I got up early in the morning to get in a little birding last weekend and ended up spotting a Loggerhead Shrike near Lake Wheeler Rd. in Raleigh NC.
Yeah, I know that these photos aren’t “pretty” yet, the fact that this bird was sitting on a power line is indicative of where you’re most likely to spot one here in NC. Given that these guys usually fly off as soon as we 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 the 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 Triangle in the winter, it really was a nice surprise to catch a glimpse of this tiny predator.
While birding at Yates Mill Park, I heard a familiar sound coming from the trees. “Zzzeee-ssup”… I smiled and raised my camera and twisted the ring on my lens zooming in to search the branches for the bird responsible for the song. Zzzeeee-ssup! There it was, a male Northern Parula singing his little heart out in the mid canopy of a nearby tree.
It was cloudy and a little dark on this morning so I had to hurry to set my cameras exposure & ISO to brighten the scene in order to catch a few photos of this marvelous feathered gem before he disappeared into the leaves. I pursed my lips and gave out a quick “pish, pishshsh” call to coax the little bird out from behind a leaf. From there, I had just a few seconds to snap off some shots as he popped out onto an unobscured branch, looked me over, them called back at me. Zzzeeee-ssup! Swipe to the second photo to see him in full song, tongue out and all lol!
The Northern Parula is a somewhat common sight here in central North Carolina. These are the smallest species of eastern wood-warbler and although it is an energetic (and kind of noisy) bird, their habit of foraging in the high canopy of trees makes it a difficult Warbler to observe. Look for them in deciduous forests, bogs, swampy areas and anywhere there is water nearby. They are best located by listening for that distinctive call overhead. Northern Parulas will stick around the Triangle through mid October so there is still plenty of time to see them. Get out there and enjoy them while you can!
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
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A few days ago, while visiting Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs N.C. I found a Red-shouldered Hawk sitting on a low branch right next to the trail. Viewing this beautiful bird from less than 20 feet away, I was surprised to see her up close as she was focused on scanning the area for prey, totally unbothered by my presence. I stood there for about 5 minutes watching before something in the bushes behind her caught her attention and she flew off to investigate. Just awesome!
Here in central North Carolina, Red-shouldered Hawks are often found in deciduous forests, along the tree lines of open fields and near small to medium sized bodies of water( the habitat here at Bass Lake Park is a great example). They prefer to hunt in places where the lower part of the forest canopy is relatively open, which gives a perched hawk an unobstructed view of the ground below. Like the bird featured in this post, Red-shouldered Hawks are commonly seen perching on low level branches, still as a statue watching for movement on the ground. Once prey is targeted, they’ll dive straight down onto it or glide in on an angle from the side. Because these hawks are relatively less agile in the air than other raptors (such as Red Tailed and Sharpies), their diet includes a much smaller percentage of birds. Having extra room to deftly maneuver through the trees while flying is another reason why they prefer to hunt in habitats with un-thicketed forest floors or grasslands.
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.
I had an excellent time birding with John, Steve and Diane during the 2019 Christmas Bird Count last weekend. We got started at 8am at Yates Mill Park and spent about an hour and a half walking around the small lake in search of all things feathered. It was damp and cool outside, but all together not unpleasant conditions for birding.
Canada Geese
The first birds we spotted were Ruddy Ducks, Buffleheads and Canada geese.
Bufflehead Duck Bufflehead DuckRuddy Duck
We also found white-throated Sparrows, Winter Wrens an Eastern Phoebe, and a Yellow bellied Sapsucker in the woods along the shoreline.
Once we had circled around back to the visitors center, we were rewarded with a small mixed flock of birds including Yellow-rumped Warblers, Cardinals, Towhees, White-throated Sparrows, a Downy Woodpecker and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
After notating the species that we found, we headed of to check out the Mid Pines dog leg. This is a great spot to find species of birds who require a bit of open fields to hunt and forage in.
There we found a large flock of crows, Canada Geese and an undetermined species of hawk high up in a pine tree in a far away field. John and Steve also heard a horned-Lark singing which was pretty awesome!
American CrowsThere is a hawk up in this tree in the center of this photo. Sadly, he was to far away to ID.
After spending a few minutes at the dog leg, we headed off to Lake Wheeler to continue the count. On the way to the parking lot, we drove past a small pond that contained a flock of Mallards and a single male Wood Duck. I stopped and tried to grab some photos but the ducks stayed behind the brushy stuff at the waters edge. Still, I am always happy to see a Wood Duck in the wild. Such gorgeous birds!
