My sis invited me up to her home in the upstate region of SC, the foothills of the Blue Ridge, the Appalachians, and the Saluda Mountains! You may have never heard of that range before..so I linked it up with Wikipedia if you're curious.
Friday I left home pretty early for the 3 hr drive.
I've had my eye on the ebird state rarities list for over a week as 2 Ross Goose have been hanging out on this cattle farm. I was about to just make the jump and drive the 3 hrs and hope they were still hanging around when sis called and asked if I was interested in coming up..Perfect!! She lives about 40 miles from the cattle farm!
The cows!
The geese had been seen near the watering ponds and a few reported them across the road in a big grassy field...so I scanned the pond area when I arrived.
And there they were you can just barely see them in this shot here it is closer...
The fence doesn't allow me to get any closer and It's not a good idea to go tromping around on a guy's farm so I mostly stayed in my vehicle and checked through the open window...I did get out and try to get a closer shot...
The Ross Goose is much like the snow goose one other birder later recorded 4 Snow Geese up high on the hill, I didn't see any I had hoped for a State sighting but didn't get it. In comparison the Ross are smaller, they have a shorter beak, they don't have the black toothed "grin" look of the snow goose. So a good ID marker is to look at the beak, and the smaller size.
HOW awesome is it that they decided to come within a 40 minute drive of sis's house? They breed in the central Arctic...and normally winter in California! Don't you love it when the birds come to YOU instead of you having to go where they live? That's #413! I'm on my way to 500 by the end of 2018! It could happen...87 to go? Anything is possible.
Here is my list if you're interested in what else I saw at the farm...
Later we headed downtown it was so mild we had a nice dinner then walked around town enjoying the Holiday Lights and meeting some really friendly people who were out doing the same. Greenville, SC is in the top 10 list of small city downtowns. Since it was dark it was hard to get any photos of the waterfalls in town...so here is a photo from one of my previous visits to the Reedy River Park,,,,it is super lovely at night since they have Holiday lighting up now...so very nice with reflections in the water...something you just have to see with your own eyes.
2006 Reedy River Falls
We had Italian for dinner, then visited some of the shops...one of the Landmark stores is the Old General Store, c-1883. All sorts of cool stuff!
the Dark Corner Distillery...you can sample Moonshine and other spirits...
The Nutcracker Ballet was going on in the Peace Center.
The General Store
I forgot my camera so these photos are from my sis's phone.
We walked till our feet had enough and then headed home..after a Fancy Coffee Treat and even the Grinch was in a good mood...lots of plans for our second day.
CHEESE...only we yelled Merry Christmas.
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
How lovely of the Geese to be so obliging! :)
ReplyDeleteYES I agree...it was a rare treat for me!
DeleteCongrats on the sighting! They're nice geese and it really was lovely of them to come visit your sister ... but it was your talent and perseverance really -- you looked up that and made sure to stop. You're such a brilliant birder.
ReplyDeleteand what a nice visit with your sis as well!
Well thanks!! I'm trying to embrace the ebirding technology, in the beginning I was not so happy with it, as I've always chased birds with no helping hand old style I guess you can call it...but I see how handy a tool it is. So I'm making the effort, raising awareness is also at stake, who would have thought what a Farmer does could make or break the developing of habitat that could eventually bring more geese to that area!
DeleteThe geese are beautiful and so much smaller, at first I didn't see them in the first pick and wondered what is she talking about those are cows hahaha Think it's time for and eye exam don't you. But looks like you are having a great time with your sis. Some phones take such great pictures my does not. Can't wait to see your next days photos and keep finding those birds.
ReplyDeleteHey JO! Well I don't have a smart phone period...I do have my little Amazon Fire Tablet but it has back with my camera! The photos from the phone are grainy and neither of us have a steady hand so they are also blurry..lol but it was better than nothing..the hard part was figuring out how to get the photos out of the phone!!
DeleteA good spot. The differences of some birds are often so subtle that its easy to confuse the species. I have that problem with some of our warblers. Fingers crossed for your 500. Smart phones can do so many things and once you've had one I bet you'll wonder how you managed without it.
ReplyDeleteHowdy Dave! Every time I touched my sis's phone I sent the screen off to someplace weird and she would have to resuscitate it for me to continue...Warblers drive me nutz!!!
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