Tag Archives: birdwatching south carolina

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

Field Notes

Night Herons at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet NC

Black crowned Night Herons are simply gorgeous creatures. I love the way those bright red eyes stand out from their charcoal and white plumage.


These lovely birds are found throughout the United States during the summer and are year round residents of North Carolina in our coastal counties.

North Carolina’s only true nocturnal Heron species, Black crowns are often spotted in marshy wetland areas hunting for a meal at dusk. They primarily dine on fish, frogs, small crustaceans and insects however they also eat carrion, small rodents and snakes. They’ll even raid the nests of other birds to eat the eggs if the opportunity arises.



Look for Black crowned Night Herons around ponds and marshes with a heavily vegetated shoreline. The brush and trees provide the perfect cover for the birds to stalk their prey unseen as well as providing cover for roosting during the day.
They’ve got a distinctive raven-like croaking call so it’s worth listening for them in their preferred habitats too if you’d like to find one.

Photos & video 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

Breakfast with a Snowy Egret in the Carolinas

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

Green Herons at the Huntington Beach State Park

When birding near shallow bodies of water in the eastern Carolina’s it’s hard not to stumble on a Green Heron or two fishing at the shoreline.
Since they are so common they’re often overlooked but if the sunlight hits them just right, these little birds are absolutely beautiful!
Looking closely at their wings you can even see how they got their name.



As it goes with others in the heron family, Green Herons can be found walking in shallow waters stalking fish and small crustaceans.
When their prey is spotted, they’ll freeze and then strike like a dart into the water piercing the prey with their bill.
Interestingly, Green Herons also employ another tactic to catch a meal as they’re the only species of heron known to “bait” their prey.
These clever birds will use twigs, feathers, or insects to lure a fish within reach. When the fish comes in closer to investigate the object, the bird will strike.



While most of the Green Herons will soon depart from North Carolina for warmer locals during migration, a small population appears to spend the cooler months just a couple hours south at the Huntington Beach State Park in SC so it’s worth keeping an eye out for them there during the winter.
Aren’t they lovely?!
🙂

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Clapper Rails at the Huntington Beach State Park

When looking for birds, timing is everything. Usually we think about things like migration or morning as being the best time to spot a new bird but hourly changes to a habitat are something to consider too.
Case in point- when the tide goes out, the birds roll in to the marsh at the Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC.



When the marsh is filled with water, the Clapper Rails stay hidden in the tall grass but once the water drains, these shy birds will wander out into the open mudflats to feed.
I found this one yesterday at Huntington Beach and was so happy to get a nice close up look.

Clappers are a year round resident of North Carolina and although they are very commonly found in the saltwater marshes along our coastline yet due to their secretive nature, they can be tough to actually see.
That being said, Clappers are not necessarily hard to locate because they are one of a few species of Rail which are vocal when the sun is up. These brown waders can be heard giving their laughing, cackle calls throughout the day. This means that you can verify that they’re in the area when seeing one in the tall marsh grass isn’t an option.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

Wood Storks in the Carolinas

Of all the birds I saw on a recent trip to the Huntington Beach State Park, the Wood Stork was my favorite.


It was thrilling to watch these large birds catching their prey. With so much action going on, I managed to photograph a nice series of pics of one trying to eat a Blue Crab which was pretty cool!
The bird would hold the crab in its mouth and shake its head, crunching down on the crabs shell. One by one the crabs legs popped off until only the cephalothorax remained.
Then the Stork swallowed the crab whole in one gulp without so much as a pinch of Old Bay seasoning or melted butter to wash it down with.



Wood Storks are best found in the eastern counties of the Carolinas from June through September. Our largest species of wader, they prefer to hunt for a meal in swamps, freshwater marshes and in shallow ponds.
Wood Storks are very particular about the depth of water that they’ll hunt for a meal in.
Preferring no more than a foot of water to rise up their legs, the flock actually waited until low tide before finally coming down from out of the trees to hunt in the rapidly draining marsh below.



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

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

Common Gallinules in the Carolinas

By: Sally Siko

One of the most unique looking birds we’ve got here in the Carolinas is the Common Gallinule.
I spotted this pair (and an immature one) at the Huntington Beach State Park last weekend.



These sharp looking relieves of the Coot are mostly found in our eastern coastal counties though they do stray further inland from time to time.
Generally, Gallinules are not easily spotted as populations are scarce in certain areas within it’s overall range, yet they may be locally common in others so it sort of depends on where you are in regards to chances of seeing one.



Common Gallinules breed in areas where they have access to small ponds and marshes to hunt for a meal and are easily identified by their charcoal black plumage and by that bright red and-yellow bill, and of course by those huge yellow feet.
Unlike their cousin the Purple Gallinule, Common’s spend a lot of time swimming vs. the Purple’s preference to search for a a meal on foot. This behavior difference is a helpful way to ID them when viewing one from a distance or in poor lighting conditions 🙂

These understated beauties are a year round resident of the Tarheel state but are much easier to find during the spring and summer.
Along with the Huntington Beach State Park in SC, you also have a good chance of finding Common Gallinules at the Lake Mattamuskeet NWR in Swansquarter, NC.

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

Bird watching Videos, Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Birding Huntington Beach State Park SC

A Wood Stork at the Huntington Beach State Park, August 2021 – photographer Sally Adams Siko

By: Sally Siko | Admin Birdwatching NC

This past weekend I took a trip down to Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina to see what was flying around down there. This was also a nice opportunity to try capturing some more video with the Canon R5.



As it turned out, it was well worth the 3 hour drive to head to the coast as there were plenty of interesting birds to see once I arrived.
Though it was crazy hot outside, I was amazed at the level of constant bird activity occurring throughout the day!
Thanks to tidal changes in the marshes water levels, from sun up, to sundown there was always something new to see.

Even in late summer when the action slows down in other parts of the country, the Carolina’s offer a nice variety of birds to find if you’re willing to travel a short distance to see them.
Huntington Beach State Park is just such a place where year round birding opportunities exist making this a premier destination for birdwatchers in the southeast no matter the season.

I can’t wait to get back down there soon. Wanna join me?

I’ll likely be adding the Huntington Beach State Park on my list of upcoming birding tours this autumn so check back on my Birding Trips Page for updates soon!

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

Gear used on this trip shown below.

Canon R5

Canon EOS R5 Body Full-frame mirrorless camera

Canon EOS R5 Body Full-frame mirrorless camera

High Image Quality featuring a New 45 Megapixel Full-frame CMOS Sensor. DIGIC X Image Processor with an ISO range of 100-51200; Expandable to 102400*1. High-Speed Continuous Shooting of up to 12 fps with Mechanical Shutter and up to 20 fps Electronic (Silent) Shutter. Dual Pixel CMOS AF covering Approx. 100% Area with 1,053 AF Areas. Subject tracking of People and Animals*2 using Deep Learning Technology.