Rain Day and some Orgins

From mid July

Even on a rainy Monday I find a lot of traffic and I'm trying to get out and enjoy nature even tho it's going to rain, because now on weekends I stay home! Since the Outbreak the roads are clogged with humans even more so on weekends. 

So I stopped to check the Vernal Pond on Stagecoach I've recorded 35 species there to date..

red winged blackbird

Saw an egret fly up and as I looked through my bins, I also spotted a Green Heron spook off the edge 

and a duck took to the air all this happened in one glance!  So added yet another species to the Pond. Great Egrets originally came from Asia and Australia...

Great Egret 

I had no particular place in mind, I just didn't want to be home any longer so off I went to do some exploring.  The birds are laying low and raising young pretty hard to find, and as I passed by I spotted this cemetery off the highway so I did a U turn and pulled in..

A long and lovely drive up to the cemetery...and the stones are very old...

The sign was missing probably being redone so a little search found the name McLean's cemetery...I could find no history! The oldest grave is a burial of 1839.  Most of the sir names are from the same families.  Thomas, King, and there is only a couple of McLean's and some stones have the spelling of McLain.  It's not wasted on me that McLain/McLean is a Scot/Irish name.  Nearby here is the McSween family cemetery so I would say this area was settled in the late 1700's by Scot Irish immigrants. 

And lots of Gardeners.  I looked it up on Find a Grave it's listed 

Nearby I spotted this old chimney probably a homestead that was here back when the paved 2 lane road was a dirt track maybe even a wagon road...possibly this was the McLean homestead.  

The rain came down heavier so I headed out...

This is of course a very rural area and the corn is high already...did you know corn was first cultivated in Mexico?

And I've noticed in a couple of places under these power easement cuts Fields of Sunflower are growing...they are all looking the other way.

Sunflowers native to North America! BUT cultivation of the Plant was done in Russia! 

After a quick look at the flowers I continued on my way...I saw a lot of  Cattle Egret in the field with this cow....I believe this is a Brahman he looks a little thin to me, could be an older one  I hope he fattens up...

These Brahman bulls come from India originally...nearby a field of Soybean growing...origins Southeast Asia, China to be exact...

On with my Exploration of Rural America I find more Indian Cattle hybridized in Europe, most of which are accompanied by Cattle Egret origins Africa!

I saw a flock of about 50...

This road I am on is quite nice! I plan to return, the fields had cotton growing last year as I can see the Bowl still attached to the old stalks, now these fields are at rest for who knows how long...

Cotton originated in India and Pakistan.  

Mostly I heard birds and saw a few lift up out of the field and head to the trees that surround the fields...and then  these big Pecan trees.  Pecan originated in the Southern USA and in Mexico.  

This looks like a forgotten Pecan Grove sitting right beside a long forgotten homestead 

I wanted to go peek in there maybe next time...

Looks as if it had a screen porch at one time..

On my way out  A Wild Turkey strutted out to cross the dirt road..origins the America's!

thru the windshield...

A Red Tailed Hawk was spooked off his perch 

And since I was close enough I decided to go see the Beaver Pond...I swore I wouldn't go after I saw the sign posted of the intended destruction of this animal and so for many months I have not checked it out...I just want to know if the wetland will survive without the Beaver...so I went. 

There is still water but the dam has been busted as I figured...and who inhabits the Beaver's pond now??  

An American Alligator..so this proves there was a predator that could manage the beaver...a natural predator very high on the food chair. 

The Beaver created a wonderful environment it really burns  me that he was killed and now his domain has been taken over by a huge predator in the pond  a threat to the birds, frogs and turtles that live here...and probably means no new beaver will take this pond...normally when you remove a beaver eventually another one comes along to take it's place so we'll see. 

Here it is before they ripped up  the dam and killed the beaver..I have to say *bastards* who gave them the right???? Speaking of the USDA

All these photos were taken with my old camera I knew it was going to rain.... it did okay.

