Tag Archives: rare bird alert north carolina

Birdwatching News

Rare Bird Alert North Carolina: Vesper Sparrows at Mid Pines Rd in Raleigh

By Sally SIko

Here’s another uncommon bird I spotted this week while birding in Raleigh NC, the Vesper Sparrow.
I’d set out to find one of these beauties along Mid Pines road and was rewarded with some great close up looks as they perched on the fence line.
I’ve seen this species before in the same area but the only photos I’d ever managed to take were terribly lit and from below so it was nice to actually capture a couple shots at eye level.
I know sparrows don’t typically catch anyone’s attention but I absolutely adore these tiny birds.
Aren’t they sweet?

Although they do breed in the western counties of the Tarheel state, the Vesper Sparrow are an uncommon sight here in NC. Usually they are spotted during migration but unfortunately numbers of this species are in overall decline so seeing one is indeed a treat at anytime of the year.
As with many other sparrows, the Vespers favor weedy field habitats with sparse grass cover mixed with bare ground. Interestingly they seem to like hanging out with Song Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows so it’s worth double checking who’s who when ya encounter mixed flocks.
The easiest way to ID these guys is to look for a streaky breasted sparrow that has prominent white eye ring combined with white outer tail feathers which are most noticeable when they’re in flight.

These lovely feathered gems should hang out in central North Carolina until mid March.
If you’d like to find these birds at Mid Pines Rd, I’ve included a link below of their exact location.
I hope that you get to see them too!

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

Birdwatching News, North Carolina rare bird alert

North Carolina Rare Bird Alert: An Ash-throated Flycatcher at Alligator River NWR

By Sally Siko

Here’s a bird I was surprised to see while birding in eastern North Carolina yesterday, an Ash-throated Flycatcher!
The normal range for these little dynamos typically stretches from California to Texas so spotting one here on the east coast is a real treat.
I actually heard this bird calling out “ka-brick” before I found it so it was neat to zone in on that one patch of tall grass to finally get a photo after hearing it vocalize.



Aptly named, Ash-throated Flycatchers do indeed snack on flies. They’re also voracious eaters of all kinds of other insects such as grasshoppers, wasps, bees, cicadas, termites, moths, caterpillars, beetles, spiders and dragonflies.
As desert dwellers, water can be tough to find but that’s not a problem for them since they can get all the water they need from the insects which they consume. This unique dietary adaptation allows them to live in harsh dry environments where other species might not be able to thrive.
Here in NC, we’ve got plenty of water and insects which should carry this little one through the winter months if it chooses to stay.


Though the Ash- throated Flycatcher is not native to North Carolina, sightings of this “rare for the area” bird have been increasing in recent years.
It appears that a few individuals seem to favor the Alligator River NWR and the Pungo Unit as their winter destination of choice.
If I remember correctly, I think there were a pair of them sighted at the ARNWR back in 2022 which makes me wonder if this bird is one of the two which had visited before.
Generally, these flycatchers show up in late November with sighting reports dwindling by late February so my advice is to get out there as soon as you can to lay eyes on this feathered gem.
If you’d like to find bird for yourself, I’ve included a link of its exact location in this post.
Hope you get to see it too!

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, North Carolina rare bird alert

NC Rare Bird Alert: A Short-eared Owl encounter at the Guilford County Farm in Elon North Carolina

By Sally Siko

Yesterday Michael and I got up early and drove up to the Guilford County Farm in Elon NC to see if we could spot a Short-eared Owl.
I’d seen reports of one hanging out there and since I’d never spotted this species before, I figured it was worth the trip to try and this lifer to my list.
Once we arrived, we decided to walk through the fields to see if we could lay eyes on one sitting in the field.



Happily, it didn’t take but 15 minutes to spot one of these beauties taking off from the grass.
Although the Shortie was pretty far away and the photos I took aren’t the greatest it was a thrill to finally lay eyes on this beautiful bird!
But then it got even better as a second then third owl appeared swooping overhead!
Then things got really interesting as a flock of crows flew in and set off after the Shorties.
Diving and slicing through the air, the owls deftly out maneuvered the crows at every angle, eventually frustrating their pursuers into giving up.
That encounter is a good reminder in that if you ever want to find an owl, look (and listen) for a pack of angry crows!



Luckily for birders and photographers alike, Shorties are one of a handful of species of owls which can be seen flying over our marshes, un-filled waterfowl impoundments and wet fields during daylight hours (especially morning and in the afternoon).
They are more numerously found in our coastal counties especially at the Alligator River NWR and at Phelps Lake but may also be spotted (usually in smaller numbers) inland in agricultural areas throughout the Piedmont region.

Though there have been sporadic reports of this species breeding in the Tarheel state, Short-eared Owls are generally wintertime residents of North Carolina. Look for these beauties from now through late March.
If you’d like to make a trip out to the Guilford County Farm to see these guys for yourself, I’ve included a Google Maps pin drop of their exact location in the fields between County Farm Rd and Howerton Rd. in this post.
Good luck and happy birding!

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

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

A Tropical Kingbird encounter in eastern NC

By Sally Siko

Along with the winter migrants arriving last month, something unexpected popped up on the NC Rare Bird Alert, a Tropical Kingbird!
I’d been birding in early November near Nags Head when I saw that the Kingbird was reported at the Mackay Island Refuge (along the state line of VA & NC).
It was just a couple hours drive north so since I was in the area (well sort of lol) I hit the road in search of the bird.



Kingbirds are one of my favorite birds to find since 99% of them seem to prefer hanging out either on power lines, wire fences or on a bare branch at the tippy top of the tallest trees.
That makes them pretty easy to spot compared to other birds so I was hopeful that I’d be able to see it without too much trouble.
As luck would have it, this Tropical Kingbird was exactly where I’d expected him to be, perched on a power line overlooking a grassy field.
Better still, the bird was not shy and allowed me plenty of opportunities to grab a few pics.
I’d never seen this species before (and usually my lifer pics suck lol) so I was stoked to actually get some good photos to confirm the ID of this rare bird.


So what makes this bird rare?
Well the Tropical Kingbird is normally found from south Texas and Arizona, down through Mexico and into Central and South America.
This particular bird was a bit off track as North Carolina is well out of its typical range.
Still, the habitat offered here at the Mackays Refuge must have felt familiar to the Kingbird as they are fond of hunting for insects in areas of open ground near ponds and marshes.
I even watched the bird dive low, skimming just above the water to get a drink or wet its feathers.
Pretty cool stuff!

If you’d like to go find this feathered gem for yourself, the Mackays Island Refuge gate should be open from 10-4pm Monday through Friday.
I’ve included a map of the exact location of the Kingbird (near the visitor center) at the end of this post.
It’s possible that the Kingbird might hang out here all winter so it might be worth a look if your in the area. Hope that you get to see it too!

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

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News, North Carolina rare bird alert

North Carolina Rare Bird Alert a White-fronted Goose in Wilmington NC

By Sally Siko

Yesterday I got up early and made a two hour and a half hour trip south to the coast of NC in search of two rare birds.
The drive paid off when I found the first species at Ft.Fisher, a Lark Sparrow. Then the cherry on top came in the form of this beautiful White-fronted Goose in Wilmington!



The goose had been reported to be hanging out with a flock of Canada geese resting on a pond on the grounds of a local a high school.
When my friend Corie and I arrived, we immediately jumped out of the car and grabbed our cameras to scan the shoreline of the pond in search of the goose.
As I swept the landscape with my lens, my heart sank. There were a ton of Canada’s snoozing and preening on the bank but no sign of the White-fronted.
Could it have left?
Not wanting to give up, I started walking around the pond to see if another perspective would help me spot the goose.
The pond had a steep shoreline on one side which meant anything roosting at its base would be obscured from view when standing on the flat ground above.
As I made my way around the east corner, a familiar chocolate, brown, and white face popped up from the downslope.
The White-fronted Goose!
Success!!!


Now you might be wondering why I’d care about seeing a single goose.
The reason is that White-fronted Geese are a rare winter visitor to NC.
Though their sightings appear to be increasing over the years, they are definitely not our “normal” wintertime birds.
Their typical range extends west of the Mississippi river north into Canada, Greenland, Alaska, Europe and Russia.

Although the numbers of visiting White-fronted Geese have been increasing in North Carolina in recent years, it is still a remarkable thing to see one!
Look for them hiding in plain sight within flocks of Canada Geese, Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese feeding in the agricultural fields or paddling around the freshwater waterfowl impoundments of our eastern counties from now through March.

@bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News, North Carolina rare bird alert

Rare bird alert North Carolina- Lark Sparrow at Ft.Fisher

By Sally Siko

Happy to spot a Lark Sparrow at Ft.Fisher in NC yesterday morning!
My friend Corie and I made a quick trip to the coast to see if we could find this little guy and were rewarded with some great looks for the effort.
*ok yeah it is a 2 1/2 hour drive south for me but these days anything less than a 5 hour drive to see a bird is local drive in my book lol!



These guys are considered a rarity in NC so when I first put this bird into focus on my lens it was pretty exciting!
The reason why is because the Lark Sparrow’s range stretches from primarily the Great Plains and west to the California coast. Year-round populations also occur in Texas and northern Mexico too.
That being said a very, (very!) small population of Lark Sparrows breed right here in North Carolina.
Usually those birds are found during the breeding season in isolated spots within the Sandhill region (central part of the state) so it was incredibly cool to find one here at Fort Fisher during the winter.



When Lark Sparrows do show up in the eastern counties of NC during the colder months, they prefer to forage in areas of wide sandy-scrub patches. The dry dunes and field habitats here on Ft.Fisher are just perfect for them.
Unfortunately these beauties won’t be here for much longer as most will head south for the winter but if you missed them this year, the Lark Sparrows will return to the Tarheel state next April.

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

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

North Carolina Rare Bird alert- Dickcissle in Carrboro NC

By Sally Siko

Stoked to finally lay eyes on my first Dickcissle a couple of hours ago in Carrboro, NC!
Luckily this lifer wasn’t too difficult to spot as he was singing loudly in an open field of Blue Cornflowers across the highway from the Maple View Farm Ice Cream shop between the creamery and the farm pond.
It only took about 30 minutes to locate the bird once I was able to pick out his unique song of sharp sounds followed by a buzzy, almost hissed cisssssselll.
What a beauty!



The breeding range of the Dickcissle typically stretches across the great plains region of the United States. Strangely enough though, quite a few of them also breed east of the Appalachian mountains, including right here in North Carolina.
Though a certain number of Dickcissels call the East Coast home during the summer they are still considered a rare sighting here in the Tar Heel state from May through July.



The Dickcissel is the only living member of the “Spiza” genus, inside the family of Cardinals and were named for the male’s song.
As with other members of Cardinal family, during the breeding season, Dickcissels eat both insects and seeds. Insects include grasshoppers, caterpillars, termites, flies, wasps, beetles; they also eat spiders. During migration and in the winter months, they eat almost exclusively seeds including grasses, willows, and buckwheat as well as crops including rice and sorghum.

These handsome birds are best spotted singing from the tops of scrubby branches in open fields, grasslands and in agricultural areas throughout the midwestern states of the US from Texas to the Dakotas.
But as seen here, you never quite know where a pair of Dickcissles will show up so it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for them throughout the summer months.

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

PS. 10/10 recommend getting some ice cream at the nearby Maple View Farm Ice Cream ❤️

Birdwatching News

NC Rare Bird Alert: Update on the Pacific-slope Flycatcher at the Buckhorn Resivour

By Sally Siko

A couple days ago I shared some photos of what I thought was a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
I’d mentioned in that post that this bird is very very similar genetically to the Cordilleran Flycatcher.
In fact the two species are so closely related and easily mistaken for one another that I told ya that I’d provide an correction if my species assessment was proven incorrect.
Well here’s an update on this finding!

I’ve been keeping an eye on the N.C. eBird rare bird report all week and have noticed that the big brains over at Cornell had not verified ANYONES submission of the bird in question being a Pacific-slope Flycatcher!
That includes a huge amount of listings with observation details & great photos too.
I thought this was a bit weird so I reached out to some of my fellow birders (far smarter than I) and learned the following…

One- Unfortunately the only way to definitively ID this bird is either by measuring in hand or by DNA sample.
Photos and playback call response are meaningless.

Two- Luckily fecal samples from this Flycatcher at the Buckhorn Reservoir, were collected (thank you to whomever was smart enough to collect the bird’s poop!) earlier this week and taken to the N.C. Museum of Science for assessment.

