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

Great Egrets in North Carolina

Whenever I find myself birding in wetland areas, my constant companion is usually a Great Egret. They are quite beautiful when seen up close and very entertaining to watch stalking their prey.
I photographed these two elegant Egrets earlier this year at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington NC and at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC.



Great Egrets are found in similar habitats of other wading birds such as Herons and Bitterns, often seen along the shorelines of ponds, lakes, marshes, estuaries and brackish water inlets.
They are a bit smaller and more lithe then Great Blue Herons, yet these are still big birds with large wingspans of around 5.5 feet.
Expert hunters of frogs and fish, they’ll stand perfectly still in the shallow water along a shoreline until the moment they strike.
A lightning quick thrust of their sharp yellow bill is all that’s needed to land a meal and then their prey is swallowed whole.



Though they are a common sight across the southern United States, this was not always the case.
Did you know that these majestic birds were nearly hunted to extinction due to the demand of their beautiful white breeding plumes in the late 1900s?
A now familiar icon of the Audubon Society, public awareness of this species rapid decline was the flash point which sparked the fist bird conservation movements in the United States.
Today, Great Egrets are thriving and are happily found searching for food throughout the Carolinas.

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

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Wintertime Catbirds in NC

Each spring, strange cat-like noises emanate from the bushes and shrubs. Peering into the dark tangled brush to locate the source of the sound, one might expect to find a feline, yet more often than not instead those soft mews and purrs are coming from a Gray Catbird.



Most Catbirds migrate every winter from central NC to the far southeastern states & Mexico but quite a few of them only make a short trip to our coastal regions instead.
I found this one a couple of weeks ago while birding at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington.
Usually Catbirds like to hang out in thicker stuff so it was nice to catch a good look at one out in the open!



I’ve found that your best opportunity for spotting one of these understated beauties is to wait for them to alight on a branch to sing (as was the case with this one) or when they emerge from the undergrowth to eat.
Dedicated omnivores, Catbirds can be found snacking on berries and fruits, mealworms, earthworms, beetles, ants, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, moths, holly berries, cherries, poison ivy, bay, blackberries and elderberries.

Their wide range of food preferences allow them to remain in eastern North Carolina throughout the winter as long as there are enough berries and fruits to be found.

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

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Great Egret encounter at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington, NC

By: Sally Siko

Here’s a bird that is often overlooked here in North Carolina, the Great Egret.
Though they are indeed a common sight along the shores of waterways, it’s a shame to ignore these stately birds with their lovely white plumage & piercing gaze.
I spotted this one last week while birding on a rainy morning at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington.



Usually I try to zoom in with my photos to give you guys a close up look at the birds (as shown in the last photo of this post of one I saw at the Huntington Beach State Park) but I just loved the hauntingly beautiful portrait opportunity that this scene presented me with. The fog, cold rain, and a Spanish moss draped cypress tree offered combined with this handsome Egret sitting there overlooking his domain just made me stop and appreciate just how beautiful this moment was.



Great Egrets are a year round resident of NC and as I mentioned, they are commonly found along the edges of lakes, rivers, ponds and marshes in both fresh & brackish water areas.
They’re expert hunters, always on the lookout for a meal in the mud or swimming at their feet.
They’ll slowly stalk the shoreline, barely making a ripple as the walk. When the Egret spies it’s prey, they’ll freeze motionless except for their heads which they will wobble ever so slightly from side to side.
Though no clear reason has been shown as to why they shake their heads, researchers believe that the motion may attract prey or serve to confuse since it would be difficult for a fish or frog to figure out exactly where the Egrets head is when looking up at it from beneath the water.
Pretty cool, huh?
🙂

Photos by me @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

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

Ruby-crowned Kinglets in Wilmington NC

Here’s another hyperactive feathered ping-pong ball, the Ruby crowned Kinglet!
I photographed this tiny dynamo earlier this week while birding in the rain at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington North Carolina.



While photographing the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher featured in my last post certainly posed a challenge, Ruby crowned Kinglet’s are even harder to get a good photo of.


First off they are tiny.
Measuring a scant 9 to 11 cm in length, these small birds are tough to focus on while they move through the leaves.
And did I mention that they are fast?!
Lol, omg they are ridiculously speedy hunters when they’re on a mission to find a meal.
In fact, the last photograph featured below demonstrates this as you can see that my camera froze the the raindrops in midair but the Kinglet launching down off of his perch is blurry due to his speed.



Weighing in at 5-6g, Ruby-crowned Kinglets are among the family of the smallest passerine birds in the world. Since their tiny size poses high energetic demands on thermoregulation, one would think that a Kinglet should face real challenges of maintaining energy balance during the winter. In fact, how they maintain those hyperactive energy levels in the colder months, is still a mystery to researchers.
However, it has been found that Ruby-crowned Kinglets help reduce the extreme energy crunch imposed by fighting the effects of cold temperatures by huddling together at night or by sometimes sleeping in sheltered locations such as insulated squirrel or abandoned bird nests.
In addition, studies have shown that Kinglets possess a uniquely slow metabolic rate (for its size) and only require 10 calories a day to function which likely helps aid in the survival of this lovely species in even the chilliest of habitats.
Remarkable!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

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

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher encounter at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington North Carolina

She the color slate
She look irate
But most important
She done a levitate
😉



Check out this gravity defying Blue-gray Gnatcatcher I photographed yesterday morning while birding at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington NC.
This tiny bird was moving so quickly that it was difficult to even get my lens on her as she flitted through the grass.
In the end I think I took about 20 shots before coming away with just these two images which when it comes to photographing speedy Gnatcatchers is actually pretty good haha!

