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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

A Lesser Scaup encounter at the Pea island NWR in the OBX

Here’s a lovely duck that doesn’t get enough love in my opinion, the Lesser Scaup. I spotted these beautiful creatures while birding at the Pea Island NWR last month.
Aren’t they sweet?

Male Lesser Scaups



The drakes (featured in the first few photos) have white flanks, black rumps and breasts, and lined gray backs.
They’ve got purplish-black, iridescent heads and bright yellow eyes. Their bills are light gray-blue. Males in non-breeding plumage have black heads and breasts, brown bodies, and black rumps.

Female Lesser Scaups


The hens (featured above) are brownish colored overall, also with beautiful yellow eyes, and white at the base of their bills.
It was lovely to watch them as they glided across the pond in search of a meal.

Scaups aren’t showy but gosh I enjoy seeing them each winter. There are actually two species of Scaup found in North Carolina, the Lessers & Greater. These two varieties look similar but there are a few differences to note when trying to make an accuarte ID.

Lesser:

Smaller overall size

Peak of feathers sticking up on it’s crown

Narrow-ish head with tall slender neck

Black tip on bill is noticeably smaller

Prefers to stick to freshwater bodies of water inland

Greater:

Larger size Rounded crown

Rounder head & puffy-ish cheeks

Black tip larger and more noticeable on bill

Is generally more abundant in saltwater bodies of water

The thing is, even if though I know what ID marks to look for, it’s still tough when viewing these guys at a distance. It’s easier when the two species are right up next to one another (because of the size difference) but beyond that it’s all about going over the details.

Every October, large flocks of Lesser Scaups make their way south into North Carolina. Though they may be found all across the state, their more commonly seen in our eastern coastal areas swimming on lakes, reservoirs, and fresh or brackish coastal bays and estuaries.

The diet of the Scaup is largely made up of seeds, insects, aquatic invertebrates, minnows, fish eggs and small crustaceans. During the winter, Mollusks and plant seeds become more important at other times of the year due to the scarcity of insects and fish roe.
If you’re able to sit and observe them for a few minutes, you’re likely to see them diving underwater for their meal.
Sometimes they seem to stay down there for a while which is pretty impressive.



I’m headed back to Pea Island for another birding trip soon. I can’t wait to see these sweet little ducks again and am hoping that I’ll be able to get some photos of the Scaups in better light.
By the way, the Lesser Scaups will hang out here in North Carolina until late April (western part of the state) or early May so there is plenty of time for you to go see a few for yourself too!

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

Birding at the the Pea Island NWR- The Canvasback Duck

Here’s a duck that I was happy to see, the Canvasback.
I photographed this pair last month paddling around the North Pond at the Pea Island NWR in the OBX. It was neat to sit in the grass at the waters edge to watch them diving and squabbling for a meal amongst a mixed flock of Redheads, American Coots and American Wigeons.



A wintertime resident of North Carolina, Canvasbacks are found in our coastal counties from late October through early April.
They are usually spotted in large bodies of shallow slow moving waters such as marshes, estuaries, lakes and bays. The large ponds here at Pea Island NWR are perfect examples of their preferred habitat.

Voracious consumers of aquatic vegetation, their favorite food is wild celery. So much so that the Latin species name of the Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) is similar to that of the wild celery (Vallisneria americana).
They are also fond of eating pondweeds, water lilies, sedges, mollusks, small crustaceans, minnows and insects.



The largest species of diving Duck in North America, these birds are absolutely regal looking as the glide across the water.
One of my favorite things about the Canvasbacks drake’s appearance are their vibrant red eyes paired with that dark red head. When you make eye contact with them, it feels like they’re staring directly into your soul haha!
The females are quite lovely too with their soft palette of brown, grey and buff plumage. I thought they were quite beautiful with the sunlight reflecting off of them set against the blue water.



I’ll be returning to Pea Island in a couple of weeks for another birding trip and am hoping that I’ll have another opportunity to catch a few shots of them in flight before they depart for their breeding grounds in the spring.
Can’t wait to get back out there!

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

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

Enjoying the Tundra Swans at the Pea Island NWR

Every winter, the waters of the North and South ponds in the Pea Island NWR begin to fill up with all sorts of species of waterfowl including Shovelers, American Wigeons, Gadwalls, Redheads, Bufflehead, Teal, Pintails and of course the Tundra Swan.



It was a real treat to watch these large birds preening on the shoreline. This one spent a great amount of time coming its bill through its feathers and then flapping every so often to shake them back out again.
They stand at around 3 feet tall and with a wingspan stretching 6ft across tip to tip, these massive swans are truly an epic sight as they glide overhead too!



As seen in the photo below, one of their interesting behaviors to observe is foot stamping. Though Tundra Swans are primarily herbivores, they also eat mollusks and arthropods which live underwater in the mud. To find these protein rich snacks, when foraging in shallow water, the Tundra Swan will stamp and scrape it’s large webbed feet onto the bottom of a pond or marsh to stir up any clams, snails or muscles that may be hiding in the mud below. Then they dip their long necks into the water to catch their prey.



Tundra Swans are commonly seen here in southeastern North Carolina from November through early March in our coastal counties with peak numbers occurring in January.
Look for them in open marshes, lakes, shallow ponds and estuaries in fresh and brackish waters. They are also easily found feeding in grain fields in agricultural areas too. It’s quite am incredible sight to see flocks of hundreds of Swans feeding in a corn field, wheat field or soybean patch.
With springtime migration rapidly approaching, soon these magnificent birds with depart for their breeding grounds in the Colville River Delta region of north Alaska.
I’ll miss them when they are gone but am always looking forward to their return at years end.