Three- It is best (IMO) to list this bird as a Pacific-slope/Cordilleran Flycatcher (Western Flycatcher) on eBird at this time until the results of the DNA test come back.
Since I can’t say for certain what kind of bird that Flycatcher is, I have changed my tick from Pacific-slope to the more ambiguous description of Western.
Time will tell how that shakes out 😉

Four- North Carolina birder Andrew Thornton is a good dude.
As demonstrated in the conversation which I’ve shared here, he is supremely helpful when it comes to assisting others to bird with integrity.
I think that’s pretty cool 🙂



Going forward, I’ll keep ya posted on what this bird turns out to be either way.
Thanks to everyone out there who’s been following along on this journey.
Happy birding my friends!
-Sally



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

Location to see this Flycatcher shown below 🙂

Birdwatching News

NC Rare Bird Alert – A Western Kingbird in Cedar Grove

By Sally Siko

After being sad about barely missing out on seeing a Western Kingbird (literally was 5 seconds late to see that bird!) which had shown up in Raleigh North Carolina last month, today I finally laid eyes on this lifer!
I’ve seen reports that the Kingbird had been spotted yesterday in Cedar Grove NC and figured I’d try to catch a glimpse of the bird since it was less than a 2 hour drive from home.

Luckily when I arrived at the spot of it’s last reported location I did not have to wait too long before I spotted along with a fellow birder perched on a fence wire across a wide pasture.
Although the Western Kingbird stayed far outta the reach of getting a great photo (even on my 600mm lens) I was stoked to finally see this feathered gem for the first time!



The range of the Western Kingbird normally stretches from south central and western Canada, throughout the entire western United States and all the way down into south Central America. To have one show up as far east here in central North Carolina is pretty special!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Kingbird/maps-range#



As it goes with every Kingbird I’ve ever seen, the Western wasn’t too difficult to locate despite it being a super rare find.
The reason is that the behavior of most Kingbirds is predictable in that they always seem to prefer perching on power lines, fence posts, rails and wire fences.
Knowing this trait made spotting this bird relatively easy although there were quite a few fence lines at this spot to keep an eye on for a bit before the bird finally showed up.
So glad this little guy cooperated so nicely in the end 😉



By the way, I noticed that this Western Kingbird seems to have a piece of fly tape stuck to one of his legs.
Luckily, he did not seem to be encumbered by the tape. Hopefully he will be able to free himself of it soon!

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

Google Map pin drop to the Kingbird’s exact location below

Birdwatching News

NC Rare Bird Alert: Black-legged Kittiwake on Wrightsville Beach, NC

By Sally Siko

Just got home after spending the day birding on Wrightsville Beach NC.
I’d set out early this morning with my friend Corie to see if we could lay eyes on a reported Black-legged Kittiwake which had been spotted on Johnnie Mercers Pier.



Normally I don’t chase gulls, terns or pelagic species (because the ocean is freak’n huge lol!) and since I live several hours away from the coast, the odds of anyone bird still being in the same spot, are generally slim to none by the time I arrive.
This time was different because the Kittiwake had been observed actually sitting on the pier over the last few days so against my better judgement I said screw it, I’m going lol!

Now I really had my doubts that the bird would still be there so I was really happy to spot this feathered gem swimming right offshore (at very close range!) within 30 seconds onto stepping onto the pier!
Oh my goodness what a relief haha 🙂
I quickly snapped off a bunch of photos of the Kittiwake paddling in the water below and thought that this was the best view I’d get of the bird.
But then, the Kittiwake took off, circled overhead and landed right next to us on the pier railing (bullying off a Laughing Gull in the process lol).
So freak’n cool I can’t even 😁



So why has this bird been enchanting onlookers in North Carolina over the past week?
To most folks it looks like any regular Gull that you’d see begging for a snack at the beach.
This guy is different though!
The reason why this is such a nice bird to spot on Wrightsville Beach is that Kittiwakes are true pelagic seabirds, spending virtually their entire lives on the open ocean, only touching down on solid grounds in the far North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic regions during their nesting season.


To actually see one up close, perched on a pier in North Carolina was truly a remarkable moment.
Oh and yessss it was a lifer to boot!
Wooohoo!

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