Tag Archives: birding trip alligator river nwr

By-Sally Siko

Admittedly these aren’t the best photos I’ve ever taken, but I had to grab a few ‘far away shots of this Sandhill Crane I spotted while birding with my friend Corie Latta @calatta at the Alligator River NWR in eastern NC.
While I wish this lovely bird was a bit closer, I was so excited to share this rare sighting in the field with friends!

Sandhill Cranes breed in Siberia, throughout central Canada as well as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.
Their are even small year round populations of Sandhills which nest in Florida, Mississippi and Cuba.
Each autumn, thousands of them migrate south to spend the winter in northern Mexico, California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
Luckily for us, a handful of Sandhills show up right here in eastern NC at Alligator River NWR & at the Pocasin Lakes NWR each winter.

Standing nearly 4ft tall, Sandhill Cranes are large birds with long, thin legs and necks. Though it’s hard to see in my photos, the bird’s cheeks are white and its forehead has a bright red patch, which is one of their most noticeable features.
Though they are covered in mostly grayish plumage, the shade of those gray tones can vary widely from bird to bird.
In fact, if you look closely at these photos sometimes Sandhills can display a reddish-brown appearance. This is because they preen themselves by rubbing mud on their feathers and mud from iron-rich environments is often red.

Though most would expect a Sandhill Crane to be spotted near water, these elegant birds are usually found in wide open places, especially plowed or stubble (preferably corn) fields; closely mowed fields, soggy & grassy pastures, shallow pools, and around the edges of impoundment margin areas.
Look for them feeding with flocks of Tundra Swans at the Alligator River NWR and at the Pocasin Lakes NWR in NC from December through early February.

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

Want to find the Sandhill too?

Google Maps pin drop to the locations of the 2 fields along Miltail Rd & Sawyer Lake Rd at ARNWR where this bird likes to hang out linked below.

Dropped pin off of Miltail Rd

Dropped pin off of Sawyer Lake Rd

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Alligator river NWR & Pea Island NWR North Carolina Birding Trip report- November 28th,2021

December 1, 2021 admin

By: Sally Siko- Admin Birdwatching NC

Back home after my trip to the Alligator River NWR & the OBX this past weekend and thinking about the importance of pre-bird tour groundwork.
Because nature is somewhat unpredictable, I’ve found it useful over the years to do a little location scouting a day or two before my tour dates.
This time allows me to check the conditions of the trails and routes plus be able to confirm that all of the seasonal bird species are where I’d expect them to be.
Most of the time it’s all good but in this case, yikes!
Thank goodness I headed out to the Alligator River NWR earlier in the week before my guests where scheduled to arrive because apparently the impoundment areas were bone dry.

Dry as a bone at the Alligator River NWR

Normally the fields are flooded in October to provide safe haven for migrating waterfowl over the winter but due to dry conditions, a shortage of workers, and a beaver dam stopping up the pumps, they were unable to start the pumps to flood the fields this year.
Thus, aside from a small flock of Tundra Swans, a half dozen Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles, there were hardly any birds to be found along the first stop of my tour.
Not exactly the best conditions to start off a birding trip…

So, I contacted my guests before the tour day and explained the situation on the ground.
My new plan was to spend less time at the Alligator River NWR and add an extra stop at the end of our tour on to find a rare species of bird (a Snow Bunting) on Pea Island.
I don’t like to have to change things last minute but I always want to make sure that my guests are getting in the most birds (and the most fun!) out of the time we spend together so this felt like the right move.

As it turned out, Alligator River NWR was still worth the short visit as there were plenty of opportunities for my guests to spend time photographing the resident Black Bears which was pretty cool!

It was such a joy to see so many happy bird loving photographers getting their first ever shots of a bear.
Plus, I got to show the group a family of Bald Eagles hunting Swans in the fields.

All in all, not a bad way to start the day 🙂

Thankfully our next stop on Pea Island came through with thousands of ducks and swans to see swimming on the ponds in the refuge.

There were Redheads, American Wigeons, Ringnecks, Scaups, Pintails, Gadwalls, Black Ducks, Mergansers, Buffleheads and more including American Avocets, Clapper Rails, Godwits, warblers and sparrows!
Plus uncountable numbers of Tundra Swans, geese and American Coots to round out the day’s list which you can see in the photos below.

Oh and yes, I was able to deliver that Snow Bunting too (a new lifer-bird for every guest!) which was a total cherry on top.

All in all and despite an unexpected start, a wonderful day 🙂 I can’t wait to get back out there for the next tour later this month!

If you’d like to join me this winter on a birding trip, click on the dates shown in green on the calendar below for tour availability, locations and booking info.

PS. Shout out to my friend John Carter who completed his goal to go birding in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties!

He say’s that he is now officially retiring from birding (to focus on his Raleigh – Durham Real estate career) and that his last bird of the year was the Snow Bunting we found on this trip 🙂

CONGRATULATIONS JOHN! Hope you come out of bird retirement again someday. Never say never my friend 😉

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

An encounter with a Common Grackle at the Alligator River NWR

November 3, 2021 admin

While on a recent visit to the Alligator River NWR in East Lake, NC I spotted a flock of Common Grackles roosting in the trees next to the cornfields.
It was dark and with rain clouds threatening overhead and a stiff wind blowing which is why this bird was taking cover in the canopy instead of feeding on the spilt grain below.

Normally these interesting birds take flight as soon as someone approaches so I counted myself lucky to get in a few shots of a Grackle preening at a relatively close range.
Grasping a feather in his beak, he’d comb through his glossy black plumage and then fluff out his feathers and give a shake every now and again. He repeated this process until he was sleek & clean then flew off deeper into the woods to join the rest of his flock calling from the trees.

Common Grackle’s are a year round resident of North Carolina and are found in varying number’s throughout all 100 of our counties.
They are particularly numerous in the eastern part of the state where they may be found eating on the ground in large flocks along roadsides, suburban lawns and in farm fields.
“Common” though they may be, I still think they are lovely!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my mighty megapixel monster the @canonusa #R5

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

A Northern Harrier encounter at the Alligator River NWR

April 21, 2021 admin

On the last day of my recent birding trip to eastern NC, I got up early and drove out to meet up with my guests at the Alligator River NWR. Big fat raindrops beating off of my windshield, I began to worry that the weather might put a literal damper on the trip.
It had started pouring the night before and according to the radar, it would be a few hours before it let up.

Though it wasn’t the deluge which was forecasted for that morning, it was still raining as we got started looking for the birds at Alligator.
I shouldn’t have worried though…
As it turned out, I was blessed with booking the nicest people ever who had no problem enjoying the birds in the rain with me. No one complained and we ended up seeing some wonderful things despite the weather.
Just awesome!

One of the most entertaining birds we encountered was this Female Northern Harrier that greeted us in the fields off of Wildlife Drive. Sweeping in low and slow over the grass, these raptors are mouse hunting machines.
As seen in the photo below, we watched one dive down to the ground to catch a snack which was pretty cool!

Northern Harriers are quite distinctive looking birds of prey with an owl-like shaped face and bright white rump which makes them easy to ID from a distance. Another clue to their ID is noticing their hunting behavior. Harriers tend to fly about 2-8 ft above the top of the field growth (grass, corn, wheat ect.) and often circle back over the same patch repeatedly.
They also glide more often than not, only flapping their wings when forward momentum is needed.

These impressive birds are a wintertime visitor to North Carolina. They are best found in our wide open fields and marshes from September through April before departing for their breeding grounds in the Northern United States, Alaska & Canada.
There is still time for you to go enjoy them for yourself so get out there while you can 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds