Tag Archives: birding trip nc

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

Warbler season is upon us- American Redstart in NC

By Sally Siko

Green leaves are sprouting out on all of the trees, it’s really starting to look like springtime here in central NC.The treetop canopies are becoming dense now bringing the arrival of hatching insects which are closely followed by flocks of migrating Warblers such as these beautiful American Redstarts.



With that bold black and bright orange plumage and their loud calls echoing through the woods, male Redstarts are impossible birds to ignore when hiking along a trail.*Not that I’ve ever thought of ignoring them lol!These birds are freak’n gorgeous and although they’re relatively easy to find, I’ve spent many hours trying to catch a proper photograph of one for years but with no luck.Happily I finally came close with these shots which I took while birding in Bynum NC.One of the nice things about this species of warbler is that when flocks of them move into the area, they’re relatively easy to find and photograph.This is because Redstarts tend to hunt for food in the mid to lower understory of open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, near roadside trees, in open areas like orchards, shrubby edges of streams and ponds, brushy edges of sunny pastures, and suburban parks.Or to put it another way, unlike many other species of warblers you won’t break your neck or hurt your eyes by searching for them high up in the trees of a dark forest lol!

The American Redstart is a somewhat unusual bird in that they’re both a breeding resident and transient migratory visitor to North Carolina with populations fluctuating wildly in different regions throughout the year.They are known to nest in both the mountains in the western part of the state and along a narrow north/NE to south/SW strip in several of the counties in central NC which is kinda odd.Generally though your best bet in finding them is from now through mid May and then again from September through early October during migration periods.Get out there and enjoy them!

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty megapixel monster, the @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Northern Shrikes at the Sandhills Gamelands in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

Today I decided to head over to the Sandhills Gamelands in Scotland County, NC for some fresh air and birding.
While there wasn’t much flying around (March sucks for birds around here lol!) I did manage to find a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes.
Yeah, I know that these photos aren’t “pretty” yet, the fact that this bird was sitting on a bare tree branch is indicative of where you’re most likely to spot one here in NC.Given that these guys usually fly off as soon as I see them, I was surprised that I was able to get so close to this bird from my vantage point below his perch to get a good close up look at him.Someday I’ll get that “beauty shot” but today I’ll take what I can get and happily add this species to my yearly list!



Loggerhead Shrikes are predatory songbirds. Their diet consists primarily of mice, voles, grasshoppers and other insects and like their cousin the Northern Shrike, they occasionally will eat other songbirds as well when the opportunity presents itself.
It gets crazier than that though!Because they lack strong talons or claws, shrikes often impale food on branches, thorns or barbed wire fences to help them tear their prey into bite-sized pieces. For this grisly meat hanging characteristic, shrikes have earned the moniker of “butcher birds”.*I prefer “murder floof” but I guess “butcher bird” sounds more intimidating idk, lol!



Their favored habitats include wide open, tall grassy fields, overgrown hedge rows and agricultural areas where their prey is found.Usually they are spotted sitting on dead tree snags, on fence lines and power lines overlooking the fields, constantly scanning the ground below for a snack.
Though Loggerhead Shrikes may be found throughout the central and eastern regions of Tarheel State year round, the highest amount of recorded sightings occur in the south central counties of NC (near the SC border) during the spring & summer months.Because I don’t usually see them here in the central NC so early on in the spring, it really was a nice surprise to catch a glimpse of this tiny predator.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Photographing Buffleheads in eastern NC

By Sally Siko

Here’s a duck which I’ve yet to get a good clean photograph of, the Bufflehead.
While I see tons of them every winter, I just can’t seem to get close enough to one to grab a great shot.
It’s so frustrating because these are beautiful ducks, especially when they’re swimming on the blue water under bright skies. The sun just lights up the iridescence on the males head which reflects a dazzling array of color.
So beautiful!


I took this series of (zoomed in on a 600mm lens & cropped 80%!)shots this past weekend while birding in the OBX and while they are pretty good, I still want better lol!
Happily I’ll be back in eastern NC next week to lead another tour so maybe I’ll get another chance at getting the perfect photo then.
We will see….



A wintertime resident of North Carolina, Buffleheads are best spotted swimming on our coastal lakes, ponds, estuaries, and impoundments. You can even see them swimming in the ocean just offshore on calm days.
The males are easy to ID with that striking combination of black and white body plumage paired with a black (but multi colored iridescent) face and white patch of feathers which extends from his eyes to the back of his head.
The hens (the ones shown in the series of in-flight photos) are quite lovely too with their soft grey and black plumage with white spots on their cheeks.

One of our smallest species of diving ducks, Buffleheads will hunt for a meal in both fresh and salt bodies of water.
In freshwater habitats, they eat primarily insects, and in saltwater, they feed predominantly on crustaceans and mollusks. Aquatic plants and fish eggs can often become locally important food items, as well when available.
They are strong swimmers and able to stay under water for more than a minute, then often popping up a long way from where they disappeared.
This makes them a little more challenging to photograph but it’s still fun to try haha 😉
The Buffleheads will remain in NC until early March so you’ve still got plenty of time to enjoy them this season.
Wooohoo!

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

Field Notes

The Tundra Swans have returned to the OBX in eastern North Carolina

By Sally Siko

One of the things I look forward to the most year after year is the return of the large flocks of Tundra Swans in eastern NC.
Thousands of these majestic white birds are flying in to spend the winter months in the fields, lakes and impoundments of our coastal counties.



It’s quite a sight to stand on the shoreline of a lake and see so many of them all in one place. Yes they are indeed beautiful but gosh they are a noisy and rambunctious bunch lol!
Large groups of Tundra Swans may be best defined as thinly controlled chaos so it’s not uncommon to see scuffles like the one pictured here break out within the flock.
I photographed these two pairs brawling this past weekend and boy it was as entertaining to watch as any prize fight haha 🙂



When they’re not fighting each other, Tundra Swans nest in northern Alaska and in Canada’s Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northeastern Manitoba, northern Ontario, and northwestern Quebec.
Interestingly, these guys break off into 2 distinct groups of eastern and western migrating populations when traveling between breeding and wintering grounds.
Swans that nest east of Point Hope in northern Alaska winter on the Atlantic coast, while birds breeding from Point Hope south & west winter along the Pacific.
It seems odd to me for the birds in the Coleville River region of Alaska to make such a long trip east which spans across the entire United States when a straight shot flight south to California is quite a bit closer.
Whatever the reason, I’m glad they are here!

You can find these beauties in southeastern North Carolina from November through early March in with peak numbers occurring in January.
Look for them in open marshes, lakes, shallow ponds and estuaries in fresh and brackish waters. They are also easily spotted feeding in grain fields in our agricultural areas too.
So cool!

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Savannah Sparrows on Mid Pines Rd, Raleigh

By Sally Siko

While birding along Mid Pines Rd at the Agricultural Unit of the NC State campus in Raleigh NC, I encountered a small flock of Savannah Sparrows chilling out on the fence line.
I pished at ‘em a few times and managed to coax a couple to fly in a bit closer so that I could get a better look.
It was fun to sit there for a few minutes watching the antics of these tiny floofs shaking off the water droplets and preening in the light rain.



These little guys look similar to other sparrows with brown striping on their breasts so they can be difficult to ID at a distance.
The thing to look for is that distinctive yellowish spot on the lore in front of and on top of their eye.
In yet another case of a bird with a seemingly nonsensical moniker, they were first named for Savannah, Georgia, (supposedly the city in which they were originally identified) yet they boast a wide range stretching from the northern shores of the Arctic Ocean, Canada, the United States and down into the southernmost regions of Mexico.



Like many sparrow species, Savannahs are voracious insect eaters and prefer to forage in habitats of open short grass fields containing piles of scrubby brush.
They also inhabit North Carolina’s tidal salt marshes, ponds and estuaries during the winter where the likely-hood of finding a six or eight legged snack near the water is greatly increased.

Look for them this winter in central and eastern regions North Carolina from now through May and again in June-August in the mountains of western part of our state.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

A Yellow throated Vireo encounter at Brumley Nature Preserve

By Sally Siko

Every once in a while, I start seeing certain species of birds more often than others.
In this case I’ve noticed Yellow-throated Vireos seem to be flying around NC in greater numbers than in the past 5 years.
I spotted this one snacking on a caterpillar while leading a tour at the Brumley North Nature Preserve last month.



While I don’t know the exact reason for the influx (it could just be luck-right place/right time scenario) I’m certainly happy to to have the opportunity to photograph them again without much effort.
In this case I was delighted to get a close up look at this beauty as he worked to eat the large caterpillar.
Apparently the bird did not want to gulp down its prey while it was still wriggling so pinching it between its bill, the vireo would smash the caterpillar into the branch repeatedly until it stopped moving.
Kind of reminded me of a kid twirling a wet noodle lol!



Though they share similar calls, Yellow-throated Vireos favor a different habitat preference to their more often seen relative, the White-eyed Vireo.
*Open areas- White eyed
*Woods- Yellow throated
Yellow-throated tend to shun pine barrens are best found foraging in the high canopy’s of the treetops in old growth deciduous forests and occasionally near wooded streams.
The White-eyed Vireo is usually found hunting for a meal in low brushy areas along the edges of fields or in stands of saplings or open woods.
These habitat preferences make these birds a little easier to ID by sound depending where you are even if you can’t get a good look at the bird.

These cheerful little guys will stick around NC for just about another week or two before heading to their wintering grounds in Central and South America, south Florida and on through to the coast of Texas.
Get out and enjoy them while you can!

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

New Birding trips are here just in time for migration

Now that spring has sprung in the Carolinas, it’s an exciting time to be a bird watcher!
Migration is getting underway and with it brings tons of beautiful birds into our state.
They’ll be a lot to see over the next few weeks and you can bet I’ll be out there birding and trying my best to grab some cool photos along the way.

Want to join me?
I’ve got 9 birding tours available for booking in destinations in North Carolina & South Carolina between now and June 30th.
Space is limited for these trips so reserve your spot today!
Looking forward to going birding with ya and cheers to a wonderful season ahead 🙂

Details and trip calendar links are found below!!!

Go Birding With Me: Best Life Birding Trips, Guided Group Birding Tours & Bird Photography Workshops



-Sally Siko
Best Life Birding

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Early spring encounter with Red cockaded woodpeckers in NC

March tends to be a slow month for birding activity yet there are still interesting birds to be found if you’re willing to go find them!
Case in point, these Red cockaded Woodpeckers.
I was pleased to find several of them last week during a quick visit to the Sandhills region of NC.
These energetic little spitfires were quite entertaining to watch as a small flock of Red cockadeds chased and fussed at one another in high boughs of the pines.



These sweet little birds were once a common sight in the southeastern regions of the United States. Due to loss of habitat, today they are considered an endangered species.
The reason why is because Red-cockaded Woodpeckers require a narrow scope of forest conditions to breed. They prefer to nest in mature stands of long leaf pine trees with little or no understory. Unfortunately these old growth forests have faced rapid decline which in turn has led to the decline of this species as well.



Luckily, the Sandhills region of North Carolina is a special place where several stands of old pine trees are preserved and maintained lending to provide the perfect conditions for the Red-cockaded to nest. Here you can see them raising their families every spring and throughout the summer months. It’s truly a special place to enjoy these wonderful birds.

Would you like to see these beauties too?
I’ve still got a few spots open for guests to join me this May on my birding photography tours in the Sandhills. If you’d like to come along, check the link below and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about signing up!

FIND THE RED COCKADED WOODPECKER TOUR- BIRDING AT THE WEYMOUTH WOODS PRESERVE

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved 50MP beast, the @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

An American Bittern encounter at Pea Island

One of the more challenging species of birds to spot here in NC is the American Bittern.


As seen in the 2nd photo in this post they are masters of camouflage with brown striped and buffed plumage well suited for a life spent hunting for a meal in the tall grass along a ponds edge.
Can you see it?
*Check out the below to see the cropped version of the 2nd pic for a closer look!



I was lucky enough to see two Bitterns while birding with friends a couple of weeks ago in eastern NC. One of which was stalking prey in the water which offered me the rare opportunity to photograph it out in the open.
The Bittern moved slowly, each foot deftly placed carefully into the water barely making a ripple in the surface.
After a few minutes he struck his bill into the water grabbing some sort of unseen snack which it quickly gulped down in an instant.
It was an amazing experience to be able to share this bird with a group of photographers who’d never seen one before!



American Bitterns are known to breed in small numbers throughout coastal areas of North Carolina but are more commonly found from September through early May, particularly during migrational periods.
They are primarily found in our freshwater marshes and wet fields containing cattail reeds and tall sedge grasses.
Though they are indeed difficult to see when hiding in the tall grass, the good thing is that individual birds tend to return to the exact same spots of shoreline year after year.
So, if you happen to locate one but it’s hiding in dense cover, it’s quite possible to come back the next day or even the next year to have another try at seeing the Bittern out in the open.


Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the the (alive and still kicking!) @canonusa #5Dmkii

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Find a Painted Bunting with me! Birdwatching NC birding trips

Yes it’s March but this recent stretch of warm weather has me dreaming of spring migration and all the colorful birds that will soon be heading up to North Carolina.
Perhaps the most stunning example of which is the Painted Bunting!
There is no way to mistake this gorgeous bird for any other species with that incredible palette of indigo, red, yellow and green plumage sparkling in the sun or lighting up with a fire of their own in the canopy shadows.

Painted Bunting bird watching Tour



Truly Painted Buntings are a “bucket list” species for photographers and birders alike.
I know I can’t wait to get back out to the coast of North Carolina this spring to see them again myself!
Wanna join me?
I’ve got 3 tours scheduled for May & June of 2022.
Space is limited on these small group trips so make sure you book early to reserve your spot.
For booking details check out my tour link below!

SEARCH FOR THE PAINTED BUNTING AT FT.FISHER BIRDING TOUR



Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved 50MP beast, the @canonusa #5Ds