Tag Archives: bynum bridge birdwatching trip

By: Sally Siko

I was thrilled to spot this pair of Blue gray Gnatcatchers while birding with friends earlier this week near Old Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro, NC.
We stood under the tree for several minutes watching the pair bring materials to one another as they shaped their tiny nest.
The Gnatcatchers worked tirelessly to build up the fragile cup shaped structure, stopping only briefly to grab a snack in between supply flights.

I also found several more Gnatcatchers while birding in Murrells Inlet SC too and they were just as entertaining to watch as the pair in Pittsboro.
So much energy wrapped up into one small body, they can be tough to photograph yet it was a real joy to encounter them while they searched for a six (or eight) legged snack in the leaves 🙂
Aren’t they sweet?

Although they will hunt for all kinds of insects they don’t actually eat many gnats (unfortunately, lol!) as one would assume their name implies.
In fact, their favorite food are spiders and lucky for them we’ve got plenty of those here in the Tarheel state for them to find.
Hovering in mid air like tiny helicopters, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers will glean for arachnids in the mid to upper canopies of trees, raids insects from spiderwebs, and (as seen in these photos) are even known to use their webs as nesting material to bind tiny pieces of lichen together.

These lovely little ones started to arrive in NC a couple of weeks ago and will stick around until mid September. The best spots to find Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are in habitats containing a mix of deciduous forests and wetlands, ponds, lakes and rivers.
They are particularly active in the morning hours as they need to make up for the loss of calories spent while sleeping by hunting for insects as soon as the sun rises.

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

Blackburnian Warblers at Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro NC

October 16, 2021 admin

Autumn migration is an exciting time. It brings the opportunity to be surprised and delighted with unexpected finds when we step outside to go birding.
Case in point, this lovely Blackburnian Warbler. I encountered the one featured in the first 3 photos recently at the Old Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro NC while it was hunting for a meal in the trees.

As you can see, the Blackburnian Warbler goes through some pretty big changes appearance-wise during the fall. Their familiar bright orange, white and black breeding plumage (as seen in the last photo in this post which was taken in June) are replaced with a muted palette of warm grey, soft grey and charcoal tones.
Though the Blackburnian isn’t as showy this time of year, I think they are still a lovely sight.

Nesting exclusively in boreal forests, Blackburnian Warblers are a summertime resident in the higher elevation areas of western North Carolina. Elsewhere across the state they occur as migratory visitors just passing through.
The best way to see them is to head out to the Appalachians during late April and early May when the breeding season gets underway. At this time, the trees haven’t fully leafed out yet so they’re somewhat easier to find when singing at the treetops.

Back here in the Triangle, we’ve just got a few weeks left to spot these beauties before they head south to the mountain forests of the Andes mountains in South America.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the mighty @canonusa
#5ds

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

Scarlet Tanagers in North Carolina

October 8, 2021 admin

Here’s a bird that I’ve struggled to get a good photograph of, the Scarlet Tanager.

The first few photos show a handsome male that I found along the Blue Ridge Parkway back in June.
While he did sit patiently as I took photos, unfortunately the closest view I had was from about 100ft away. Thank goodness for a zoom lens lol!

Finally though, this past weekend I got a great close up look at a female at the Old Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro NC.

Although she’s not as brightly hued as her crimson & onyx mate, female Scarlet Tanagers are quite lovely dressed in their autumn gold & charcoal plumage.

Scarlet Tanagers are a summertime resident of central and western NC. They are found in deciduous forests containing mature hardwoods.
Unlike their relative the Summer Tanager, Scarlets are secretive creatures preferring to nest and hunt for a meal in areas away from people.
If you’d like to try and attract these beauties to come out of the woods to visit your yard try planting raspberry, huckleberry, serviceberry, mulberry, strawberry, and chokeberry on your property.
These gorgeous birds will stick around for just a couple more weeks before migrating south for the winter.
Do keep in mind that Scarlets are also fond of eating jelly, cherries, oranges, suet and mealworms so offering these items in your feeders may be enough to entice them to visit you when they return to the area next April.
Aren’t they lovely?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on
the mighty @canonusa
#5ds

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

Cape May Warblers at Bynum Bridge Pittsboro NC

October 4, 2021 admin

The Cape May Warblers have returned to central NC and I couldn’t be happier to see these sweet birds again.

I spotted this one and several others at Bynum Bridge in Pittsboro a few weeks ago after a quick trip to Brumley North.
It was neat to watch them as they flitted through the branches in search of a meal.

Cape Mays are lovely creatures.
They breed across northern Canada in forests of spruce and balsam fir, especially in areas where their favorite food (the spruce budworm) is abundant.
Every spring, thousands of them make the journey north to their nesting grounds stopping in western NC along the way.
When autumn arrives they tend to spread out a bit more and are often sighted in central and eastern NC as well.

Usually the Cape May’s are spotted hunting in the upper canopy layer of the trees which is why having access to an elevated viewing area (as which is found at Bynum Bridge) is helpful if you’d like to get a good look at one.
That being said, they’ll be headed to their wintering grounds in the West Indies and Central America soon so get out there while you can through mid October.

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