Blog Archives

BACK TO THE FIELD

4/30/2017

This site is truly a privilege for me to have as a birding location on a regular basis. It is a wildlife managed old farm dedicated totally to the promotion and preservation of the local critters. In the spring, it is usually the first place in my home area where I see several of the migrators as well as species that nest in the area. This spring I saw my first returning examples of White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat, Common Yellowthroat, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher here. I suspect that the excellent cover and varied food supply here guarantees the return of those birds "in the know” about this hangout. For a complete review of this site, see this link.

This is also a nesting area for Red-winged Blackbirds, Orchard Orioles, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other field birds. See below photos taken here in early spring.

SEE GALLERY BELOW. CLICK ON ANY PIC TO ENLARGE. USE SIDE ARROWS TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH.

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SPRING ’17--RIVER PARK NORTH-GREENVILLE, NC

4/24/2017

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Several things announce for sure the arrival of spring at this local Greenville, NC nature park -- The arrival of the pair of Ospreys that annually nest at the power lines, the appearance of the Canada Geese parents with their new goslings on the ponds, a few migrating Warblers and Vireos, and the sure arrival of the beautiful Prothonotary Warblers to rebuild their nests in the swamp areas. Over the past two weeks I have visited the Park on 3 occasions and have observed all of the above. In fact, if you are reading this and can get to this site, it is a good time over the next 2-3 weeks to see the spring warblers which migrate through our area. A few migrants that I have gotten photos (below) of are the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, the White-eyed Vireo, the Black and White Warbler, and of course the Prothonotary Warbler. The spring wildflowers are in bloom, and a few early butterflies can be seen.

This is a great time to visit this site. The River Park Bird Club will have its annual spring bird walk next Sunday, April 30. If you can, please join us for a tour of this habitat. We leave the parking lot about 8AM and are usually back by noon. You do not have to be a member--join us and you may decide to join!! Below are the photos obtained during the 3 days I recently walked here.

SEE GALLERY BELOW-CLICK ON ANY PIC TO ENLARGE-USE SIDE ARROWS TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH.

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BALD HEAD ISLAND IN APRIL

4/16/2017

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Glyn and I spent a few days this past week with our son and his family at Bald Head Island, one of my favorite birding sites in this area of the country. This tranquil island, where life slows down with the slow pace of the golf cart transportation, affords a great variety of birds, For a full description of the island, its history, and complete discussion of bird habitat and species, please see the main Bald Head Island page of this site. We are usually here in the summer months, so I was not sure which species we might find. I hoped to find that the annual nesting Painted Buntings had arrived, and expected to see shorebirds and wading birds. I did get photos of Painted Buntings, and the Egrets and Herons of the area, and Osprey, but few other woods birds or shorebirds. I visited all the trails in the maritime forest, but saw only a few Cardinals and Yellow-rumped Warblers. If you have a chance to visit this remote island, you will enjoy its pristine beauty, and laid back lifestyle. my grandsons, James ad Jack love the golf cart travel, as well as the beach and great golf course and fishing for bass in the many freshwater lagoons. The pics below were taken over the four days we were there -

SEE GALLERY BELOW. CLICK ON ANY PIC TO ENLARGE. USE SIDE ARROWS TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH.

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EAGLE UPDATE

4/4/2017

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It has been a while since I have written about the Bald Eagle population in Eastern North Carolina. I have just been enjoying seeing them as I travel around the area. There is no question that their numbers are increasing significantly in recent years. Seven years ago, there were only a few places one could go in the area to have a reasonable chance of seeing one, much less getting a reasonable photo chance. In the past two weeks, I have seen them in nine different locations. Seven years ago, I knew the location of two nesting sites. This spring, I know and have visited nine different active nests within a few miles of my home. And I am aware of four more nests near by. Six of these nests are shown in photos below. Each of these six nests have produced two chicks each in each of the five years. This is a population increase of 60 birds in that time if all have lived. IT takes five years for sexual maturity, so the first twelve of these should be nesting for the first time this year. One can easily see how numbers can increase rapidly in coming years. Further evidence of increases is in the large number of adolescent birds seen lately.

It should be a continuing lesson for us all as to what can be accomplished with our endangered species when there is a serious and concerted effort at the national, state, and local levels. Hopefully, we are all doing all we can to continue to support this process. Today, continued habitat loss, diminished food supply and car accidents continue to be the Eagles’ prime enemies. Eastern NC offers a great resource for this continuing recovery. The pictures below represent within the week photos of the five nests, and some nice recent pictures of the local population including pics of some serious scuffles over food! Please be aware that these pics of Eagle nests are very difficult to get. The photos are usually taken at great distance (sometime as much as 300 yards) This results sometimes in fuzzy or not sharp pictures. Many nests are in large trees that are in the middle of the swamp and surrounded by water. This is great for the eagles, but not good for sharp pictures. See photos below.