I’ve added new birding tour dates for 2021 to visit the Pea Island NWR so if you’d like to join me, check out the trip link “Birding at Alligator River NWR & Pea Island NWR” below!

Book today because space is limited 🙂



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

Late winter birdwatching: The American Wigeon at Pea Island NWR

One of my favorite ducks to make an appearance in North Carolina during the winter is the American Widgeon.
With that emerald green plumage reflecting in the sunlight, they are truly striking looking birds.



American Wigeons are often found feeding with Coots and diving ducks such as the Redhead, Scaup, and Canvasback, who are adept at rooting up vegetation from deep in the water.
The opportunistic Wigeon will watch the action below the water then snatch the food away from the divers as soon as they try to surface with a bill full of greens.


Preferring large open bodies of water away from the woods, large flocks American Wigeons are a fairly common sight in the eastern Piedmont regions and coastal areas of North Carolina.
Look for them in wide open freshwater marshes, lakes, rivers, ponds, brackish bays and estuaries from September through late March/early April.
Aren’t they gorgeous?

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

Wintertime birding at Pea Island: Northern Pintail Duck

Check out these Northern Pintails! Aren’t they cool looking?




Pintails are unique looking birds and IMO are quite beautiful.
The drakes are easy to identify when swimming amongst large mixed flocks with their chestnut colored heads and namesake pointy tails.

The Northern Pintail boasts the widest range of any other duck seen in the United States. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and are known to winter and breed on all continents except for Australia and Antarctica.


During the wintertime, large flocks of Pintail can be seen at many of our coastal refuge regions here in North Carolina, such as
Bodie and Pea islands in the Outer Banks,
Lake Mattamuskeet, Pungo Lake, the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and parts of Pamlico Sound.



A surface feeding duck, they dine on aquatic plants, seeds, grass, small aquatic animals, and insects. Their long elegant necks enable them to reach deeper than other dabbling ducks for seeds, roots and tubers of underwater plants. During the wintertime, they’re also commonly spotted in eastern North Carolina feeding on the leftover grains found open farm fields situated near water.

They will stick around here until late April and will return next September once more to spend the winter in the Tarheel State.
Aren’t they lovely?

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

Wintertime birding Pea Island: The redhead Duck

This sharp looking bird is called a Redhead Duck. As their namesake implies, they are quite easily identified among large mixed flocks of waterfowl sporting that crimson plumage.
I spotted quite a few of them here at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge swimming in the north pond near the visitors center.



Unlike many other species of diving ducks redheads more often spotted displaying dabbling duck behavior by dipping their head underwater or tipping up to feed on plants and small invertebrates.

During the winter, they can be found in slow moving or still bodies of freshwater,
foraging on plant seeds along the shoreline such as
tubers, grass, pondweeds, wild celery, bulrushes,
water lilies, and even wild rice under the water.



Their breeding range extends from central Alaska through southern Canada to the northern regions of the United States from Washington to Maine.
Many breed in the Prairie Pothole region of the northern Great Plains of North America.

In September, these ducks migrate to winter in the warmer climates found in central Mexico, along the coast of California to the Gulf and of course the Atlantic Coast including right here in eastern North Carolina.



You can find them in most of our southeastern coastal wildlife refuges through mid April. These handsome guys are well worth the effort to find them!

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, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Wintertime birding in eastern North Carolina

I had an excellent time this week birding in the OBX! Spending 3 days straight, I saw thousands of beautiful birds from Cape Hatteras, to Pea Island, Pungo Lake and the Alligator River NWR.



Of all the birds, my favorites were the American Widgeon, Pintails and Redheads. Those ducks are simply gorgeous!
It was an incredible sight to see thousands of waterfowl all in one spot. So much squeaking and quacking, these large flocks are pretty noisy once you get close.

With pictures like these, you might ask why is eastern North Carolina such a duck magnet?
The answer is that the majority of the waterfowl here in North America breed in Canada’s Prairie Provinces and the United States’ upper Midwest, particularly in the area known as the Prairie Pothole Region.

Every autumn, ducks and geese funnel down the Atlantic Flyway to the farm fields, ponds, lakes and rivers of eastern North Carolina to spend the winter in our temperate regions where there are vast quantities of food still available throughout the colder months.
Pretty neat, huh?
I’ll have a ton of photos and new videos coming soon from the trip so stay tuned…

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

Nags Head birding success

I had an excellent trip this past Thursday & Friday leading a private birding tour in the OBX. With 11 checklists in 2 days, it was an absolute blast getting out to the coast to see some interesting birds.



Here’s a shot of two of the most common species we saw, a Willet and a Sanderling.
I spotted these two dodging the waves on Pea Island. It was interesting to watch them hunt for tiny crustaceans in the sand. They are so quick!

Wether your an experienced or novice birder, the Pea Island offers excellent bird watching opportunities all year round. The refuge is home to over 400 species of resident and migratory species of birds ranging from raptors, warblers and sparrows to ducks, swans, herons and shorebirds.

I’m looking forward to making a return trip here this November to catch some cool new waterfowl which will stop here during autumn migration.
Wanna join me?
Here is a link with the tour details and booking info below 🙂

https://birdwatchingnc.com/birdwatching-n-c-trips-birding-in-north-carolina/birding-the-obx/

Photo by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa
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