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Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Photography fail- A Yellowthroated Warbler encounter at Cape Fear Shiners Park

I had an excellent time leading a birding photography tour this morning at Shiners Park in Lillington NC.
We spotted several species of birds including this gorgeous Yellow-throated Warbler.
Happily I was able provide my guests with some great close up photo opportunities in the field while dropping a bit of bird nerd photography knowledge along the way.
By the end of the trip, my guests came away with some terrific photos and I was relieved (lol!) that so many species made an appearance.

Speaking of photography knowledge, I got super lucky getting the photos seen below.
I’d been explaining how aperture works with the group and had set mine all the way to F/29 to demonstrate the concept of depth.
Then I promptly forgot all about resetting it back to F6.5 until I snapped off like 50 blurry shots in a row of this bird a few minutes later.
Luckily I somehow managed to keep my hand steady enough to accidentally get 5 useable photos on a handheld 600mm lens at 1/50th F29 lol!!


Definitely not optimal image results (too contrasty!) but I think it’s pretty funny that after over 20 years of shooting, I can still find ways to screw up a simple photo 😂
As seen in the next 2 pics, thankfully I figured out my mistake and was able to capture a few quality pics of this beauty snacking on ants in a pine.



Now the breeding season has begun, male Yellow-throated Warblers are out singing in full force, always in search of an interested female to pair up with.
Pairs are monogamous during the nesting season, and may produce two broods per year. The cup-shaped nest of weeds, grasses, and bark, built mostly by the female, is often located within a clump of Spanish moss or at the outer edge of a pine branch.
This warbler nests very high, in the tippy-top part of the tree canopy — 30 to 60 feet above ground, but sometimes as high as 120 feet!
Not at all surprising because even in the autumn, spotting at Yellow-throated Warbler always involves the words,
“Look up!”.

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

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

Yellow-throated Warblers at Yates Mill Park in Raleigh

One of my favorite spring arrivals is the Yellow-throated Warbler. With that bold yellow, black and white plumage, they’re absolutely captivating to photograph.
I found this beauty at Yates Mill Park this past weekend. Happily he was hopping and flying at a lower level of the tree canopy so that I could get a good view.
Normally they tend to hang out much higher in the trees so it was neat to get a close up look at him 🙂



This species of wood warbler are one of a few which nests exclusively in the eastern part of the United States with a range that stretches from Missouri in Pennsylvania all the way down to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Their open cup-nests are constructed almost entirely by the female from bark strips, grasses, and weed stems, and lined with plant down and feathers. The nest is usually placed in the canopy of a pine, cypress or sycamore tree on the end of a a horizontal branch well out from the trunk at heights ranging from 15 to 60 feet above the ground.



Happily these gorgeous birds will spend the summer raising their families here in the Tarheel state. They will stick around until late September (or early October in our eastern counties) so there is still plenty of time for us to enjoy them this year!

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

A Yellowthroated Warbler at Harris Lake Park in New Hill, NC

Last weekend I hosted a birding tour at Harris Lake Park in New Hill NC. I’d visited there a few days beforehand and had spotted a Yellow-throated Warbler hopping around high up in the trees.
Unfortunately that one was just far enough away enough that I couldn’t get any decent photos.
I was hoping that I’d have the opportunity to show him to my guests on the second trip and lo and behold we got lucky to see this handsome little guy up close.
Yellow-throated Warblers are striking looking birds with that bold yellow throat paired with black and white plumage. Definitely easy to ID once you know what to look for 😉
This one was all floofed out while preening on a branch in the sunshine before flying down to a brush pile to search for breakfast.

Yellow-throated Warblers are usually found in North Carolina from late March through September however some do spend the wintertime here which is pretty neat.
During the breeding season, Yellow-throated Warblers may be seen in wet forested areas like swamps, marshes and foraging in the brush along the shorelines of ponds, streams and lakes. The habitat of Harris Lake Park is just perfect for them!

When winter arrives, most migrate to the Florida, the Caribbean islands and along the Gulf Coast in Mexico to Costa Rica.
That being said, a few of them just make a short trip to the southeastern most part of NC to spend the cooler months.
From September through February, a few Yellow-throated Warblers are best spotted in our far southern coastal forests looking for a meal in mature pine-hardwood stands.

Luckily many have already returned to the Tarheel state this spring to kick off the breeding season so we’ve got plenty of time to enjoy them throughout the summer 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds

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

A yellow throated Warbler at the Bodie Island Lighthouse in the OBX

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One of the prettiest birds I encountered a few weeks ago while on a birding trip in the OBX was this male Yellow-throated Warbler. He was hanging out in a Pine tree with a small flock of Brown-headed Nuthatches near the Bodie Island Lighthouse. These striking looking Warblers favor moist forests and edges, whether in swamps, bottomlands, open woods along lakeshores, streamside groves, forests with scattered tall pines and even in trees with growths of Spanish moss. Generally, Yellow-throated Warblers are found mainly in central and eastern North Carolina from March- October however some may stick around through December, especially along the coast. During the colder months, they are found mainly in maritime forests, or in mature pine-hardwood stands, especially where there is a mix of hardwoods and broadleaf evergreens. There’s plenty of time to see them this Autumn so get out there while you can! By the way, if you’d like to join me on my next birding adventure to the OBX, I’m currently accepting reservations for my November “Birding the OBX” tour. We will be on the lookout for resident & migratory shorebirds & waterfowl. From Tundra Swans and Northern Shovelers to Willets and Scoters, this trip should truly some really interesting birds! Space is limited so shoot me a DM for more info & booking details 🙂 Photo by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame SLR, the @canonusa #5Ds

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