Tag Archives: north carolina bird watching

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Spending time with nesting White eyed Vireos

It’s always neat to encounter White eyed Vireos when out looking for birds here in central NC.
A constant trail companion, their familiar songs calling out from unseen tangles of brush remind me that I’m never truly alone when walking in the woods.
As is the case with this pair of Vireos I photographed (with a zoom lens as not to disturb the parents) earlier this week, these birds are quite active during this time of year as they hunt for a six or eight legged meal to feed their growing families.



A White eyed Vireos nest is a marvel of the delicacy of bird brained engineering.
They collect soft strips of bark and grass which is woven into a sturdy hanging basket, fastened to a branch with spiderwebs. It’s actually quite deep relative to the size of its occupants and the mother bird can disappear into the triangular shaped cup simply by ducking her head down.


Incubation of the eggs takes around 15 days and the young will typically stay in the nest for 11 days before fledging. The work is not over for the parents though since the little ones will still be taken care of up to 20 days after fledging before becoming independent.
Interestingly, fledgeling male White-eyed Vireos learn their father’s song very early in life, and may begin mimicking his call as early as one month after leaving the nest. Young White-eyed Vireos may also develop some elements of their songs by sampling the song tracks of their avian neighbors.
Pretty cool, huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Out There with the Expert

Red headed Woodpeckers at the Weymouth woods sandhills Preserve

There’s no question that the rockstar bird of the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Preserve is the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
Today though, I want to share a few photos of a handsome Red headed Woodpecker that I found while birding there this past week.

With that bold cherry red, ebony and white plumage glittering in the sun, these guys are gorgeous too see up close in person!
I was lucky to spend time photographing a pair of them hunting for a meal in the pines.



Red headed Woodpeckers are a year round resident of North Carolina. They are relatively common in the central part of the state and are best spotted in areas with stands of tall, dead trees or in long leaf pine forests.
I’ve had luck finding them regularly at Lake Betz and along the American Tobacco Trail (New Hope Olive Chapel Rd access) as well as here at the WWSP.

As is the case with other Woodpeckers, Red headed’s are cavity nesters. Using their bills dig out holes in the tree trunks, they’ll make their homes inside dead trees, rotten branches, stumps, in telephone poles, fences, and utility poles between 8 to 80 feet above the ground. They especially prefer habitats with very little ground cover below and even in swamps with groves of dead trees in standing water.

Although they aren’t a frequent backyard visitor, you can entice them to your feeders by offering suet and nuts. They especially adore peanuts and will make several trips from the trees to your feeders throughout the day if you offer up that treat.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Birding tour summery from Ft.Fisher North Carolina

I had an excellent weekend birding with my guests during our recent trip to the Ft.Fisher SRA in southeastern NC.
We saw a nice variety of species and although the Painted Buntings proved to be somewhat elusive to find, we finally spotted a few both at Ft.Fisher & Carolina Beach which was a win in my book ; )

It was a lot of fun to spend time with people who love this birding/photography life as much as I do. I mean where else can I relate to folks better when I say, “hey let’s go try for one more pic” or “do you mind if we travel to another spot to see if we can get just one more bird” and the answer is always a resounding YES!

One of the best moments from the trip was trying to see the Clapper Rails at the Rocks at Ft.Fisher.
When I’d call out to them those darn birds would answer me loudly in unison like a crowd of drunk hecklers at a stand up show.
Yet, they stayed hidden and we only saw one once when it briefly flew out of the tall grass before landing again.
So frustrating lol!
I wish I could have got a photo of those guys (there were several of the Clapper Rails hiding in the marsh) but gosh it was such a funny thing for us to hear them laughing at us that I can’t help but think that’s a moment I’ll never forget. Truly a colorful happy memory as good as any photo I could have caught.

I can’t wait to return here next week! If you’d like to join me out there check out the link below for booking information!

