While walking along the gravel rd at the Pee Dee NWR I heard a loud drumming sound echoing in the trees overhead. Wanting to see who was making all that noise, I sped up taking care not to make a sound (as best I could lol) as the rocks and leaves crunched underfoot. Then a familiar call rang out.
A Pileated Woodpecker! Looking up into the canopy, I finally spotted this handsome young male working his way up the trunk of an oak tree. He was moving so fast I barely had time to snap off a couple shots before he disappeared into leaves. Though the encounter was brief, I was glad to catch a good look at him anyway.
Measuring up to 19 inches in length, Pileateds are the largest species of Woodpecker living in North America. These large birds are found all across the eastern United States, western California and in the Pacific Northwest. Their hefty size and loud calls make them a pretty easy bird to ID in the field, even when other species are in the area.
Their diet consists of insects including larvae, beetles, Caterpillar‘s, termites and spiders. That being said, their favorite food is ants and it’s not unusual to see one sitting on an anthill at the base of a tree eagerly gobbling up the six legged delicacies. Pileated’s are more often seen high up in the trees circling the trunks and limbs in search of a meal. Using their long bill, Pileated’s will poke and prod under the bark to snap up a tasty insect snack.
Pileated Woodpeckers are a year round resident of North Carolina. As with most of our other Woodpecker species found in the Tarheel state, their best spotted in swampy areas with stands of large dead trees but can also be found in dry, mixed deciduous forests as well.
Here’s another friendly feathered face I encountered while birding at the Pee Dee NWR, a Black-and-white Warbler! These tiny birds are inquisitive creatures, calling from canopy above while following me while I walk through the woods.
The foraging behavior of Black-and-whites is unique among warbler species as they are often seen clinging to the underside of limbs and circling the trunks of trees like a Nuthatch. Poking and prodding their beaks into the bark crevices, they search for a meal of beetles, spiders, caterpillars, larvae and ants. Given their habit of walking up tree trunks, they can be tough to get a picture of so I was grateful to catch a decent photo of one perching on a limb ‘right side up lol!
Black-and-white Warblers are found in nearly every county in North Carolina during the summer. That being said their numbers aren’t evenly distributed throughout the state as they appear numerously in localized regions in the east and west while being a (somewhat) scarce sight in the Piedmont. Look for these bold zebra-striped feathered gems in our hardwood forests (in the western counties) and in marshy areas (in the eastern counties) from late March through late October. Aren’t they sweet?
If you get the chance, it’s nice to take a few minutes to sit and watch a Green Heron hunting for a meal. I spotted this handsome guy while on a birding trip at the Pee Dee NWR in Wadesboro NC last weekend. He moved slowly, one foot methodically placed over the other, creeping at a snails pace as not to alert its prey hidden below the surface of the murky water below. The Heron struck twice but came up empty both times. Undeterred, he kept at at it eventually landing a small fish a little further out into the pond.
Like most other Heron species, Green’s prefer to spend their time wetland habitats such as marshes, bogs, swamps, creeks, ponds and lakes. Their diet consists of fish, frogs, toads, salamanders, snakes, crayfish, insects and even small rodents when the opportunity presents itself. During the winter, they’ll hunt for prey in brackish water so small crustaceans and mollusks will be on their menu too.
These handsome birds are found throughout the Tarheel state from March to October so you’ve still got plenty of time to go see one this year. That being said, a few Green Herons have been reported to spend the wintertime in our southeastern coastal counties which is pretty neat!
I have been able to visit Pee Dee NWR a number of times over the last few weeks and thought I would share some of the birds that have been hanging around. Up until the last week or two it had been a little slower than usual so I guess the birds were getting tired of the heat as well, but my last few visits have seen an increase in action and I am very excited to see what the next couple of months brings.
Indigo Bunting by N.C. wildlife photographer Dan Gettis
As always, you are almost guaranteed to see some Red Headed Woodpeckers. They can be found across the entire refuge but the easiest and best views of them are around the main impoundment behind the visitor’s center where they continuously fly from the dead trees in the water to the trees on the other side of Wildlife Drive. There are usually anywhere from 10-30 or so in that area. One morning last weekend I spotted 5 Red Tailed Hawks sitting in 2 trees close together in that same impoundment. They didn’t stay long but I always at least hear a hawk in that area, sometimes multiple. Red Shouldered, Red Tailed and Cooper’s Hawks are going to be the most common.
Great Egrets and White Ibis by N.C. wildlife photographer Dan Gettis
The Great Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Green Herons and Great Blue Herons are starting to add to their numbers again. Lately there have been 4-5 Green Heron in the impoundment, 5-6 Little Blue Heron, 1-2 Great Blue Heron and 3-4 Great Egrets. In the afternoons, White Ibis have been flying in as well. There are a couple of Barred Owls that like to hang out in the thick woods off Wildlife Drive. I haven’t seen one of them in a while but I did hear 2 calling back-and-forth very close to the road 2 weeks ago.
Pileated Woodpecker by N.C. wildlife photographer Dan Gettis
If you hang out for a while or walk slowly along Wildlife Drive, you will potentially see: Brown Thrashers, Sparrows, Red Winged Blackbirds, Cardinals, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebirds, Pewee, Phoebe, Chickadees, White Eyed Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, Black and White Warblers, Prothonotary Warblers, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Yellow Billed Cuckoos, Indigo Buntings, Tufted Titmouse, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers, Summer Tanager, Great Crested Flycatchers, and others I am surely forgetting (all of these have been seen in the last couple of weeks).
Ruby-throated Hummingbird by N.C. wildlife photographer Dan Gettis
Lastly, Ruby – throated Hummingbirds. The main impoundment has a lot of button bushes between the road and the water. The last couple of weeks I have been seeing more and more hummingbirds in those bushes. They love the button bushes and there are a lot of honeysuckle vines and trumpet creepers in the refuge as well and if you just sit and watch those areas for a while you will see one.
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