Birdwatching in North Carolina

Birding contacts and birdwatching information



Local Birdingpal Contacts

Local Birdwatchers Using the Birdingpal resources you must agree to the following: If you contact a local Birdingpal and make arrangement to go birding, you should note it is common courtesy to make sure you show up for the appointment. If for any reason you are unable to do this, the least you must do is contacting the local Pal right away. Please note that most Birdingpals are serious birdwatchers. It is a privilege to contact them, and your message should reflect it. A local Pal does not get paid, but should he/she offer to take you out birding, using their own vehicle, it would be courteous to pay for the fuel. A lunch and/or a small gift would also be appropriate, something as simple as a souvenir of your country, or a pin from your local birding club. _____________________________________________________________ We want to hear about your experiences with Birdingpals. Please contact us with any comments or suggestions you have. CONTACT US _____________________________________________________________
		Initial	Last Name	Area	Available	Language
		J	Farley	Charlotte	Anytime	(in order of proficiency) English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and a little bit of Norwegian, Greek and Czech
		Hello, I'm Josh! A fellow spiritual being having a human experience on Earth. In this incarnation, I am a translator, artist, DJ/music producer, poet, and musician from the hills and forests of North Carolina with a passion for spiritual practice, birdwatching, and world exploration. During my travels, I favor finding peaceful natural areas to meditate, practice yoga and qigong, write poetry, and sit in silence with nature.		Area: I just want to ensure hits for people interested in exploring NC. I'll still gladly show them my favorite spots in Albemarle/Stanly County Area Birds:	Interests: Birdwatching, wildlife photography, butterflies, plant identification, organic agriculture Spirituality: meditation, yoga, qigong, chakras, energy healing Art: visionary art, painting, poetry, tattoos, electronic music production, instrumentation [drums, piano, violin, guitar], creative writing, language arts Travel: trains, biking, hiking, skateboarding, backpacking, kayaking, road trips Visit: lakes, protected natural areas, mountains, tundra, plains, snow, spiritual hotspots Attend: live music, raves, dance, theater, nature tours
		B	Sharp	Albemarle	Anytime	English and Spanish
		I moved to Ablemarle in December of 2018, but have been a Birding Pal since living in Durango, Mexico. I am a Biology Instructor at the local community college and an avid eBirder. I will be happy to help you explore the excellent, yet underbirded sites in and near Stanly County, NC. Me mude a Albemarle, NC en diciembre del 2018, pero he sido Birding Pal desde vivir en Durango, Durango, Mexico. Soy profe de biologia en el colegio comunitario local y contribuyo seguido a aVerAves. Estaria encantado por recibir a amigos pajareros y ayudarlos a explorar los sitios padrisimos pero pocos visitados en y cerca del Condado de Stanly, NC.		Area: Morrow Mountain State Park, City Lake Park, Lake Tillery, Rock Creek Park, Uwharrie National Forest Area Birds:	Interests: Nature: birdwatching, photography, hiking, butterflies, sky diving Travel: train, bus, car, hitchhiking, biking, long walk, backpack, canoe Visit: tourist site, museum, restaurant, vineyard, outdoors, nature spot, beach, lake Attend: concert, theatre, live music, sports event Participate: rock, wine, beer
		D	Grosboll	Asheville	Anytime	English
		I have been an active birder for thirty years. I would consider myself an expert on local birding topics. I feed the birds at my house with every feed our local birds might need.
		S	Semanchuk	Asheville, North Carolina	Anytime	English
		Western North Carolina is an excellent location in the warm seasons to find eastern Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers and other neotropical migrants. A easily accessible choice of high and mid elevations makes for a wide variety of songbirds. I have 15 years of accumulated knowledge of local birds and birding locations.		Area: Blue Ridge Parkway, Mount Mitchell Area Birds: Neotropical migrants	Interests: Nature: birdwatching, twitching, photography, butterflies, plants. Travel: stroll, walking, long walk, canoe, kayak.
		D	Johnston	Asheville	Anytime	English
		Know some good sites in the Blue Ridge mountains and surrounding area.
		L	Lampley	Banner Elk	Anytime	English
		I live in the Pisgah National Forest and love to bird all over the area: Grandfather Mountain, Table Rock NC and surrounding areas. I put anytime as available, but only because I have some times during the week and weekend free.
