Tag Archives: maryland birding tour

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Spending time with a Merlin at Point Lookout State Park

Check out this Merlin I found while hiking along the Railroad Trail at Point Lookout State Park last week!
While it’s always exciting to see a large raptor, I haven’t had many opportunities to spend time with these small members of the falcon family.



With pointed wings and faded helmet markings, Merlin’s sort of look like mini Peregrine Falcons when viewing them from a distance. I got lucky and was able to creep up slowly in the tall marsh reeds to photograph this one a relatively “close” distance.
Still, it took a 600mm lens zoomed all the way in to capture these photos as Merlin’s have extraordinarily good eyesight. They tend to be rather skittish so getting a proper look at one can be difficult to do before they fly off.


Although I photographed this one in Maryland, Merlin’s are migratory visitors to North Carolina and generally may be found in the state from September through early November and again from April to mid May.
They are especially prevalent in the OBX during this time of year in the Bodie Island and Pea Island NWR.
Like other falcons such as Kestrels and Peregrines, as seen in these photos they have a habit of perching on the tops of dead trees to survey the landscape below for prey.
Look for them at the edges of any open areas such as agricultural fields, meadows and even marshes hunting for a meal.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my 50 megapixel monster, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

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

Birdwatching NC field trip- A Nelsons Sparrow sighting at Point Lookout State Park

I took a quick birding trip to Scotland Maryland this week at Point Lookout State Park and was pleasantly surprised to find this sweet Nelson’s Sparrow (and it’s mate?) hanging out with a flock of Swamp Sparrows.
They have the weirdest call ever!
Kind of sounds like a wire brush softly scraping on an aluminum can. I’m hoping to see them again this winter so that I can capture some video of them calling to share with you.



Nelson’s Sparrows are often seen along the mid Atlantic / southeastern & gulf coasts of the United States in the cooler months.
Strange thing was this bird came up as “rare” on eBird since the species is expected in the area during migration and in the winter. Not sure why this is the case but I’m always happy to check off an “R” designation bird on the list!

Arriving in late September, they spend the winter in North Carolina’s coastal counties inhabiting our salt marshes through late May.
They are distinctive looking little birds with grey cheeks, buff orange face, a faintly streaked buff orange breast, flanks and sides with a white abdomen.
That orange coloring definitely makes them stand out from the other sparrows which is nice when trying to ID individual birds in a mixed flock.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my 50 megapixel monster, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds