The American Coot is a strange water bird. It doesn’t quite have webbed feet, just very broad toes (and they’re green). It is around local lakes through out the year.
Both of these photos were taken at Lake Johnson here in Raleigh, NC using an Olympus C700 digital camera. The photo above was taken on the 3rd of February 2002 while the lower photo was taken on the 20th of January in 2003.
The Eurasian Collared Dove is very much like our native Mourning Dove. It is, overall, a lighter color and it lacks the wing markings. Although an introduced species, it is spreading rapidly.
This photo was taken on Sanibel Island in Florida on the 26th of January in 2005. I was using my digiscoping setup.
The Mourning Dove is everywhere! You hear their cooing and the whistling of their wing beats anytime you are outside. Common at feeders and frequently seen on power wires.
This photo was taken in my backyard on the 18th of January of 2003. I was using an Olympus C-700UZ camera.
The Green-winged Teal is the smallest of America’s dabbling (as opposed to diving) ducks. It ranges all across the continent and from Canada into Central America. There is also a Eurasian version with slight differences in plumage.
This photo was taken at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. It was taken with a digiscoping setup at high magnification on January 26th of 2005.
A summer resident in North Carolina. This smallish bird, despite the blue color, is not often seen but is frequently heard
This photo was taken at one of the feeders in my backyard using an Olympus C-700 camera. It was on May 8, 2003. The bird on the left is a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
This one was taken off Reedy Creek Road here in Raleigh on the 8th of June 2005. I was using a Canon 20D with 100-400mm lens.
Links to photos taken at some of my favorite out-of-state birding sites.
The Red-winged Blackbird is usually found near water – its song is distictive.
This photo was taken using a digiscoping setup. It was at a farm pond along Lake Wheeler Road in Wake County, NC on the 2nd of May of 2005.
This photo was taken in the same area as the previous photo and was taken just a few days later (the 9th) also using the digiscoping setup.
Quite bright colors and a huge bill make for an interesting duck! This one is only a winter visitor to North Carolina. They are quite interesting when feeding. Usually in pairs, they make very tight circles in the water filtering the water with their large bills for small animal life.
This pair was spotted (along with about 30 others) on a very small farm pond along Mid Pines Road in Wake County, NC. The photo was taken on February 21st of 2005 using my digiscoping setup.
The Fish Crow is almost identical in appearance to the American Crow. The best way to tell them apart, is by their voices.
This photo was taken using an Olympus C725 Ultra Zoom digital camera at the Myakka River State Park in Florida on the 24th of Jaunuary 2005.
Here in North Carolina Bobolinks are seen just when they pass through. There might be a few here and there that stick around to breed but most are just tourists.
Part of the spring migration – there were hundreds of these birds in the fields all singing at the top of their lungs. This photo of a male was taken along Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh, NC on the 4th of May, 2005 using a Swarovski ATS80HD scope with a Nikon CP5000 camera (a digiscoping setup).
This photo was taken along Trenton Road (intersects Reedy Creek Rd) in Wake County, NC just a few days (May 7) after the photo above. It too was taken using the digiscoping setup.
The Anhinga is a water bird that actually impales fish on its long pointed beak. It prefers warmer climates.
This photo was taken at the Audubon Rookery in Venice, Florida on January 24 of 2005. This is a fascinating little pond with a very small island in the middle. The “island” is totally covered with large shrubs that are full of nesting birds. Various herons, egrets and the anhingas – really a neat sight. The photo was taken using a digiscoping setup.
This rookery is just off of highway 41 down a driveway that runs beside the Highway Patrol office. Plenty of parking and lots of fellow photographers and birders. A very popular spot that isn’t at all isolated!
The common pigeon (properly known as the Rock Dove) is an import to this country. Originally from Great Britain and other parts of Europe, this bird was imported into this country as a domesticated bird. Those currently in the wild (are city parks considered “the wild”?) are descended from escapees.
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This part of a larger flock of pigeons was hanging out near their roost at a barn on Reedy Creek Rd. in Raleigh, NC. I took this photo on the 19th of November in 2004 using my digiscoping setup.
The Eastern Bluebird was, back in the 60’s and 70’s, threatened by the presence of DDT in the food chain. It became a rare thing to see one along the country roads. However today the bluebird has made a tremendous comeback. With the banning of DDT and many man made bluebird houses being provided, the bluebird has once again become common in the fields of North Carolina.
This photo was taken on the 10th of November in 2004 along Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh, NC using a digiscoping setup.
The American Crow is a fixture in this area. You can hear them calling almost anytime and frequently see them flying by being mobbed by smaller birds.
This photo was taken on January 12th of 2005 using a digiscoping setup. The bird was hanging out along Reedy Creek Road here in Raleigh.
This photo was taken on May 4, 2005 with a 100-400mm zoom lens on a Canon D20. This crow also was on Reedy Creek Road here in Raleigh. An unusually cooperative subject in near perfect lighting.
The Northern Cardinal is a bright red bird. Very common and unmistakable with its crest it is a year round resident here in North Carolina.
I really should have more photos of cardinals but this is one of the better ones. Taken January 31st of 2005 on Reedy Creek Road here in Raleigh. This photo was taken using a digiscoping setup.
From the name you can figure out that this bird has a brown head and hangs out with cows. And that is all more or less true. It can often be found in flocks around pastures in this area. But it also appears singly at feeders in the city. The adult male Brown-headed Cowbird can be quite attractive.
This photo was taken using an Olympus C-700UZ along Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh, NC. It was taken on Feburary the 11th in the winter of 2002-2003.
This photo was taken along Reedy Creek Road here in Raleigh, NC on the 28th of April of 2005. It was taken using a Nikon CP5000 on a Swarovski spotting scope.
This post contains links to bird photos that were taken at some of my favorite North Carolina birding spots.
Spot #1 – My yard
Spot #2 – Reedy Creek Rd – Raleigh
The Double-crested Cormorant can be found around water almost anywhere in the United States. It does migrate towards warmer areas in the winter but is a year-round resident in many parts of the country.
This blue-eyed birdie was photographed at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. I was down there for a couple of days in January of 2005 and took this photo on the 26th using a Nikon CP5000 attached to a Swarovski spotting scope.
The Gadwall duck is found all across the United States depending on the time of year. It also ranges from Canada into Central America. Gadwalls claim to have nuclear weapons and have long been at war with the Common Goldeneye ducks.
This photo of a male and female Gadwall was taken along Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh, NC on January 2nd of 2005 using my digiscoping setup.
The Yellow-breasted Chat is the largest of the Warblers. It is one of those fair weather birds that doesn’t like our North Carolina winters and takes off for warmer climes at the first signs of cold. It stays in fairly thick vegetation near the edges of forest – generally more often heard than seen.
This photo was taken along Reedy Creek Road in Raleigh, NC on the 25th of May in 2005. I was using a Canon D20 with 100-400 zoom lens. It has been adjusted for brightness and cropped.