BIRDING TOURS AT FT.FISHER

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, Out There with the Expert

A Palm Warbler encounter at Lake Betz in Morrisville NC

Check out this handsome little Palm Warbler!
Isn’t he cute?
I caught a glimpse of him snacking on a Caterpillar while birding at Lake Betz in Morrisville NC this week.


He was perfectly content to go about his business while I took a few photos of him foraging. Then he basically stopped and became the bird equivalent of Zoolander and posed for couple shots too lol!
A good moment indeed.

Despite being named for a tropical tree, Palm Warblers actually spends most of their foraging time walking and hopping on the ground, or in low brushy undergrowth bobbing its tail and plucking at insects.
Weirder still, Palm Warblers nest in the boreal forests and bogs of Canada and although they do spend the winter in Florida, they don’t actually hang out in the Palm trees.
Truly an odd name for a bird IMO.



Palm Warblers are a wintertime resident of North Carolina. They arrive in September and depart for their northern breeding grounds in early May. I was pleased to capture a photo of one in bright plumage since most of the ones I’ve seen have been dressed in the winter drab tones.

Although they will be migrating north in a couple of weeks, you can still find Palm Warblers here in the Tarheel state.
Look for them in short grassy fields or in semi open areas near water containing low dense, brush.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

Northern Shovelers at the Pea Island NWR

For sure one of the most unique looking ducks we’ve got here in N.C. during the wintertime is the Northern Shoveler.


The group and I spotted several of these handsome birds during the trip to the Pea Island NWR last month and could not have been more pleased to see them!
We even had a chance to view this pair from under 10 feet away which allowed for some excellent photo opportunities as they happily swam right in front of us on the South Pond.



Northern Shovelers are uniquely adapted for a life spent foraging for a meal underwater. They feed by drawing water into its large spoon shaped bill and then pump it out through the sides with their tongue.
Their bill is lined with a long comb-like lamellae which filters out floating food particles such as tiny crustaceans, molluscs, insects, larvae as well as seeds and pieces of leaves and stems of aquatic plants.
In addition to the food particles they’ll also dine on water beetles, small minnows, and snails when available.



As is the case with other members of the dabbling duck family, Northern Shovelers may be found foraging for meal along the shorelines of the shallow, still or slow moving waters of marshes, ponds, flooded out fields and in our coastal impoundments.
These guys will hang out in North Carolina until
mid April before departing to their northern breeding grounds so there is still time for you to get out there and see them if you can!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News

New Weekend bird watching tour dates are now available in North Carolina for 2021

Come birding with me!
I’ve just updated the tour page on the website to include a bunch of new dates and birding locations here in North Carolina for 2021.

These trips are are geared towards birders and bird loving photographers of all skill levels and are usually a lot of fun.
Real time species ID is provided in the field with a trip goal of getting out there to see more birds in less time.
An eBird summery documenting all that we find along the way will be sent to you immediately following the tour so that you can add new birds to your own life list at your leisure too!

Check out the tour links below for more information on upcoming trips and I hope you enjoy the photos of some of my favorite birds from 2020.

Happy birding my friends and cheers to the new year ahead 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc

Bird watching tours in North Carolina
Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

A Fox Sparrow at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation

I stopped by the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh N.C. earlier this week in preparation for a trip I’ve got scheduled here for the end of the month. I hadn’t visited here in a few weeks and wanted to see what kinds of birds were in the area now that winter has arrived in earnest.

Happily there were lots of colorful feathered gems flying around from Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Brown headed Nuthatches and Starlings, to Cardinals, Kinglets and Blue Jays. One of my favorites though were the Fox Sparrows.