Wood Duck and MallardsMallards
After stopping briefly on the park road to check out some Blue jays, Sparrows, Towhees and Juncos, we arrived at the parking lot to the sounds of loud screeches and squawks coming from a huge flock of Ring-billed Gulls and Cormorants nearby. There were hundreds of them feeding on the lake!
Ring billed Gulls and CormorantsMore Ring billed Gulls and CormorantsEven more Ring billed Gulls and CormorantsDid I mention that there were allot of Ring-billed Gulls?Yup. You guessed it. More Ring billed Gulls and Cormorants! But, if you look closely in this photo to the center of the frame, you’ll spot one of the 4 Bald Eagles we saw on this day roosting high up in the bare branches of that tree!
One of the highlights of our morning birding at Lake Wheeler was that we found 4 Bald Eagles! This might be a record amount of sightings for this location so we were pretty pumped about this 🙂
Bald Eagle
When I wrapped up my count at lunch time, I had tallied 41 different species and counted well over 1000 individual birds. Despite the rain and wind, it turned out to be a great morning!
Here are my complete species lists and count tallies as submitted to eBird. I wish that I had photos of every bird on the count but as with it goes with birding, it is not about the photos with me. I am just happy to see and hear them 🙂
Yates Mill Park List
Yates Mill Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US Dec 14, 2019 7:48 AM – 9:48 AM Protocol: Traveling 0.05 mile(s) 32 species
Canada Goose 14 Mallard 15 Bufflehead 4 Ruddy Duck 25 Ring-billed Gull 8 Great Blue Heron 1 Black Vulture 3 Red-shouldered Hawk (lineatus Group) 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 3 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Eastern Phoebe 3 Blue Jay 3 American Crow 12 Carolina Chickadee 6 Tufted Titmouse 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 Winter Wren 1 Carolina Wren 5 Northern Mockingbird 3 Eastern Bluebird 2 Hermit Thrush 1 American Robin 6 American Goldfinch 2 White-throated Sparrow 15 Song Sparrow 6 Eastern Towhee 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 4 Northern Cardinal 14
Second List from Yates Mill Park
Yates Mill Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US Dec 14, 2019 10:04 AM – 10:24 AM Protocol: Stationary 17 species
Lake Wheeler Park, Raleigh US-NC (35.7202,-78.6875), Wake, North Carolina, US Dec 14, 2019 10:46 AM – 12:16 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.05 mile(s) 23 species
Wood Duck 1 Mallard 16 Ruddy Duck 1 Ring-billed Gull 550 Double-crested Cormorant 750 Great Blue Heron 2 Turkey Vulture 4 Bald Eagle 4 Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Blue Jay 1 Carolina Chickadee 2 Tufted Titmouse 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown Thrasher 1 Eastern Bluebird 2 American Robin 1 Dark-eyed Junco 12 White-throated Sparrow 5 Eastern Towhee 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 8 Northern Cardinal 6
If you haven’t done a Christmas Bird Count before, what are you waiting for? It is a great opportunity to connect with your fellow bird lovers and spend time outdoors doing something that you love to do. Plus, your observations are helpful to scientists and conservationists in need of local and global population data. Taking part in the annual Christmas Bird Count is a win-win for you and the birds we love!
Friends, today I am thankful for you. Thank you so much for following me here on Birdwatching N.C. and supporting me in this wonderful birding journey. My only regret is that I didn’t create this website sooner. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the thought of “omg, where have you been my whole life” when chatting with you here. I’ve learned so much about birds & bird watching from you and can’t begin to express how much joy your own photos, comments and stories have brought to me over the past year. I sincerely hope that the photos and stories that I’ve posted here have inspired you to get out there and enjoy the adventures of birding. Even more, to experience the moments of joy in discovering some new about the familiar birds we see every day. The world can still be a magical place, if we only stop a second to look a little closer and appreciate the secrets of our natural surroundings.
Get outside! Take pictures! Make videos! Share your stories. Ask questions.
Submit your stories and photos to this website. Teach us something new and be yourself. Your point of view is unique and very much appreciated by more people than you might think. With every photo that you share, you’re raising awareness and appreciation for birds. This is important in regards to conservation efforts here in North Carolina and beyond. Simply put, a rising tide lifts all boats. Working together, we can do incredible things. Feels like I’ve finally found my flock. I’m grateful for each and every one of ya.
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
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