Tag Archives: Birdwatching North Carolina

Field Notes, Riverside Creations, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Purple Finches in NC

By Sally Siko

t’s been so hot this summer which has got me feeling nostalgic for wintertime and all of the birds that arrive to spend the cooler months here in NC.
So, I’ve been going through my photo galleries from this past year and found this shot of a male Purple Finch.
Isn’t he handsome?



Purple Finches are wintertime resident of North Carolina, yet unfortunately their numbers appear to be in decline.
That being said, the past 2 winters have been proving to be interesting years for viewing several species of Finches.
Quite a few North Carolina birders have noticed unusually large numbers of these gorgeous birds moving into their areas.
These mass movements, called “irruptions,” are different from regular migrations and are likely causes by a poor crop of conifer seeds, an important food source for the finches, up north.
Since their food supply had been cut back in the northern regions of the United States, large flocks of Purple Finches have been popping up all over the east coast during the winter months.

Normally Purple Finches are birds of the deep coniferous & wet hardwood forest but in the winter, they will venture out into suburban backyards and parks in search of an easy meal.
If you’re interested in attracting these feathered gems to your own yard, fill your feeders with thistle & sunflower seeds. They seem to prefer feeding from a platform style feeder vs. a cylinder too.
They will stick around the Tarheel state from November through early April so keep an eye out for them this winter!

Purple Finch artwork by Sally Siko & Isaac McShane of Riverside Creations NC



Btw, if you’d like to buy this Purple Finch artwork that @isaacmcshanephoto & I made, please check out the Riverside Creations NC shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RiversideCreationsNC to purchase one of these for your home too!
If ya have any questions about where to order, feel free to DM me anytime.

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

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Mississippi Kite encounter in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

So there are a few birds out there which are frustrating for me to photograph, this Mississippi Kite is one of them lol!
It’s not that they are rare, rather it’s the fact that every single time I’ve ever spotted one it’s always soaring about a hundred feet in the air.
I swear to ya, these guys never land haha!
I’ve been told that they do perch in trees lol, but I won’t believe it until I see it for myself 🤣
Poor quality photos aside, Mississippi Kites are beautiful raptors. They are a pale gray bird with red eyes which look amazing when viewing through binoculars or a scope.



Mississippi Kites have become a major success story in North Carolina and elsewhere throughout their breeding range. Nesting populations have been expanding steadily not only along the East Coast but also into the Great Plains and even into the Southwest! United States.
Often spotted feeding on large insects such as cicadas and dragonflies while in flight gliding high over wetland forests, they need only a few tall trees, even in town parks, for a nesting site.
In fact, pairs of Mississippi Kites now nest in areas such as Roanoke Rapids, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, and Laurinburg which is simply awesome!



A spring and summertime resident of North Carolina, Mississippi Kites may be found throughout the state from April through October. That being said, they occur more numerously in our central & eastern counties from May though June.
Aren’t they lovely?

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Riverside Creations

Barred Owl Painting in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Riverside Creations

Ovenbirds in central North Carolina

By Sally Siko

When the summer heat rolls in, it’s nice to get out of the sunny fields and into the woods to cool off.
We aren’t the only ones who appreciate the cool shade that the trees provide, Ovenbirds are masters of the shadows and remain active throughout the day even during the hottest hours.



Ovenbirds favor mixed deciduous and coniferous forest areas which are semi open under the canopy yet still contain scrubby thickets and moderate brush.
Though they look like Thrushes, they’re actually a species of warbler and like others in that family they are voracious eaters of insects.
However like Thrushes, (and unlike most other warblers) Ovenbirds are usually spotted hunting for a meal on the ground scratching up under the leaf litter in search of beetles, worms and grubs.



These beauties are a spring and summertime resident of North Carolina and are found across the state from the mountains to the coast from April to October. That being said, a few Ovenbirds have been found to spend the winter in Buxton Woods on Cape Hatteras Island in recent years. This is an interesting trend to watch as more people get out to go bird watching during the winter in the OBX.
Pretty cool, huh?



Btw, if you’d like to buy this artwork, please check out the Riverside Creations NC shop at

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RiversideCreationsNC

to purchase one of these for your home too!

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Indigo Buntings at Dix Park, Raleigh NC

By Sally Siko

The thing about bird photography is this, birds don’t always cooperate haha!
I went to the sunflower field at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh NC last week to try and catch a few photos of an Indigo Bunting perched on a sunflower.
Unfortunately the birds weren’t in the mood to grant my wishes as most of the time the Buntings were either sitting on top of this lone cornstalk or flitting through the leaves in search of a meal.
In the end I opted to try and get a portrait of one *near a sunflower (nice colors) so this is what I came away with lol!



Speaking of color, these brightly colored feathered gems are named for their deep sea-blue plumage that looks like indigo dye. The males appear to be blue with a tinge of black on the face, wings and tail. Females are toned in a lovely tannish-brown.



Although this bunting is known for its rich hues, that blue color on the males is actually a trick of light.
Believe it or not, adult male indigo buntings in full breeding plumage are covered in black feathers, but thanks to the diffraction of light by the feather structure, they appear to be a brilliant blue, a colour that changes from black to blue to turquoise as the angle of reflected light changes.
Pretty neat, huh?

