded Mergansers at Huntington Beach State Park, SC

Of of the most striking looking ducks we’ve got swimming around the Carolinas is the Hooded Merganser. With that huge crown of feathers at the top of their heads, these handsome birds are truly kings of the water.
I spotted this small flock last month while birding at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC.
It was able to get relatively close to these guys from my vantage point on the boardwalk over the marsh which was pretty neat!



Hooded Mergansers are a species species of diving duck with a somewhat unusual diet in that they do not eat much plant material. Instead they prefer to snack on small fish, crawfish, and aquatic insects.In addition, they’ve got long serrated beaks which aid in the capture and consumption of their underwater prey.
The tidal marsh habitat where I photographed these birds served as the perfect hunting grounds for the Mergansers.



Though many of us associate Mergansers as being a wintertime visitor to NC, they are known to breed in our eastern counties making them a year round resident of the Carolina’s.
Like Wood Ducks, they are cavity-nesters but unlike Wood Ducks, Mergansers often lay their eggs in other females’ nests. This is behavior is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds, except that the ducks only lay eggs in nests of their own species.
Pretty neat, huh?

Photos by me @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert

Wild Mute Swans in Murrells Inlet SC

After a long day of birding in Murrells Inlet SC, I decided to take a quick trip north up Rt.17 to Myrtle Beach to pick up some dinner.
If you’re unfamiliar with the area, Rt. 17 is a heavily trafficked highway that passes by several strip malls and shopping centers which seem to be busy throughout the day and evening.



When I was about a mile or so from my destination, the GPS directed me to exit to the left to drive through an access rd which actually passed between a Lowes Home Improvement Store parking lot and Rt.17.
Though it was already dark outside, something caught my eye in a narrow water retention pond (read big roadside ditch full of water lol!) which was located between Rt.17 and the Lowes parking lot…
Mute Swans!

I quickly parked my car and grabbed my camera out of the bag and walked over to the “pond” to get a better look.
Cars zooming behind me with curious onlookers, just a few feet down the short slope were 5 Mute Swans swimming peacefully in the shallow water. They were feeding on something under the water and appeared to be completely at ease despite the fact that they were surrounded on all sides by traffic noise and lights.
Isn’t that remarkable?
Not wanting to disturb them into wandering into the road, I quickly snapped off a couple shots and then headed on my way to pick up my meal.

*Btw, this is what ISO 5000 looks like shooting on a long lens at 600mm in the dark using street lights for ambiance looks like.
My Canon R5 did a pretty good job I think 🙂


Mute Swans are native to Europe and were introduced to the United States in the 1800s as an ornamental species to grace the gardens of estates and parks.
As it goes with birds, many escaped and now growing populations of feral Mute Swans are found in New England and south along the mid Atlantic coast.
Now here’s the thing, I’ve seen many Mute Swans over the years at farms and zoos so these birds weren’t “lifers” for me in the strict sense.
Yet, this was the first time I’d ever observed this elegant beauty in the wild so I thought it was pretty cool just the same.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the mighty mirrorless monster of a camera, the @canonusa
#R5

Field Notes

Night Herons at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet NC

Black crowned Night Herons are simply gorgeous creatures. I love the way those bright red eyes stand out from their charcoal and white plumage.


These lovely birds are found throughout the United States during the summer and are year round residents of North Carolina in our coastal counties.

North Carolina’s only true nocturnal Heron species, Black crowns are often spotted in marshy wetland areas hunting for a meal at dusk. They primarily dine on fish, frogs, small crustaceans and insects however they also eat carrion, small rodents and snakes. They’ll even raid the nests of other birds to eat the eggs if the opportunity arises.



Look for Black crowned Night Herons around ponds and marshes with a heavily vegetated shoreline. The brush and trees provide the perfect cover for the birds to stalk their prey unseen as well as providing cover for roosting during the day.
They’ve got a distinctive raven-like croaking call so it’s worth listening for them in their preferred habitats too if you’d like to find one.

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the mighty mirrorless monster of a camera, the @canonusa
#R5