So I wanted to go back and see those beautiful sunflowers in the Sun...so A couple days ago I did that...

young northern mockingbird (North America started in South and now all over)

Common Grackle (North America)

Really pretty some of the flower heads are HUGE! 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Goals, an investment in time

• 

I like to set little goals to make MY simple life more interesting...like hiking to as many of the SC waterfalls as I could, one of my more recent goals,,,,well I didn't finish because all were not public but I did 43 so far! It takes a lot of dedication to complete a goal..even a small one but one like hiking to every waterfall in a state is a pretty big goal...Im not done and if I never do them all it was so much fun to try!

Other Goals Im working on

• Visit all 50 States, I still need Hawaii
• Get from 400 to 500 Life List birds in NA, Im at 457
• Visit all of SC State Parks, and get my Passport Book Stamps I have visited many and will need to revisit to get the Stamp. 
• Get a Bird List for each of the 47 counties in my State 9 to go..
• So here is an interesting goal...there is this vernal pond not far from my home, it's about 7 or 8 miles away and I've been watching it for a couple years...It became visible when the land was clear cut much like the parcel right here on the same road I live on.  SO anyways this one has grown and with all the rain we have had over the past 24 months it has become quite established.  So every time I drive by I was always looking then one day I saw a Great Blue Heron fly up..

And before I could pull over and get off the road a Little Blue flew off..no photo...so I've been birding this I call it Old Stagecoach Pool, cause that's the name of the road, I cant really make it a hot spot it's private land, no one lives there but still...that is the Heron.  And even better  Google earth shows the Little Lynches River is only a short mile of so as the crow flies, north of this spot...the map shows a second pool...one is farther back and I really don't want to trespass that much so I stick to the one closest to the highway.

This really shows the importance of vernal pools, and ponds.  I have spotted many other birds there and a mallard pair must have a nest they have been there...more than a month now. 

 A Loggerhead Shrike pair are always there as well as Northern Mockingbirds, Eastern Kingbird, Prairie Warbler, Killdeer, and now three Green Herons along with several Common Grackle....

the Green Heron

An immature Loggerhead Shrike...

Recently I saw 3 Bald Eagles, one adult and two Immature ones...

immature Bald Eagle

I was worried for the ducks but they were hiding...I hope one day I will be this way when it's sunny! Always seem to be there on a dreary day...the last time I stopped I had 18 species of bird here! Not bad for basically a big mud puddle.  There is grasshopper, frog, and berries, along with all sorts of insects  to feed these birds,,,,check out the Green Heron grabbing up a frog, and just listen to all the birds living here...

Play by pressing in the middle of the picture/video

So this goal is to continue to watch this wetland progress and see how it grows, see how many species of bird I can log there for an entire season, just hope it's not destroyed by a landowner who knows nothing about the natural world around them of which there are many in this area!

Also on another note there is a Rookery not so far away normally you can't even get close but  one day the gate was open, no sign saying stay out so I took a chance and drove in.  Glad I did it was exciting to see and hear the chaos of the rookery!

The road is really sketchy...altho it's a very short distance. 

Another goal was realized here for I had not seen a Black Crowned Night Heron this year, and BAM there was one! 

And more Great Egrets and Cattle Egret nesting colonies, I didn't have a good view of the huge amount of birds there as the view is best if you are ON the lake say in a boat...

they are very haphazardly placed I don't know how they manage to  keep it together during storms..

More precious young ones..and no "warbler neck" this is why sometimes I seek out birds that are not going to be 100 ft up. 

"If you read the plaque it tells you all about those 2 photos! 1808

I agree with moving any Confederate Statues to a museum or where ever they can figure out a place where they would be appropriate, but I do hope they don't remove the historic markers. 

Boykin's Mill is where the Rookery is located...

We can not erase the past, but it seems we have not completely learned from it!  Hopefully if signs need to be remade they will still tell the story but in a more inclusive way...

Then I went off to do more County Birding...this time Calhoun County..

I found the perfect road it was a dead end..Perfect because......
NO one would be passing by saying "what'cha looking at"? Yahoo!! 

There was a large fallow field and some pine trees, I do think this land is part of a hunting club, but I saw NO signs saying keep out...Found several painted Buntings...

Eastern Wood Pewee

Yellow-Throated Warbler

Blue Grosbeak (female or immature)

the Great Crested Flycatcher

Just to name a few.  I had a great time fulfilling this chunk in my county goal. 

What are some of your personal goals??

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.