		J	Lindenberger	Blowing Rock (summer only)	Anytime	English, German, Hebrew, Spanish
		J	Lynch	Boone	Weekend	English
		I work for The Nature Conservancy and I'm knowledgeable about public and privately protected conservation areas in North Carolina. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern NC and I'm available to help birders in the mountain region of northwestern NC and adjoining parts of northeastern TN, and southwestern VA.
		T	McGreal	Cameron	Anytime	English
		I am a single parent and retired Army. I live in a neighborhood, that used to be home to some 96 species of birds, so far, I've seen and heard since I moved here. I'm pretty good at bird calls having called in about seven species to include the Barred Owl, Collared Dove and a Hooded Warbler.
		M	Cooper	Charlotte	Weekend	English
		K	Wouk	Durham	Anytime	English, some Spanish
		I have been a birder since college and work at a science museum. If you are looking for a particular bird, if I don't know it, I know the people who do!		Area: Durham is in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I live by Falls Lake, a large man-made lake with lots of different bird species throughout the year.	Interests: Nature: birdwatching
		K	Reichart	Durham	Weekend	English, Spanish
		I am located near Jordan Lake. An outstanding birding location year-round, Jordan Lake seems to attract more stellar rarities, such as Long-billed Murrelet, White-tailed Tropicbird, and Smith's Longspur, than any other local spot. Jordan Lake has 13,900 acres of water to scan, nine state recreation areas, and more Bald Eagles than you can shake a stick at.
		S	Winton	Durham	Weekend	English, Spanish
		There are about as many birdwatchers as birds around here, so if I happen to be busy (which has been the case lately) there is likely to be somebody else available to whom I could refer you. Southeastern US specialties: Brown-headed Nuthatch and Red-bellied Woodpecker are relatively easy to find year round. Most other species of special interest are seasonal.
		S	Teague	Hickory	Anytime	English
		D	Martin	Hickory	Anytime	English
		I am a park ranger for Catawba County in the foothills of NC. I am also a bird bander.
		T	Sinclair	Hickory	Anytime	English
		I have been birding for over 50 years and enjoy sharing my hobby with beginners and advanced birders. Western NC has a few specialties such as sawhet owl and red-crossbill, plus many warblers during migration.
		L	Hayes	High Point	Anytime	English
		Located in the northwest piedmont of North Carolina, near Greensboro and Winston Salem. We are an hour away from the NC Zoo, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, and an hour and a half away from the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Charlotte.
		D	Johnston	Leicester	Anytime	English
		Know some good sites in the Blue Ridge mountains and surrounding area.
		J	Southern	Raleigh	Anytime	English
		I'm an intermediate birder and very knowledgeable about where and when to find birds in North Carolina.
		L	Beegle	Raleigh	Anytime	English
		I lead most of the birding trips for Wake Audubon Society's Meetup Group (local Wake County areas). I also enjoy birding at Mason Farm (Chapel Hill) and Howell Woods ((Johnston Co). I work Mon-Thurs so my best times are Fri-Sat-Sun, but I might be able to do short trips in the midweek too.
		B	Sugg	Winston-Salem	Anytime	English
		F	Shelton	Winston-Salem	Anytime	English
		A	Coston	Winston-Salem	Anytime	English
		Winston-Salem is centrally located in NC, near Greensboro and High Point, and about 1.5 hours from Charlotte or Raleigh, NC.
Local wildlife photographers Birdingpal wildlife photographers, like Pals, do not get paid. So should he/she offer to take you out using their own vehicle, it would be courteous to pay for the fuel. A lunch and/or a small gift would also be appropriate, something as simple as a souvenir of your country, or a pin from your local birding club
		Initial	Last Name	Area	Available	Language
		D	Burnette	Greensboro	Anytime	English, German, French, Japanese, some Spanish
		Greensboro is in the approximate geographic center of North Carolina in Guilford County. While there are few rarities here, it is a good area in which to see nearly all of the typical southeastern bird species. Birds have been well documented in the county since the late 1930s by an active local bird club. I am a retired educator, an amateur naturalist, and a wildlife photographer interested in birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wildflowers, and other wildlife of the area. My wife and I enjoy showing visitors our little corner of the world.
