Sally Siko
Here’s a few new photos of the toasted marshmallow (Snow Bunting) I found while birding in the OBX of North Carolina last week.
I’d enjoyed watching this beautiful bird as it hopped from rock to rock along the jetty. Every now and again the little bird would pop up its head to peak out for a quick look before disappearing deeper into the jetty pile in search of a snack.
I quickly learned that tracking the bunting through the boulders through my long lens was a bit like playing a photographic version of whack-a-mole.
Luckily the Bunting would eventually do me a solid by briefly perching on the top of a rock or flying a few feet away to alight nearby onto a sea-weathered green downed telephone pole.
Both scenarios offered great (but brief) opportunities to get a good photo of the bird out in the open as long as I was quick on the shutter.
This little cove near the bridge on Oregon Inlet has been a consistently good place to spot this rare (to NC) species each November so it was neat to be able to document its return in 2023.
It might seem odd to look for a bunting on a rock pile but these guys feel right at home hanging out in (seemingly) harsh habitats.
In fact Snow Buntings are the world’s most northerly occurring passerine (perching bird), with a breeding range that stretches into the Arctic during the summer.
Cold hardy birds, they nest deep in rock crevices and vacant lemming burrows for protection of the elements and in order to remain out of sight of predators in a treeless landscape.
This means that even during the winter months, with its short grass dune fields and windswept rocks, the jetty and beach area here at Oregon Inlet probably feels like home to the Buntings so it’s always worth checking back at this spot each November if you’re looking to add this species to your yearly list.
Photos & video by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5