Tag Archives: birdwatching huntington beach state park

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Enjoying Anhinga’s at Huntington Beach State Park, SC

There’s a lot of bird activity going on now that spring has arrived. It seems that every time I step outside there’s something new to see.
During a visit to Huntington Beach State Park last weekend, I had a chance to watch a pair of Anhingas building their nest which was really neat!



The male flew in carrying a stick which he awkwardly presented to his mate who was sitting on the nest.
After a minute or so she accepted the stick and carefully tried pushing it into the nest in various spots while the male watched her intently.
A few times the male tried to “help” his mate decide where the stick should go but she appeared to get agitated by him, eventually deftly threading the stick into a spot of her choosing.
Once the stick was intact they both seemed to relax lol!
Yet, perhaps the Anhingas shouldn’t relax too much…
If you look closely at the photo below, you can see a pile of large alligators laying in the mud directly below their nest.
One can only hope that their future chicks will learn to fly before they ever touch the ground to avoid the gators waiting jaws.



Anhingas are best found in the coastal counties of the Carolinas. You can spot them hunting for a meal along brackish & freshwater rivers, lakes, ponds, and swamps.
Masters of underwater hunting expeditions, the Anhinga uses its sharp bill to spear its prey, flips it in the air, and then swallows it head-first!
They dine primarily on fish but also will snack on small crustaceans, reptiles and invertebrates.

Anhingas are generally spring and summertime residents of the Carolinas however quite a few do spend the winter in the Wilmington and Murrells Inlet areas.
Look for them throughout the rest of the eastern regions from March through September.

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

Field Notes

Horned Grebes at Huntington Beach State Park

Photographing birds on the ocean is a fun but challenging pursuit. Especially on days with rough seas when the birds riding on the water at a distance are obscured by rolling waves.
That’s why I was thrilled to finally capture a good photo or two of this pair of Horned Grebes at a close range from my vantage point of shooting on the rock jetty at Huntington Beach State Park.
With those piercing red eyes and that lovely black and white plumage, Horned Grebes are truly striking looking birds when your lucky enough to catch a good look at one floating on the Atlantic.

These handsome birds are a relatively common sight swimming in the ocean just offshore of the Carolinas during the wintertime months.
That being said, they are also occasionally found a little further inland on bays and estuaries, as well as on our coastal fresh water lakes and brackish impoundments.

During the winter, their diet mostly consists of fish as well as crustaceans, mollusks and insects.
But, did you know that Horned Grebe’s regularly eats some of its own feathers?
So much so that its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. Like the strainer covering the hole in your kitchen sink, this plug may function as a filter screen or may hold fish bones in the stomach a little longer until they can be digested. The parents even feed feathers to their chicks to get the plug started early.
Crazy huh?

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

A Ruddy Turnstone encounter at Huntington Beach State Park

Here’s a little bird that never fails to capture my attention when visiting the beach, the Ruddy Turnstone.


I spotted this one while on to Huntington Beach State Park in SC.
Normally they scoot away once I start heading in their direction but this one was quite friendly and even approached me as I walked along the jetty.
It was neat to take advantage of the amicable nature of this curious little Turnstone and be able to catch a couple portraits at a close range.



Ruddy Turnstones are mainly wintertime residents of the Carolina’s and are usually found searching for meal along the shorelines of brackish and saltwater marshes, ponds, oyster bed inlets and beaches.
Aptly named for their habit of flipping over stones, shells, and seaweed to find prey, their diet is made up of mostly insects, though some have been observed eating plant materials, bird eggs, and even carrion.
During migration and winter, their diet shifts to mainly marine invertebrates, such as small crustaceans and mollusks.
Aren’t they beautiful?

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

Spending time with a Barred Owl at the Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

By: Sally Siko- Admin BWNC

One of the best things about birding is that you never quite know with 100% certainty what you’re going to encounter in the woods.
Sure, we’ve got our expectations but every so often we are presented with the opportunity to be surprised and delighted by what we see.
I this case, I was so happy to spot this handsome Barred Owl hunting for a snack this past weekend while on a trip to the Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC.



It was thrilling to get a close up look at such an impressive bird. At one point, I was showing the owl to some other photographers when it took off and zoomed about a foot over our heads only to land briefly to catch an insect on the side of branch. Then it quickly flew to a nearby tree to consume its prize much to the delight of all.



Barred Owls are a year round resident of South and North Carolina and are widely found across both states.
They are primarily found wetland areas, such as around beaver ponds and in open swamps, bottomlands, and nearby marshes. I spotted this one in the woods across the road from the Nature Center at HBSP not far from the marsh boardwalk area.



I think my favorite part of this encounter was that I was able to get a nice close up look at the owls expressive eyes.
They are beautiful!


Speaking of their eyes, did you know that can not turn their eyes in any direction at all?
This is because owls don’t have eyeballs in the traditional sense.
Instead an owls eyes are shaped like fixed tubes, almost like binoculars.
In order to compensate for the lack of directional movement, they can turn their head 270 degrees.
We can rotate our heads only half that far. Incredible!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast of a DSLR the @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Bald Eagles and Ospreys at Huntington Beach State Park

It’s always a treat to spend time with the Carolinas two largest raptor species, the Bald Eagle and an Osprey.
I spotted these impressive creatures while birding at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC last week.
Both birds favored perching on the top of the same dead tree along Jetty Drive offering me good views throughout the day.



Though these two shared the same roosting site, as seen in the last few photos of this post Bald Eagles and Ospreys are often seen competing with each other for food.
In fact, I even got to watch a Bald Eagle harassing an Osprey to drop its fish into the ocean.
Once the fish hit the water, the Bald Eagle swooped down to retrieve the Ospreys prize.



Bald Eagles are year round residents of North and South Carolina. They are found across both states from the mountains to the coast and are best spotted near large lakes and rivers. Thanks to conservation efforts, Bald Eagle numbers have been on the rise over the past 20 years so although they aren’t necessarily a common species of bird, your chances of seeing them in the Carolinas are pretty good!



If you’re looking to find an Osprey in the winter, your best bet is to head to the coast of South Carolina as this is the northern boundary of their wintering range.


During the rest of the year, Ospreys are found in both states hunting on rivers, freshwater lakes and ponds as well as in our coastal counties over marshes and along the Atlantic coastline.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Instagram Birding

Spending time with Clapper Rails at Huntington Beach State Park

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

Roseate Spoonbills at Huntington Beach State Park

One of the most unique looking birds we’ve got flying around the Carolinas is the Roseate Spoonbill.
With that long flat bill it’s easy to see how these beauties earned their name.
I spotted this one a few weeks ago while birding at the Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC.



Having a “built-in” spoon on its beak can be a big help at mealtime. Spoonbills take advantage of this adaptation with a special feeding style known as “head-swinging.”
They’ll plunge their bill nearly vertically under water and swing it side to side in wide arcs. In this way, they snag a host of small animals from the lake bottom.
Their diet is made up of small fish, crustaceans (especially shrimp and crayfish), insects, molluscs (such as slugs and snails), and other small aquatic animals.



Roseate Spoonbills are an occasional, transient visitor to NC during the late summer along our southeastern coast. If you’d like to have a better opportunity to see them, your best bet is to take a short trip down to coastal South Carolina where they are found throughout summer and autumn. Some smaller flocks even spend the winter there so it might be worth looking for them in December too.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Instagram Birding

Breakfast with a Snowy Egret in the Carolinas