Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great  Backyard Bird Count was this past weekend.  Birding for me was tough! We had a very gusty system come through, and it just made it hard to locate birds.  Most of the birds were hiding out of the wind.  As for my yard, the regulars showed up I got 15 species.  So I sent in that count.  I wish the Backyard count had been on Wednesday I had a better day of birding then..and I had a Fox Sparrow in the yard.  I watched him through the window for a while before trying for a better shot. This was taken through the glass...but he was gone when I got outside. 

I hit 2 locations on Friday but came away almost empty handed...Like I said, It was better on Wednesday.  I had some cemetery looking to do up in Marlboro county so I stopped at Lake Paul Wallace.  

Last time I was here it started to rain this time it was threatening...but just remained cloudy.

The walking trail is 1.3 miles one way and splits the lake into 2 sides...the ring billed gulls hung out about half way...

                             check the guy in the center..wa wa

Tons of Ruddy Duck were around,  hanging out in small groups of  10 to 15,  

I made a count of about 50 altogether.  They're getting into breeding plumage.   I spotted one female Bufflehead in the group. 

..and a couple of fish crows watched from the light post...

This heron was funny he waited while I got close to him he didn't move a muscle..so I gave him as wide a berth as I could, as you see the walking tail is not very wide.  He watched me as I went around behind him and once I actually got past him he started honking and screeching and make a huge leap and took off in a tiff!

             

      

Lots of Double Crested Cormorants hung out in the dead trees in the water...

Then on the stumps to dry off...

Up near the edge I saw a merganser fishing with a couple of the gulls..only she was doing all the work...I think they had a plan to steal something from her but they never got a chance she was so fast. 

She finally swam out a bit away from the edge and I took this shot of her before she swam out of range...

red breasted merganser 

That bit of white on the upper beak is a reflection... I haven't seen one of these in a long time so I was happy to watch this lady...Sure wish one of the gorgeous males would have been around.  I ran out of time I had intended to drive to the other side of the lake and see what was happening there, but is it just me or is a day way shorter than it used to be? 

Friday I had some good counts but no good photos...except this pair of Mallard...I felt his emerald green head was just beyond awesome!

This was at Sandhills NWR...many sparrows were around, but it was almost impossible to pull them out of the deep cover where they clung to branches to keep from being blown away! 

Savannah sparrow in deep cover

Saturday I was exhausted and stayed home to catch up on household chores..and then Sunday...showed such promise in the morning it was sunny and blue sky,,,so I made an impromptu decision to drive about 2 hours south to Dorchester County I had seen 2 reports of birds I need to see! Again I chased the long tailed duck and dipped and I dipped on the LeConte's Sparrow too! Before I even crossed the county line, the clouds came in the mist developed and the weather quickly deteriorated.  But I was committed so I carried on.  Trying to see through fogged lenses is no fun. 

I came away with very little to show for my time, but I still enjoyed myself. Quite a few floaters there... I came away with 11 species at this lake, Ruddy duck, Hooded merganser, Ring-necked duck, Greater scaup, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Red Winged Blackbird, Double Crested Cormorant, and American Robin to name a few.  

ring-necked duck

red-winged blackbirds

This pond is part of an estate that is for sale, so of course restricted access...(I found out this morning that a male and a female were spotted at 3:50 pm that was exactly 45 minutes after I left I rechecked the pond at 3:06 before heading back home...*SIGH* Maybe I'll try again....I'm rather frustrated at t his point)

Next I hit a new not yet fully open Audubon  Sanctuary and it had restricted access too.  I had to stay on the Sanctuary road and was not able to explore the habitat.  They had a sparrow workshop there the day before I should have gone... but had to be there at 8:30 am meaning I had to leave home at 6:00 am and I just wasn't feeling in on Saturday.  Wish now I had that's when they saw the 2 LeConte's Sparrow .  I heard one, they have a very distinct call so I listened to it to get familiar with it.  I wonder if they played the call on the sparrow walk?  Since it's a new bird for me, I only count sightings, once I've seen it then I count a heard only.  The drizzle continued and I ended up in the van for a while waiting it out.

red bellied woodpecker

Came away with very few photos...but ended up with 30 species here...mostly woodland birds...

Saw 4 red-headed woodpeckers, got this one yukky shot, up in the white sky.  Remember when I used to see so many  in my own neck of the woods, not so much anymore...I think it's the pine tree farming, the old dead trees were pushed down and that whole area, about 40 acres planted with yellow pine.  So no snags no red heads!

red headed woodpecker

All in all I had a good count 48 species with 688 individuals on 6 checklists.  for my weekend GBBC!  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.