		A	Rhodes	Havelock	Anytime	English
		I really like photography, and am blank to birding. The listed "local" birding clubs are at a minimum of two hours or more away, so it's not feasible for me to meet with them, but I know I need the guidance of an experienced birder. I'm a Marine so scheduling can work out to where I have free weekdays, but I can't really highlight "Anytime" due to the unpredictability of my weekday schedule. As far as being located next to major birding areas goes, I live in the North Carolina Outer Banks so there's tons of places to bird where I live.
		V	Kirkman	Raleigh	Anytime	English
		I live in the Piedmont area pf NC but grew up in the Coastal Plain/Sandhills area of NC. I am a member of Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park which is within 90 miles from Raleigh. I go there a lot. They have close to 200 waterfowls and birds from all over the world. A wonderful place dedicated to the preservation of endangered species. I have traveled to the Gallapagos Islands and Costa Rica, studying and photographing birds. I have my tickets now for a trip to South Africa, namely Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. I am current working on the Cornell University course to learn more about birds and their behaviors. I have been carving realistic birds for 20 years and teach this art form to 30 students attending classes I hold regularly in my studio in Raleigh. My wesite: www.wildfowlart.com and I administer my website, www.birdcarversonline.com.
		R	Johnson	Smoky Mountains, North Carolina	Anytime	English
		I spend most of my free days hiking, car birding, and photographing birds and other wildlife in western NC. I know many of the great areas to see migrating, wintering and breeding birds and my wife and I would love to share those places with you.		Area: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway Area Birds: Red Crossbills, numerous species of warblers including Golden-winged and Canada	Interests: Nature: birdwatching, photography, wildlife, bears, birds, hiking, history, smoky mountains national park, blue ridge parkway, warblers
Professional Guides If you contact a professional Birdingpal guide you must be prepared to pay a fee for guiding services.
		Initial	Last Name	Area	Available	Language
		J	Abbate	Wrightsville Beach	Anytime	English
		Our business is called Wrightsville Water Tours & Taxi. We are located in Wrightsville Beach, NC and we do kayak birding tours and boating birding tours. Birding trips are between $15-$35 per person. Our phone contact is 910-200-4002. Visit our website
Birding Clubs
		The Transylvania County Bird Club (TCBC) Brevard, NC, is a bird watching group formed in Western North Carolina in Transylvania County. Although Transylvania County is known for mountain biking and micro-breweries, it is also a great destination for birdwatching. Due to the elevation change (which ranges from 2000-5600 feet), the County hosts over a dozen different nesting species of warblers and hosts the largest known blue heron rookery in WNC. The altitude gain on the Blue Ridge Parkway works well for more northern birds such as Red Crossbill, nesting Peregrine Falcon, Veery, etc. For the past few decades, the TCBC has been conducting CBC, Winter & Spring Bird counts and this Fall, the Club will participate in the Audubon Climate Watch survey, which focuses on specific species most susceptible to climate change. Additionally, the TCBC conducts regular field trips to some of the top locations to see Spring and Fall migrants. Anyone is welcome to join these free bird trips. The field trip calendar is posted on our website. Bird trips include strolling, light hiking and car birding modes of travel. Several members are experts in nature photography, butterflies, dragonflies and birding of course. If you’re interested in a visit, please visit our website
Local Information
		Service			Information
		Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia			North Carolina
		Local weather			Yahoo
		Chapel Hill Bird Club			Club
		Cape Fear Audubon Society			Club
		Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society			Club
		Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Society			Club
		High Country Audubon Society			Club
		Highlands Plateau Audubon Society			Club
		Mecklenburg Audubon Society			Club
		New Hope Audubon Society			Club
		Wake Audubon Society			Club
		T G Pearson Audubon Society			Club
		Audubon Society of Forsyth County			Club
		Blue Ridge Birders			Club
		Carolina Field Birders			Club
		Piedmont Bird Club			Club
		Blue Ridge Parkway			Hawk Watch
		Pea Island National Weldlife Refuge			Cape Hatteras
		Triangle Birder's Guide			Sites
		Wings Over Water			Festival
		Brian Patteson's			Pelagic
		Joe Abbate's			Pelagic
		Wing Haven Gardens			Bird Sanctuary
		Forsyth County Audubon			Field Checklist
		Carolina Butterfly Society			Butterflies
		Birding Hotspots around the world			Sites
		The North Carolina Birding Trail			Sites