Brenda Hiles

A bay-breasted warbler with a spider at Jordan Lake in North Carolina. #birds

A brown-headed nuthatch earlier this month at Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point, N.C. #birds

A blackburnian warbler earlier this month at Jordan Lake in Chatham County, N.C. #birds

A magnolia warbler in my backyard in Greensboro, N.C. #birds

I think this is a forster's tern I saw last month at Sunset Beach, N.C. I'm not sure of the ID because it's something I usually don't see. #birds

A black-throated green warbler last week at Jordan Lake in North Carolina. #birds #fallmigration

A Cape May warbler last week at Jordan Lake in Chatham County, North Carolina. Heading back out there tomorrow in hopes of seeing more warblers. #birds #fallmigration

Blackpoll warblers last week at Jordan Lake in Chatham County, North Carolina. #birds

An anole last month at the Jordan Lake Educational Forest in Chatham County, North Carolina.

I saw about a dozen female black-throated blue warblers this week at Jordan Lake as they passed through during migration. They're not as colorful as their male counterparts, who live up to the name.

Wednesday morning in High Point, N.C.

A monarch floats over Jordan Lake in Chatham County, North Carolina, last week.

They're back! Northern shovelers at a pond in High Point, N.C. For the past two weeks, I've been watching a lone female on the pond. Today, I saw six more shovelers. #birds

A Cape May warbler last week at Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point, N.C. #birds

Amid all the doom and gloom, I have a happy story to tell. In mid-August, I saw an injured squirrel in my yard. He could put no weight on his hind leg and his foot, which had a hole in it, was swollen. Today, I saw him in the yard. He’s running with the other squirrels!

A black-and-white warbler at the edge of Jordan Lake in Chatham County, North Carolina, last week. #birds

A northern parula, one of my favorites, at Jordan Lake in Chatham County this week. #birds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

A pollinator hard at work in my front yard.

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

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

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