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Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in SC, Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birding trips at Cape May New Jersey, Birding Trips in New Jersey, Birding Trips in SC, Birdwatching News, Biridng Trips and Tours in SC

Warbler Spring migration bird watching trips in North Carolina, South Carolina and New Jersey

By Sally Siko

The grass is greening up and the flowers are starting to bloom. Spring is on the way and with it, new species of warblers will soon be arriving in the eastern United States.
Soon the woods and fields will be filled with chirps, buzzes, trills and tweets as the birds sing in search of a mate and to establish nesting territories.

Warbler vocalizations fall into two categories – songs and calls. In general, we define bird song as a structured, usually complex vocalization serving either or both of two purposes – to defend territories and to attract mates.
Most of the songs are sung by the males, though females do also sing territorially or for pair bonding, especially in the tropics.
Generally their calls are usually shorter and structurally simpler, serving a wider range of functions, including courtship, signaling alarm, or communicating a change in location.



Interestingly, almost no songbirds know their songs by instinct. Rather, most need to learn to sing.
Warblers begin learning songs as nestlings by hearing the songs of adults nearby. In this way, song traditions (known to biologists as “memes”) are passed down in songbird neighborhoods from year to year.
In fact many warbler species have area-specific dialects.
Makes me wonder if our warblers have a southern accent lol!



I can’t wait for spring migration to kick off! It’s so much fun to lead my birding tours, showing off these beautiful feathered gems to my guests.
I’ve got 80 new tour dates available for booking in the Carolina’s as well as in eastern New Jersey and coastal Maine.
If you’d like to join me to go birding this spring, check out the calendar shown below for location and date information.


Feel free to send me an email if ya have any questions about upcoming trips too!
Happy birding-
Sally

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News

Spring bird watching tours in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

The first signs of spring are showing up here in NC. The grass is turning greener, the days are trending warmer and the daffodils will soon be in bloom.
This means that migration is right around the corner and with that, tons of new birds flying in to spend a few weeks or months on the Atlantic coast.



I want to see ALL the birds and can’t wait to share these birding experiences with my guests which is why I’m excited to offer a greatly expanded bird tour schedule in 2024.
80+ dates are now open for you to book a birding trip with me this year in North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine and New Jersey from now through late summer.



For details please check out the link below and if ya have any questions feel free to send me an email anytime!

Go Birding With Me: Best Life Birding Trips, Guided Group Birding Tours & Bird Photography Workshops


Happy birding,
Sally

Birdwatching News, Field Notes

How to Use the eBird App- a Tutorial

By Sally Siko

Introduction:

eBird is a popular citizen science project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. It allows birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to record their bird sightings, contribute to scientific research, and explore birding hotspots worldwide. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use the eBird app to make the most of your birdwatching experience:

Step 1: Download and Install the eBird App

– Visit the App Store (for iOS devices) or Google Play Store (for Android devices).

– Search for “eBird” and download the app developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

– Install the app on your device.

Step 2: Create an Account

– Open the eBird app on your device.

– Tap on “Sign Up” or “Create Account” to register for a new account.

– Follow the on-screen prompts to enter your email address, create a password, and provide some basic information about yourself.

– Once you’ve completed the registration process, log in to your newly created eBird account.

Step 3: Explore Birding Hotspots

– Upon logging in, click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen to bring up a map displaying birding hotspots in your area.

– Use the search bar to find specific locations or browse through the map to discover nearby birding sites.

– Tap on a hotspot to view more information, including recent sightings, species lists, and comments from other birders.

Step 4: Report Your Bird Sightings

– To report a bird sighting, tap on the “Submit” button located at the bottom of the screen.

– Select the date and location of your birding outing using the calendar and map interface.

– Enter the species you observed by typing the name or using the app’s built-in bird identification tool.

– Indicate the number of individuals observed and any additional comments or observations.

– Rare & previously unreported birds (indicated by red dot shown next to the bird’s name) will require checklist comments with species observations. Use descriptions like plumage color, behavior, size and song type.

– Review your checklist and tap “Submit” to upload your sighting to eBird’s database.

Step 5: Explore Your Personal Data

– Navigate to the “My eBird” section of the app to access your personal birding data.

– View your lifetime, year, month, or day lists to track your birding progress over time.

– Explore your personal statistics, including the number of species observed and your birding activity by location.

Step 6: Contribute to Science

– By reporting your bird sightings to eBird, you’re contributing valuable data to scientific research and conservation efforts.

– Your observations help researchers better understand bird populations, distributions, and migration patterns.

– Participate in eBird challenges and special projects to further contribute to ornithological science.

Step 7: Customize Your Settings

– Click on the three little dots in the bottom righthand corner of the screen to explore the app’s settings to customize your eBird experience.