The Fox Sparrow is a small bird that I don’t see very often during the winter which is a shame because they’re quite pretty!
With 18 different subspecies of Fox Sparrow, as a group their plumage varies widely in the Western Hemisphere.
Some are grayish brown in color, others are reddish toned while the remaining are a mix of the two hues with varying degrees of color intensity.
Here in North Carolina, the subspecies we encounter during the wintertime is the Red variety. They are aptly named with a broad rust red or dark brown streaking on their back and underparts, a bright russet reddish rump and tail, reddish brown wings and grey tones on the sides of their neck, which contrast nicely with their rusty brown ear coverts.
This warm reddish brown plumage suits their needs well as remain pretty well camouflaged in the leaves and brush when foraging for a meal.

With the first photograph in this post, I just got lucky as this bird was actually perched in a tree nearby offering me a clear view.
The second photograph shown below is more typical of how I usually find these little ones, hiding behind a tangle of grass and briers.

Look for them in wide open deep grass fields feeding on the ground. It can be tough to find them since they tend to be a bit shy so try pishing to draw them out of the thick stuff for a moment or two to get a proper look.
They will stick around N.C. until late March or early April so there is still plenty of time for you to see one in the coming months 🙂

By the way, I’ve got a trip scheduled to the Prairie Ridge Ecostation at the end of January. If you’d like to join me you may do so by clicking on the trip detail page listed in the tour links below.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Out There with the Expert

Love them or hate ’em, Cowbirds are here in North Carolina

This time of year, there are still large flocks of birds gathering together making the journey southward.
Here in central NC, one such species is the Brown headed Cowbird. I spotted this one (along with a few hundred of his friends) along Mid Pines Rd. in Raleigh yesterday morning.



Though many people dislike Brown headed Cowbirds for their parasitic nesting habits, they are an interesting species nonetheless.
Though they appear black in color (aside from their brown heads), males are actually covered in an iridescent green, blue and deep purple plumage which changes color depending on the angle of light shining down on them.


These beautiful colors may serve an important purpose in the breeding habits of the Cowbird.
Studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between the intensity of hue and saturation of the males iridescent plumage in relation to his overall health.
Cowbirds who were nutritionally deficient produced a greater percentage of dull feathers when molting, while males who were fed a healthy diet with unlimited access to nutrient rich food sources, produced the expected amount of rich colors in their plumage.


It is hypothesized that female birds may possibly interpret the brightness of the males colorful feathers as a signal of a healthy mate.
Although I’m not aware of a specific study which definitely proves this, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the Cowbird with the brightest plumage would have the best luck with the ladies, thus able to pass their genes on to the next generation.



Love them or hate them, IMO they are gorgeous birds, especially when they’re seen in good lighting.


Btw, check out the lone European Starling taking a bath with the flock in the third and fourth pics. He seems perfectly content to hang out with the Cowbirds doing his own thing 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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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
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Winterbirds in the summer: Dark eyed Juncos in western N.C.

One of the joys of birding in the mountains of North Carolina during the late summer & autumn is finding the birds that one usually sees in the wintertime here in the Triangle region.
Commonly referred to as the “Snowbird” by residents of central and eastern NC, the Dark eyed Junco calls the higher elevations of western NC home year round.



Often traveling in small family flocks, these birds are constantly on the move as they forage in the low brushy scrub areas in a never ending search for a meal.
I spotted this one at the Craggy Gardens Picnic area along the Blue Ridge Parkway while leading a bird tour here last month. Interestingly, the Juncos that I’ve seen up in the mountains appear to be larger in size than the ones that I typically see in my yard in central NC during the winter. Whatever they are finding to eat around here clearly serves them well in building fat reserves for colder weather ahead 😉

During the warmer months, Dark eyed Juncos feed mainly on insects, seeds and occasionally berries. Once the cold weather arrives, their diet consists of entirely seeds.
They are known to practice an interesting foraging method called “riding.” They’ll fly up and land onto a seed cluster on the top of a flimsy stem then catch a gravity assisted “ride” it to the ground where they pick off the shower of seeds that dropped on the way down.
Thinking that the round ones I’ve seen up in the mountains have that behavior down to a science lol!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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