After finding the Say’s Phoebe last month I invited Corie @latta.ridge to head back out to Gibsonville NC with me the day after I found it to see if I could locate this rare bird again to show her.
After all, sharing a life bird is better with friends and I’m always happy to try and get better photos whenever I can because dang it I just can’t help myself lol 🙂
We arrived around 10am and searched fields and fence lines for the Say’s for a couple hours with no luck. At one point I thought I’d spotted him but it turned out to be an Eastern Phoebe lol!
Our bird was nowhere to be found so we headed into town to grab a bite to eat.
Once lunch was done we decided to have another crack at getting this sneaky Say’s since we were still in the area.
This time the Say’s Phoebe finally showed up and was easily viewable while perched on the barbed wire fence. Corie and I had plenty of great photo opportunities to frame the Say’s up nicely as it flew from the fence down into the field below.
Since I posted about this species a few weeks ago, I’ve had a few people ask me what this bird would be eating since the Say’s Phoebe’s diet consists almost entirely of insects.
Now that winter is almost here, there aren’t many opportunities to catch a six or eight legged meal here in North Carolina.
Should this bird decide to stick around for a few months, survival will be difficult without a good food supply.
After all, he’s supposed to be soaking up the sun in warmer locals down in the southwestern United States and Mexico this time of year.
No need to worry though!
As it turns out, (like the Eastern Phoebe) this bird also will eat small berries and fruits when other food resources are scarce. I was even able to capture a photo of the Say’s enjoying a berry snack while perching on a fence post.
Pretty neat huh?
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5
#teamcanon
