Sand in my shoes...

May 2nd  I took off and went to the beach! I didn't sit out in the sun or anything like that I was looking for birds as usual...and this was the very first day our State Parks were open again...it was rather crowded but I did manage to steer around most of the other people. 

             

Spotted some dolphin just off shore...was only able to get the fin...

I did a little shell looking it's hard to ignore the bits of stuff washed in by the tide,...I brought this coral one home...

                          

these cute little Sanderling were getting down out of the wind,  And you can see how they look in breeding plumage too..

NOTE: If you very carefully click the Play Arrow and dont hit any of the text around it, the video plays in this window...

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Lots of Semipalmated Plovers were there that day...

I took some walks on  boardwalks too...

I always like to see Red Winged Blackbirds...

Egrets had standing room only! Great and Snowy Egrets. 

Not as many gators were there as normal...I wonder what  happened to them? 

                                      

Saw Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs..

Lots of these jelly fish  on the shore...some birds pecked at them...they were not alive. 

Here is  a live one in action in the water...a Cannonball Jellyfish!  

Just to show you how small these Least Terns are! 

Had some Wilson's Plover in the shorebird nesting area...

I have a one mile hike in the sand to get to the jetty and the shorebird breeding area.  It's fenced for off limits but you can see a lot on the verges of it,   I sat down in the sand and had my lunch and watched the Black Skimmers fly by...

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Only one American Oystercatcher was around. 

That's about the time a Whimbrel decided to walk right into my picnic...LIFE BIRD as somehow they have always eluded me, even a non birder has seen a Whimbrel...now finally, so have I! 

Finally!  And he hung out with me all afternoon.

Plenty of Royal Tern

and Sandwich Tern 

more beach drift, Spider Crabs shells...

This Willet gives himself a good belly wash..

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A few Short Billed Dowitcher showed up 

along with some Black Bellied Plover in their breeding outfits!

Brown Pelican fly all around but I didn't see the huge flocks I normally see I figure they have an island offshore where they breed and that's probably where they were...

A female Painted Bunting was on the Feeder outside one of the Education Buildings that was not open, but I was happy to see they were refilling the feeders.




I enjoyed being at the beach,,,,I did not see many people taking the social distancing seriously.  I don't know how they think they are exempt?  I believe the Trump administration in the end will take up the "every man for himself" stand.  Since he hates all of the Democrats and encourages his base to be violent and to bully their way around...I imagine as the election gets closer he will do everything he can to stop a fair election, like he is already doing that by trying to stop the mail in voting.

I really hope people will realize how the crooked Republicans will try to  use the no shows at the voting booth in their favor, so put on your mask, your gloves, put a plastic trash bag over you cut a hole in for breathing just SHOW UP, if  you can't vote by mail.

They won't fight fair so let us all SHOW up to fight the right way, place your vote! We have a chance to get Lindsey Graham out of office here in SC...can you imagine how wonderful that would be!! OMG Jamie Harrison is running against him and he has MY VOTE.  He seems to be a decent man who has worked hard to help people of SC get a fair shot.
What a difference that would make, but let me tell you now it will take EVERY person who does NOT want Graham in office any long to show up to help, as I see Trump signs all over the place here..so don't take it lightly that he will he voted out...he will only be voted out if Everyone SHOWS up to do it.

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Lynches River County Park

So as promised the Lynches River County Park visit, I made this video to capture the moments.  It was a fun day!  I have one story to relate I witnessed a thrilling event I wish I had captured but I was too stunned to even turn the camera on...

...the Lynches River was pretty full and it had a good current going...People were out and about the visitors center was closed but the park trials, canopy walk, and boardwalk open.  Lots of couples had dogs and kids with them but I've noticed a trend, either  young couples have 3 or 4 kids or they have none and opt for a couple of dogs...This couple who ran down to the rivers edge had 2 dogs of mixed breed one black and one brown and white.  So they let the dogs off leash at the waters edge and tossed in a play toy...only the toy got caught by the current and the black dog Literally JUMPED 10 ft out into the river and was immediately caught in the current and swiftly being taken downstream.  

