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A yellow-billed cuckoo Tuesday at Jordan Lake in Apex, N.C. #birds

I can't ID the gulls here but it was surprising to see how small the snowy egret is in comparison. Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve, South Carolina. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I was happy to get a brief look at a marsh wren last month during a trip to Vereen Memorial Gardens in South Carolina. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I think this is a young black-bellied plover I saw Tuesday at Jordan Lake. A nice surprise. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

A scarlet tanager visited my yard last month. Always a delight to see them. #Birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A white ibis sails over Sunset Beach last month. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is one of the bigger alligators I saw at Sunset Beach last month. It was across the pond, basking on a golf course.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A clapper rail plucks a crab out of the sand at low tide last week at the Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve in South Carolina. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A little blue heron last week at Sunset Beach, N.C.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A blue-winged teal at a pond in High Point, N.C., on Monday. I spotted her only because she's about half the size of the mallards in the pond. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Warblers get all of the attention during migration but I was happy to see this female northern shoveler at a pond in High Point, N.C., today. She was hanging out with a blue-winged teal.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A young indigo bunting Sunday on Howerton Road in Gibsonville, N.C. A developer wants to build hundreds of houses in this area. I worry about what will happen to the birds that depend on open spaces.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A female American redstart in my yard last week. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A snowy egret last week at the Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve in South Carolina. Under all that mud is a pair of bright yellow feet. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Common gallinules at Sunset Beach, N.C., last week. #Birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Butterflies at Lake Waccamaw on Monday -- a palamedes and a gulf fritillary.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

An alligator glides past an observation deck in Sunset Beach, N.C., on Monday, as an alligator-shaped cloud drifts out to sea.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A turtle basks on a tire in a canal in Columbus County, North Carolina.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Lake Waccamaw, Columbus County, North Carolina. Sept. 21. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Red-eyed vireos never disappoint this time of year. I don't even try to get photos of them during summer when they're high in the trees. This time of year, they come down lower. I found this one in my backyard. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A doe wandering through the dystopian landscape of North Carolina stops to browse in the late afternoon. A girl's gotta eat, especially in times like these.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I braved the hellscape that is North Carolina to photograph a ruby-throated hummingbird Wednesday at the Guilford County Farm. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A young buck at Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, N.C., on Monday. Photo was taken from the car.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

In May 2023, a heavy rainstorm created a puddle on Howerton Road in Gibsonville, N.C. A solitary sandpiper passing through during migration spent a week here at the edge of the road. Developers now want to build hundreds of houses in this area that provides habitat for migrating birds.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

In 2021, a Say's phoebe flew east over the Mississippi River and traveled hundreds of miles to land at the Guilford County Farm in Gibsonville, N.C. It returned the next winter. Now, developers want to build hundreds of houses near the farm, in an area that attracts migratory birds.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A northern harrier swoops over a field at the Guilford County Farm in Gibsonville, N.C., on Nov. 19, 2022. Developers want to build hundreds of houses near the farm. Even when open spaces remain, habitat fragmentation threatens wildlife.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

July 20, 2026, near the Guilford County Farm on Howerton Road in Gibsonville, N.C. Developers want to build hundreds of houses near the the farm on land that provides habitat for migratory birds and a wide range of wildlife, including mink and otters.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A red-shouldered hawk in the evening light keeping an eye out for a meal in Greensboro, N.C. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A bobolink Sunday at the Guilford County Farm on Howerton Road in Gibsonville, N.C. Developers want to build hundreds of houses near the farm, which is an important habitat for migratory birds. Every day, I’ll be posting a photo taken at the farm so people are aware what is at stake. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A pollinator hard at work in my front yard.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I think this is a female indigo bunting I spotted at the Guilford County Farm in Gibsonville, N.C. If it isn't, let me know. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A rabbit after the rain at Kathleen Clay Edwards Library in Greensboro, N.C.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

It was a surprise to look up and see this subadult bald eagle so close yesterday at Jordan Lake.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I saw this guy in rural Guilford County, North Carolina, Sunday morning. He appeared to be making his way home after a rough night.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This ruby-throated hummingbird appears to have a white beak. Seen today in rural Guilford County, North Carolina. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Along a country road in Guilford County, North Carolina, last week.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Every bit as beautiful as painted buntings.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A butterfly expert once told me a buckeye could "make a living in a parking lot." Still, it's nice to see them on flowers. This one was at Jordan Dam.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A great-crested flycatcher last month at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library in Greensboro, N.C. This is probably the last one I'll see until spring. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A visitor to my backyard on Sunday. #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Their wings look like church windows. I saw this monarch over the weekend in High Point, N.C.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I saw a couple of fawns in Greensboro, N.C., over the weekend. One was on the campus of an elementary school; the other was in a front yard near Guilford College.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Puddling, I think it’s called. That’s a nice memory.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This little diva created a spa in my garden. I managed to rescue the mouse-ear hosta that used to grow here. It's thriving in a pot on the deck.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I took these photos in July. I saw the family last week -- they're all grown up! #birds

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The marsh at Pee Dee NWR was teeming with life Monday.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I think these are all cloudless sulphur butterflies -- the large ones males. I saw these Monday along a road at Pee Dee NWR in Anson County, North Carolina.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This is one of hundreds of tree frogs at the Pee Dee NWR marsh Monday morning. They disappear in the afternoon when the sun is overhead, emerging again in the evening.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge in Anson County, North Carolina on Aug. 24, 2026.

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Brenda Hiles @beehiles.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A hermit thrush at Grayson-Highlands State Park in July. We see them here in North Carolina in winter but I usually don't get a chance to see them singing like this. They nest at Grayson, about a 2.5 hour drive from Greensboro. #birds

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