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

American Oystercatchers in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

One of my favorite birds to see when visiting the coast of North Carolina are the American Oystercatchers.
I love that intense orange and red color in their eyes and bills! Although they are a relatively common sight, they never fail to capture my attention as they strut along the beach.

I recently photographed this lovely Oystercatcher on Wrightsville Beach while checking in on the nesting colony at the south end of the island.
Although it was super hot out there, it was well worth the time to get low on the sand to photograph these beauties.



American Oystercatchers are a year round resident of southeastern NC with several hundred of them choosing to spend the winter in the Ft.Fisher area each winter.
Each spring, they lay their eggs in shallow depressions in the sand among large nesting colonies of Terns, Skimmers and Plovers.
Unlike it’s nesting neighbors who hunt for fish above the water and dig for shellfish and marine worms on the sandy shoreline, Oystercatchers prefer to look for it’s namesake snack in exposed sand bars and mudflats during low tides. They’ll also forage on rocks, such as those found at jetties and around bridge pilings.
Aren’t they lovely?

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Bluebirds in central North Carolina

By Sally Siko

With so many flying around central NC, it’s admittedly easy to overlook an Eastern Bluebird when out on the hunt for something rare. That’s a shame though because these little feathered gems are just gorgeous!
Bluebirds are a staple of our suburban yards, fields and countryside and they are well worth stopping to admire for a few minutes if the opportunity presents itself.



A Bluebird perched on a fence line certainly stands out against the greys, greens and brown hues of their preferred habitats.
But, did you know that in some years their plumage appears brighter than others?
The reason for this is in their responses to weather. In fact, an Eastern Bluebird’s plumage patterns are correlated with the vibrancy of leaf pigments in autumn, and they share the same biological causes.


In the same way that an abundance of sun, rainfall, and frost-less nights bring on the most vibrant autumn leaf colors, these favorable conditions also lead to a plethora of insects and natural forest foods.
Bluebirds feast during harvest season to build the stores of energy that will carry them through the winter—and also to enrich their bodies with nutrients for building strong and healthy feathers.
So while leaves are not directly related to this late-season molt, they coincidentally are a great indicator of the amount of food available to birds from year to year.
Because bluebirds rely on insects as a main source of nourishment, years that have favorable conditions mean lots of available, nutrient-rich food. In short, more bugs can equal more colorful birds.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Riverside Creations

Redhead Ducks in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

If there is one bird that who’s photo takes me back to great wintertime birding memories from the OBX, it’s this Redhead Duck!
I love the subtle but beautiful color palette of their cinnamon, black and grey plumage (especially paired with the blues and grays of a winter landscape) and the intense gaze of their orange eyes.



Redhead Ducks are a winter resident of North Carolina. Each November flocks of thousands of Redheads arrive in eastern NC to spend to coldest months in our (usually thawed) waters.
They are best found in shallow bays and marshes foraging for a an underwater snack of stems, seeds, and roots of aquatic plants: shoalgrass, pondweeds, and sedges at many of our coastal wildlife refuges.

One of my favorite things about Redheads are their calls. While most people are familiar with the typical “quacking” of ducks, Redhead ducks can make some unusual noises!
The female Redhead does makes a quack-like noise, but the male’s vocalization can sound like a cat’s meow or purr!
If you’ve ever stood by a pond filled with Redhead drakes, it sounds kinda like being around a bunch of broken cats lol!

Look for them later this year around Thanksgiving. Usually they’ll stick around until late March or early April before they head out to their breeding grounds in the western United States and western Canada.


Btw, if you’d like to buy this painted sign please visit https://www.etsy.com/shop/RiversideCreationsNC

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

Instagram Birding, Riverside Creations, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Wood Duck Art in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

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

Spending time with a Yellow-throated warbler in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

When walking through the forests here in central North Carolina, you’ll often hear the familiar calls of a Yellow-throated Warbler echoing down from the tree tops.
If your lucky, you might get a chance to see one up close as sometimes these delightful little birds can be quite curious to our presence in the woods.



Yellow-throated Warblers are gorgeous creatures IMO! Breeding males are particularly striking with that bold black and white plumage set off against a bright yellow patch of feathers on their throats.
I spotted this one singing his heart out while leading a birding tour at Cape Fear Shiners Park in Lillington NC a couple weeks ago.
It was so cool to be able to share this bird with my guests and to see how happy everyone was with their own photos!

Known as “Southern” warbler, Yellow-throated’s breed in the eastern United States but only north to southern New York and (in smaller numbers) west into Iowa yet they are much more commonly found in the Deep South rather than in the mountain regions.
Here in North Carolina you can find the nesting in our coastal and Piedmont counties throughout the summer.



The best places to find these beauties is from mid March - mid October in moist woods and edges, whether in swamps, bottomlands, forests along a lakeshore, streamside groves, or in pinelands; forests with scattered tall pines containing Spanish moss.
Though they are a rare sight in the winter months, Yellow-throated Warblers may also be found mainly in North Carolina’s coastal counties in maritime forests, or in mature pine-hardwood stands, especially where the hardwoods are broadleaf evergreens once the weather turns cold.
Aren’t they lovely?

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