I was standing on the boardwalk watching all this unfold..the man came immediately out of his shoes and DOVE head-first into the river and swam out and caught his dog and pushed him to shore! It was an amazing feat of pure love and bravery!! I was worried that I may have to run down and perform CPR on the MAN! But he was okay I was pleased to hear when I asked, "sir are you ok?" "Yes, i think so," he replied. I then gave him thumbs up and said "great save." "Thank you"!

Anyways without further delay here is my experience...cooked down to 5:34. 

So I got my Florence county bird list and had a great day to boot...the canopy walk made me a bit dizzy and I couldn't do the whole thing I only did one section, my vertigo is easy to trigger so I didn't want that to happen! 

I made a couple longer birding trips and will try to capsulize those in my next couple posts.  Meanwhile a few still photos that didn't make the video...to round out this day trip..

Eastern Kingbird on a wire

Loggerhead Shrike

Red-Winged Blackbird

More tobacco road

Lynches River Scenes 

Young Carolina Wren 

Prothonotary Warbler

Have a great weekend!!  Another look at the Pileated chicks from last week...

Stellar moment for me..

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Field Trips!

..literally in Fields! 

I've been out and about alone socially distanced as normal for me to places a couple or less hours away and continuing to get more hiking in while our weather is still nice and cool. That intro means this post is gonna be just stuff I saw here and there!  More mixed media, hodge-podge and hopefully move me closer to real time!

 April 14th, I visited Carolina Sandhills and I saw this Wild Turkey standing by the lake and before he realized I was there he moseyed around enjoying his time feeding...it almost looks like a starry night...

On that same day I checked out this Eastern Bluebird house number 30 while looking for some grassland/verge birds and here is how that went...

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One of the fields I checked was so pretty on that day...the light and the rolling hills it was breath taking...and then a few days later in the County Riverside Park reopened so I visited there...the fields were alive with yellow...

There is a river here and a bridge...under that bridge Cliff Swallows have a breeding colony...There is a lot of traffic noise as cars pass overhead so I lowered the volume on this video... of a couple residents! 

Near the edge of the field in the trees, I found a very difficult American Restart, he refused to come down to my level....so very hard to get a good look at this magnificent migrant.  

He is black, orange, yellow and white!  I wish I could have seen more than his belly!  

Then I took a hike to Lake 12 at the Refuge on April 28th.  

This is a Summer Tanager another beautiful migrant, the female is calling in the background...I think this is  her young he looks like a juvenile. 

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Near the end of April,  I took a hike in a field of wildflowers...it was so amazing, except my socks got filled with all sorts of prickly stuff...took me an  hour to pick it all out...

                                                       Variegated Fritillary

Coreopsis

Eastern Kingbird hunting for moths and butterflies, ut-oh

Field Wildflowers up close

Female Commom Yellowthroat hunting insects, while I hunt for birds to enjoy...

Oxpen Lakes Area found out there is a game camera mounted for a direct view of where I stood and readjusted my clothing...OMG! Don't ever take for granted you are not being watched...I thought about confiscating the camera but really it was pretty far away but my point is there is no escape the prying eyes of mankind.

Thistle seedhead...

A Common Nighthawk took to the sky in broad daylight!

The telling white bars on the oversized wings 

Around the first of May,  a wetland I check on a weekly basis in my 5 mile radius, gave me a beautiful Prothonotary Warbler, he flew right at me, I may have inadvertently been close to a nest..

Beaverdam Creek Wetland (I named this wetland it has no official name) is the place I filmed the Pileated Family. 

I found one leucistic Indigo Bunting had me fooled for a minute but his back still had most of the normal color I see...

May 1st, I went to bird one more of my unbirded counties...so glad I chose the place I did....and You'll have to wait till next time to learn about my visit to Lynches River County Park, in Florence County. I drove the rural roads to get there which I enjoy doing when I am able to make it work...

...and I see many scenes like this I call these the Tobacco Roads....It's reminiscent to find old homesteads like this still in use...much like my Grandma's farm back in TN.  Of course its not like it was, it was modernized and in my opinion that destroyed it.  Many homesteads like this still stand in rural counties complete with contents I WOULD love to do a walk thru and just go back in time s simpler way of life where at the end of the day you felt like you had done your best to survive and you had that feeling of life is good.  

So that's up next!  We had a couple rain days so Im posting a mid week extra post in an attempt to catch up soon the weather will become sticky and I probably won't be out and about as much but we'll see!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.