These little birds have a good reason to stay on the move as Blue-gray Gnatcatchers dine primarily on fast flying insects which are made all the more scarce during the winter.
They are agile flyers and are perfectly capable of snatching a small insect right out of midair.
Weirdly enough though, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers rarely eats gnats which is kinda odd.



Though they are locally more abundant across the state during the summer months, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are a year round resident of North Carolina.
Once the temperatures drop, they tend to head east into our far southern coastal areas to spend the winter where the six or eight legged food choices remain abundant.
From October through April look for them broadleaf evergreen trees, such as those found in maritime forests, or mixed-pine hardwood forests.
Isn’t she lovely?

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

The talented Mimic: Blue Jays at Greenfield Lake

While birding at Greenfield Park in Wilmington N.C. a few months ago, I heard the call of a hawk coming from a cypress tree nearby.
Raising my lens, I quickly scanned the tree line to find the source of the screeching and was rewarded with the sight of a colorful Blue Jay mimicking the sound of the “hawk” I’d been hearing.
I laughed to myself and took a few shots of this clever prankster while marveling at it’s beautiful blue plumage now captured in my camera.



This isn’t the first time I’ve been duped into chasing an unseen hawk only to discover a Blue Jay in the woods. These highly intelligent creatures are masters at mimicking the sounds of the world around them.
With a vocal range extending from quiet purrs to ear splitting whistles, Blue Jay calls defy easy descriptions.

  • Blue Jay


As demonstrated by this handsome bird, Blue Jays are well known for making screeches that are dead ringers for those of Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks, and for giving calls similar to those of other raptors.
Ornithologists have hypothesized that these crafty birds issue the calls to alert other Jays in the area to the presence of a hawk, to indicate where a hawk was previously, or to trick other species of bird into believing a hawk is nearby to gain exclusive access to a food source.
What ever the case may have been with this gorgeous Blue Jay, I’m glad that I was there to catch him in his act of audible mischief.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the amazing full frame @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A gray Catbird at Greenfield Park in Wilmington N.C.

While birding in the rain at Greenfield Park & Gardens in Wilmington N.C. recently, I found a sweet little Gray Catbird. He had just caught a Junebug and appeared to be quite pleased with himself lol!

Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) are often found in dense brushy areas at the edges of lakes, fields and woods. They belong to the genus Dumetella, which in Latin means ‘small thicket which seems to fit their behavior perfectly.

These pretty little birds are relatives of Thrashers and Mockingbirds, sharing the talent of the group’s superb mimicking abilities. In addition to incorporating all kinds of woodland sounds into their repertoire, Catbirds are able to copy the sounds of other birds and weave them into their own unique songs.
Lol, I’ve been tricked a time or two myself by these guys into searching for a non existent Warbler.


What a cool bird!
Photo by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the mighty full frame beast of a birding camera, the @canonusa #5ds

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

A Northern Parula sighting at Greenfield Park and gardens in Wilmington N.C.

While walking along the path at Greenfield Park and Gardens in Wilmington N.C., I met a friendly Northern Parula.
He was quite inquisitive and nearly landed on top of my head when I pished at him.

Northern Parula


It was really cool to see the colorful little one flying around at eye level since normally these “warbler neck” inducing birds tend to stick to the high canopies of trees while searching for a meal.



Northern Parulas are almost entirely dependent upon either Spanish moss or “beard moss” for nesting sites. This is why they spend their breeding season along the coastal areas in the coniferous forests of southern North Carolina where Spanish moss growth is more abundant. During the spring and summer, Northern Parulas are commonly seen foraging in the forest treetops near lakes, ponds, streams, bogs and swamps as well as in parks, yards, orchards, and even our own gardens.
The habitat of Greenfield Park fits their needs perfectly with Spanish moss hanging from the branches and plenty of insects flying near the water.

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Blue Jay at Greenfield Park, birding in downtown Wilmington NC

On my way home from Ft.Fisher Saturday morning, I stopped off at Greenfield Lake in Wilmington N.C. for a quick look around.
It has been a few years since I’ve visited this lovely gem and was curious to see if it was as nice as I’d remembered.

It was great! I saw 17 species of birds and an even an alligator pretending to be a log lol!
The one thing I’d forgotten was how big Greenfield Lake is. My “short visit” turned out to be a 5 1/2 mile jaunt haha! It also started raining about halfway though so the last half of the walk was spent under heavy downpours.
No problem though, it was fun anyway!



One of the best birds encountered was of a familiar backyard favorite, the Blue Jay. This bird has been my photo nemesis for years. They are incredibly intelligent and cunning birds who apparently don’t appreciate having their photos taken by me haha!
But on this day, I finally got my first ever un-obscured shot of one in good light.


Woohoo!! I’ve got a lot of respect for these gorgeous brainy birds. In addition to their well known talents of mimicking vocal abilities, Blue Jays may be the only animal besides primates who actually plan their actions based on how they may feel in the future.
For instance, studies have shown they will plan what kind of food they’ll want for breakfast the next morning, how much and where they will get it.
They’ll gather their food then store away the at just right amount, in the right place for later consumption.
Another example of their superb intelligence was with a captive Blue Jay who actually used paper from the bottom of his cage as a tool to reach food outside of his cage. When other jays saw this, they soon were using the same method.
Pretty neat!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
@canonusa
#5ds