Tag Archives: south carolina birding tour

Biridng Trips and Tours in SC

A Tricolored Heron in Murrells Inlet South Carolina

By Sally Siko

Whenever I travel to the coast to go birding, I’m always happy to catch a glimpse of a Tricolored Heron.
These guys are beautiful birds and are interesting to watch while hunting for a meal.



I found this one earlier this month while birding at Huntington Beach State Park, SC.
Head moving from side to side, he moved through the water slowly, scanning the surface like a cat stalking it’s prey. When the heron spotted a fish, he froze momentarily as he lined up his shot, then struck into the water like a dart.
I’d estimate his catch rate at about 70% which wasn’t bad considering most of the fish I’d seen were small minnows.



Though Tricolored Herons are a year round resident of North Carolina, they are technically a migratory species which tend to over winter here in lesser numbers than which are found during the summer.
They prefer to hunt and nest in salt and brackish water areas such as tidal marshes and mudflats found along our coastlines but Tricolored’s may also occasionally be spotted looking for a meal in freshwater environments (especially marshes & shallow ponds) in the inland areas of eastern part of the state.
One has even showed up earlier this month in the Raleigh area (central part of the state) which was pretty neat!

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in SC, Field Notes

Wood Storks in Murrells Inlet SC

By Sally Siko

Of all the species of birds to be found at the Huntington Beach State Park in S.C., few capture the attention of visitors more than the Wood Stork.
In addition to their *ahem* unique appearance, these birds are incredibly interesting to watch hunting for a snack on the mudflats.



While observing this large flock in action, honestly it was tough to choose which bird to photograph at any given time.
With so much going on, I managed to photograph a nice series of pics of one trying to eat a Blue Crab which was pretty cool!The bird would hold the crab in its mouth and shake its head, crunching down on the crabs shell. One by one the crabs legs popped off until only the cephalothorax remained.Then the Stork swallowed the crab whole in one gulp without so much as a pinch of Old Bay seasoning or melted butter to wash it down with lol!



Wood Storks are best found in the eastern counties of the Carolinas from June through September. Our largest species of wader, they prefer to hunt for a meal in swamps, freshwater marshes and in shallow ponds.Wood Storks are very particular about the depth of water that they’ll hunt for a meal in.Preferring no more than a foot of water to rise up their legs, the flock actually waited until low tide before finally coming down from out of the trees to hunt in the rapidly draining marsh below.
Pretty neat, huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Birdwatching News

The Limpkins are still hanging out in South Carolina

Happy to spot a pair of Limpkins this week in their usual spot while birding near Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC.
Although I only laid eyes on one of them, I could hear it’s mate calling out from the deeper woods. Freak’n awesome.
Alligator concerns aside, it was so much fun to walk through a cypress swamp to find these beautiful birds again!



Limpkins are freshwater foragers and are best found in wooded swamp areas which fits the description of this habitat perfectly.
Seeing these birds so far north was really interesting and I was able to watch the bird hunting for snails in the cypress swamp for quite a while.
They are picky eaters, choosing the perfect snails and then cracking the shells open on a rock to get at the soft meat inside.
No matter where they are found, Limpkins depend heavily on snail populations for feeding. As seen in these photos, they’ve got bills which are specialized for feeding on the snails, with a slight curve to the right near the tip to aid extracting snails from their shells, and a gap near the tip that facilitates grasping snail shells. 



This Limpkin and it’s mate are pretty far away from their normal home range which typically only extends north from South America into Florida. From what I’ve heard from local reports, this pair actually nested here this past summer and successfully raised a few chicks.
In fact this isn’t the only pair who have been found in SC. In recent years other Limpkins have been sighted as far inland as the Goose Creek reservoir including a breeding pair which was the first ever nest recorded in the state.
Hopefully when I return here for my next birding tour here next month, I’ll be able to locate their nest and be able to photograph the little ones.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa #5Ds

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A White Ibis at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC

While birding on a recent trip to Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC I spotted a handsome White Ibis preening up in a tree.
It was cold and overcast outside but it was neat to be able to grab a few portraits of this beautiful white bird set against the pale grey sky.



When they’re not spotted in the trees along the waters edge, Ibis’s are most often seen wading in shallow water sweeping their head form side-to-side in search of food. Using their long, curved bills to probe into the mud, they are on a constant hunt for crabs, crayfish and other small crustaceans. Once a meal is caught, they’ll swallow their prey whole which is rather impressive given that much of their prey has a hard shell or pincers.



Ibis’s are a year round resident of the Carolinas and are a relatively common sight feeding along the shorelines of our coastal marshes and estuaries.
You can also spot Ibises foraging for food on suburban lawns and mudflats hunting for insects, frogs, snails, marine worms, snakes, and even small fish swimming in shallow water ponds or creeks.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #r5

Field Notes

Horned Grebes at Huntington Beach State Park

Photographing birds on the ocean is a fun but challenging pursuit. Especially on days with rough seas when the birds riding on the water at a distance are obscured by rolling waves.
That’s why I was thrilled to finally capture a good photo or two of this pair of Horned Grebes at a close range from my vantage point of shooting on the rock jetty at Huntington Beach State Park.
With those piercing red eyes and that lovely black and white plumage, Horned Grebes are truly striking looking birds when your lucky enough to catch a good look at one floating on the Atlantic.

These handsome birds are a relatively common sight swimming in the ocean just offshore of the Carolinas during the wintertime months.
That being said, they are also occasionally found a little further inland on bays and estuaries, as well as on our coastal fresh water lakes and brackish impoundments.