– Adjust notification preferences, download regional species packs, map layers, and display options to suit your preferences.

– Keep the app updated to access the latest features and improvements.

Conclusion:

The eBird app is a powerful tool for birdwatchers of all skill levels, providing a platform to record, share, and explore bird sightings around the world. By following this tutorial, you can make the most of your birding adventures and contribute to the global community of citizen scientists working to conserve avian biodiversity. 

Happy birding!

Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in SC, Birding Trips in SC, Birdwatching News, Biridng Trips and Tours in SC

Birding tours in South Carolina

By Sally Siko

Really looking forward to leading more birding trips in South Carolina this year!
I love seeing the huge variety of long legged, pointed (and spoon) billed, fish slayers (both feathered and otherwise lol!) that are found along the coast.
The cool thing about spending time Herons, Spoonbills, Woodstorks, Gallinules and Egrets is that generally, these are active birds which makes them entertaining to watch.
I love trying to freeze the quick action sequences as the birds squabble for a catch.


Though it can be challenging to capture the action, photographing wading birds is an opportunity to learn something new about capturing good images.
Between adjusting ISO numbers for the light, tweaking shutter speed for action and figuring out aperture values, there’s a lot to think about before I’ve even pressed the shutter.


Luckily the birds, gators and minks tend to stick around for a long while which means there’s plenty of time to really dial in those settings.
When the day is done, I always leave SC feeling like a stronger photographer than when I arrived.
Plus I’ll have a memory card filled with beautiful birds and great memories too.
That’s the kind of experience I enjoy sharing with my guests on every trip!

Check out the links below to book your bird watching tour in South Carolina today!

Birding Tours at Huntington Beach State Park
Birding Tours at Pinckney Island NWR



Photos by Sally Siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Biridng Trips and Tours in SC

Spending time at a Little blue-heron rookery on Pinckney Island SC

By Sally Siko

It was so cool to see these Little blue Herons nesting at the rookery on Pinckney Island SC last week.
There was a ton of bird activity here but the Little blues really caught my eye.
Their subtle hue of azure and mauve plumage color is absolutely gorgeous!



Interestingly this species is closely related to the Snowy Egret (same genus), a white bird of similar size.
Their similarities are especially noticeable as first-fall and first-winter immature Little Blues are completely white in plumage and are easily confused with Snowy Egrets.
The easiest way to tell the two species apart from a distance is to observe their feeding habits.
Unlike the Snowy’s who are constantly on the move, the Little blue Heron is slow and methodical in its feeding approach, walking very slowly in shallow waters or standing still waiting for prey to approach.



Here at the rookery, clusters of Little blues nested together in small groups.
Their nests are flimsy, hardly more than a few layers of loose twigs and sticks haphazardly stacked to provide a platform for the eggs to be laid.
Their typical clutch is 3-4 eggs, with an incubation period of three weeks and a nesting period of six weeks.
While in the nest, both parents feed the young by regurgitating a softened stew of prey. Within four weeks after hatching, the chicks are capable of short flights but don’t become independent until around six to seven weeks.

Little Blue Herons are a year round residents in the coastal regions of the Carolinas. Although they are typically live near saltwater areas they prefer freshwater habitats, in fact they’re also occasionally spotted inland all the way to the Triangle (central NC) from June to August.They are usually seen hunting for fish, invertebrates, frogs, small reptiles and insects in shallow freshwater marshes, ponds and on mudflats.What a beauty!

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

Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in SC

It’s Great Egret nesting season in the Carolinas

By Sally Siko

It’s spring and breeding season has begun for the Great Egrets in the Carolinas.
I spotted several pairs preening, sitting and squabbling on their nests while birding yesterday morning at the Pinckney Island NWR in SC.
The male Egrets are looking impressive with those bright white plumes sticking out and that lime green coloring on his lores.
It’s fascinating to see the change in their appearance over just a couple of weeks!



As you can see here Great Egrets are colony nesters, banding together as a group as there is strength in numbers when it comes to deterring predators.
The rookery here at Pinckney is populated by Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Anhingas, and a handful of Little Blue Herons.
It’s a noisy stinky spot with weird calls, gurgles and shrieks emanating from the scrubby trees filled with nesting birds.



Their nests are large, tangled messes of sticks which serve as a platform on which to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks. These flimsy structures are not exactly the works of art that other birds make, but they seem to work for the egrets lol!
Great Egret eggs are a pale greenish blue, and will be incubated by both the male and female for about 23 to 24 days. Once the chicks hatch, both parents will be kept busy feeding their young for the next 2-3 weeks until the little ones fledge.
In two years, the youngsters will be mature and may return to this spot to breed and add to the every growing cycle of life found at this rookery.

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