Brenda Hiles

A golden-crowned kinglet earlier this month at the Arboretum in Greensboro, N.C. One of my favorite winter visitors. #birds

A swamp sparrow earlier this month at Sandy Creek Park in Durham, N.C. #birds

Cedarock Historical Farm in Alamance County, North Carolina.

Another view of the northern harrier coming at me. #birds

I parked at the edge of a country road this afternoon in Guilford County, North Carolina, to watch the northern harriers hunt in the fields. They did not disappoint. #birds

A lucky view of a northern harrier in Guilford County, North Carolina, last week. #birds

A couple of weeks ago at Jordan Lake. #birds

A Chinese goose is ready for its close-up at Salem Lake earlier this week. #birds

And I didn’t even have to get out of the car.

A ruby-crowned kinglet along a country road in Guilford County, North Carolina. #birds

This was a first for me today -- a great cormorant, a rarity in North Carolina. Seen at Salem Lake. #birds

A hybrid goose finds a dry patch after the snow last week at Salem Lake. #birds

Coot toes make me smile. I saw a small group of them this morning at Salem Lake. #birds

Ring-neck ducks fly over a farm Friday in Guilford County, N.C. #birds

The universe sent me otters for my birthday. Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, Anson County, North Carolina.

I think this is an American pipit that I saw today at Jordan Lake in Apex, N.C. If so, it's a first for me. #birds

A bluebird helps itself to the last of the beauty berries at a park in High Point, N.C. #birds

I hear it's SuperbOwl Sunday. So here's a barred owl at Sandy Creek Park in Durham last September. #birds

A white-throated sparrow in my backyard earlier this week in Greensboro, N.C. #birds

I can’t think of what else it would be but I’m not familiar with the species in Delaware. There may be something on the website for the state wildlife agency. That is a classic musk turtle pose.

Could it be a musk turtle?

The weather has ruined my plans for a two-day getaway, but the cardinals in my backyard have cheered me. #birds

I always feel like I'm seeing old friends when the red-shouldered hawks are out at the Arboretum in Greensboro. #birds

A brown thrasher tries out the feeder at Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point on Tuesday. #birds

I took dozens of photos of this great blue heron trying to see if it had fishing line wrapped around its leg. I never got a clear shot but I think I see the ends of the line under its feathers. The heron was hanging out alone. It found a warm, sheltered spot on a cold, windy day. #birds

A couple more squirrels in the snow in Greensboro, N.C.

A cardinal on a cold winter's day in North Carolina. #birds

It snowed here over the weekend, and probably for the first time in its life this white squirrel in my backyard blends in.

A dark-eyed junco skipping over the snow in High Point, N.C. #birds

A mockingbird a few weeks ago at Little River Community Park near Durham, N.C. #birds