During the winter, their diet mostly consists of fish as well as crustaceans, mollusks and insects.
But, did you know that Horned Grebe’s regularly eats some of its own feathers?
So much so that its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. Like the strainer covering the hole in your kitchen sink, this plug may function as a filter screen or may hold fish bones in the stomach a little longer until they can be digested. The parents even feed feathers to their chicks to get the plug started early.
Crazy huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa#R5

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

A Ruddy Turnstone encounter at Huntington Beach State Park

Here’s a little bird that never fails to capture my attention when visiting the beach, the Ruddy Turnstone.


I spotted this one while on to Huntington Beach State Park in SC.
Normally they scoot away once I start heading in their direction but this one was quite friendly and even approached me as I walked along the jetty.
It was neat to take advantage of the amicable nature of this curious little Turnstone and be able to catch a couple portraits at a close range.



Ruddy Turnstones are mainly wintertime residents of the Carolina’s and are usually found searching for meal along the shorelines of brackish and saltwater marshes, ponds, oyster bed inlets and beaches.
Aptly named for their habit of flipping over stones, shells, and seaweed to find prey, their diet is made up of mostly insects, though some have been observed eating plant materials, bird eggs, and even carrion.
During migration and winter, their diet shifts to mainly marine invertebrates, such as small crustaceans and mollusks.
Aren’t they beautiful?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

Field Notes

Black Swans in South Carolina

I finally experienced my first Black Swan event…


Nope, I wasn’t filled with a sense of uneasiness or foreboding normally associated with the term, rather I was elated to finally have an opportunity to photograph these lovely birds for the first time.
As was the case with the Mute Swans I posted late last year, I spotted this pair of Black Swans near a roadside pond along Rt.17 near Murrells Inlet SC.

Black Swans are not native to the Carolina’s. They are found in southern regions of Australia and have also been introduced into England and Japan. Most of the ones spotted here in the United States are either captive farm birds or escapees who have found a home in the wild.
With those intense orange eyes, onyx plumage, a wingspan reaching 6.6ft and a weight of nearly 20lbs, these beauties are impressive birds to catch a good look at.


Although I’ve seen Black Swans in the past, I’d never had a camera in hand during the encounter so it was really cool to be able to photograph this intense looking species up close.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa#R5

Birdwatching News, Out There with the Expert

Wintertime Limpkin sighting in South Carolina

Recently I took a quick trip down Murrells Inlet SC to see what kinds of birds were spending the winter south off the Raleigh area.
One species in particular I looking forward too seeing again were this pair of Limpkins which have been calling a neighborhood drainage pond in SC home over the past year.


The fact that these birds are here in South Carolina is pretty special because the Limpkins typical home range extends from south Florida to central and South America.
But what is the thing that is keeping them here?



The answer is snails.
Apple Snails to be precise!
While they certainly consume a fair amount of mollusks, worms, amphibians and insects the Limpkins favorite food is the Giant Apple Snail.
In fact their bills are bent and twisted at the tip, a unique physical adaptation solely developed for removing the snails from the shell.
Even during courtship the Apple Snail plays a part as the males will feed their mates the slimy snack in an effort to win her affection.
Apparently that tactic has worked in the case of these two birds since they successfully nested and raised several chicks in this location last year.


I’m hoping that this spring will yield another successful nesting season for the pair and am looking forward to seeing little ones running around the shoreline in May.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Hooded Mergansers at Huntington Beach State Park, SC

Of of the most striking looking ducks we’ve got swimming around the Carolinas is the Hooded Merganser. With that huge crown of feathers at the top of their heads, these handsome birds are truly kings of the water.
I spotted this small flock last month while birding at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC.
It was able to get relatively close to these guys from my vantage point on the boardwalk over the marsh which was pretty neat!



Hooded Mergansers are a species species of diving duck with a somewhat unusual diet in that they do not eat much plant material. Instead they prefer to snack on small fish, crawfish, and aquatic insects.In addition, they’ve got long serrated beaks which aid in the capture and consumption of their underwater prey.
The tidal marsh habitat where I photographed these birds served as the perfect hunting grounds for the Mergansers.



Though many of us associate Mergansers as being a wintertime visitor to NC, they are known to breed in our eastern counties making them a year round resident of the Carolina’s.
Like Wood Ducks, they are cavity-nesters but unlike Wood Ducks, Mergansers often lay their eggs in other females’ nests. This is behavior is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds, except that the ducks only lay eggs in nests of their own species.
Pretty neat, huh?

Photos by me @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa #R5

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Spending time with a Barred Owl at the Huntington Beach State Park Murrells Inlet, SC

By: Sally Siko- Admin BWNC

One of the best things about birding is that you never quite know with 100% certainty what you’re going to encounter in the woods.
Sure, we’ve got our expectations but every so often we are presented with the opportunity to be surprised and delighted by what we see.
I this case, I was so happy to spot this handsome Barred Owl hunting for a snack this past weekend while on a trip to the Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet SC.



It was thrilling to get a close up look at such an impressive bird. At one point, I was showing the owl to some other photographers when it took off and zoomed about a foot over our heads only to land briefly to catch an insect on the side of branch. Then it quickly flew to a nearby tree to consume its prize much to the delight of all.



Barred Owls are a year round resident of South and North Carolina and are widely found across both states.
They are primarily found wetland areas, such as around beaver ponds and in open swamps, bottomlands, and nearby marshes. I spotted this one in the woods across the road from the Nature Center at HBSP not far from the marsh boardwalk area.



I think my favorite part of this encounter was that I was able to get a nice close up look at the owls expressive eyes.
They are beautiful!


Speaking of their eyes, did you know that can not turn their eyes in any direction at all?
This is because owls don’t have eyeballs in the traditional sense.
Instead an owls eyes are shaped like fixed tubes, almost like binoculars.
In order to compensate for the lack of directional movement, they can turn their head 270 degrees.
We can rotate our heads only half that far. Incredible!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast of a DSLR the @canonusa #5Ds