Does a Bear....

So far we  have had a lovely Spring, a real spring.  *Knock on Wood*.  
The dogs are both doing better....thanks for all your well wishes they are my family, my children.  

I discovered this...Sunflower hearts do not just digest unless you chew them...I give my dogs sunflower hearts, but saw in their stool the whole seed  undigested, so now I roll the seeds with a rolling pin to crush them up. Anyways just wanted to share that for all the dog people out there.  

The highlight of my week was the day I drove to Santee Lakes and the Wildlife Refuge there.  It's one of the places I had hoped to use my bike to make getting to the birding area quicker but as it turns out BIKES not allowed there.  

ITs not a long walk and it's always interesting...it's just once you get back to the area where the ponds and canals are its A HUGE open area and it's at least 5 miles of walking and if you double back like I do it's actually more... here is my path in red ... And the Approach (Outlined in blue)  is 1/2 mile so it would be nice to pedal that last half mile...but it was not humid and there was a brisk wind of about 12 mph steady! 

I actually took the hiking path on my way in, its a nice woodsy trail, skeeters, yes. 

 

And a Boardwalk where a Prothonotary Warbler would not show  himself...but was calling along with a Carolina Wren, take a listen...

I exited the trail into the field and admired the flowers...

The grassland is quite large, and right away I could hear grassland birds 

Like the Blue Grosbeak, here is the female, saw the male too..

But he flew off pretty fast and I got only a blurry moving shot of him...the service road is the main way to get around the area once you exit the woods..

And the edges are filled with treats..

YUMMY and so very sweet

And I was not the only one who thought so...Check this out...AND Yes it is what you think it is, I have been asking the Universe for an intimate encounter with 3 things...

a Beaver, Mountain Lion, and a Bear.  I got the Beaver not long ago and this is pretty close for the Bear wouldn't you say it was fairly fresh probably dropped  the evening before...

 compare to some photos on file link below LOOKS the same to me. 

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/grizzly-bear-poop-319084436

My next find was the Male and Female Dickcissel...I have found them here before in the Spring..

excellent grassland birds, and I think there was more than just this pair but I only reported the pair.  Because it is still listed as Rare, but honestly you can find them here you just have to know where to look.  Rare does not mean never. 

Santee Lakes is a huge man made project...and it brings in all sorts of water loving birds, and that includes the Osprey.  I saw several hunting out over the ponds, canals, and the lake...

This one dove in and got a fish..

I continued back toward the marshy area of the ponds and the canals...and found some wading birds...

The first odd couple I found was a Little Blue Heron and the Snowy Egret on this little bit of a mound, they were def together...

And this very light colored Great Blue almost looked like a crane from the back..

I spotted movement at the edge of the canal...and out stepped a Yellow Crowned Night Heron..

I was pretty tired and thirsty by now If you check the above map again I had made it up to that sharp L looking part of my red line upper left.  In that area is an old pumping station...it has a cement pad and some shade so that's where I had my break  I only brought crackers and a trail bar  along for the hike and water of course, and left my Pnut butter sandwich in the van to eat on the way home.  

Not the prettiest picnic spot I've ever had for sure but the view was good...once I sat down

The spot worked out perfect for me  rest and take a break and hydrate in the shade and out the wind for 20 minutes...

Interesting contraption...reminds me of the a Star Trek Dashboard sort of..

Back on my feet and more exploring to do, found a small gator, didn't see any big gators guess they were out on the big lake..

The Snowy Egret looking good...

The mud flats gave me a couple good finds, the Lesser Yellow Legs and the Least Sandpiper...the second odd couple of the day...they were def together!

Love these Pickerel Rush flowers...saw a lot of it on this hike...

Also in the muddy areas several Solitary Sandpiper poked around 

And a Spotted Sandpiper..

A group of Black Vulture had a gathering on the ground at the end of this canal...

They were picking something out of the grass...

I got to the area of what the birders call the North Pond

I looked for but did not see or hear the Limpkin that has been reported here...I didn't try too hard because it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack and I saw many of them in Florida, I went more for the obvious like the Common Gallinule, right out in the open...

And the American Coots...floating around with the lily pads...

Also seen  in this area was Anhinga, Double Crested Cormorant and Belted Kingfisher.

Anhinga in a Cyprus tree...

And Red Wing Black Blackbird is all over the entire area here is the Female 

And my next Odd Couple, the Ring Necked Duck with a Gadwall Female? (I think I see white tips on wing)  Just didn't look like a Mallard, they were together when he would dive under she would wait for him to resurface...

the Ring Necked Duck

Another Great Blue Heron in stealth mode...

And up in the air a Caspian Tern, large size tern, more black on underwing, and a tiny black tip on the orange beak...black legs...short wedge shaped tail. 

Soon I made my way around the backside of the area and picked up the pace to the Blind because I wanted to have a water break and  a little rest before the 1.5 mile push  back to the van..

There is a bench inside for sitting took off my shoes and picked all the seed heads off my socks...and had more water and another handful of blackberries...

There is this nesting tree here with 2 young Heron's inside...

Socks an hands cleaned, headed back out in the large open grassy areas where a large flock of Bobolink flushed in and out. it's hard to get good photos as they are perched on windy swaying branches, the male

with his Golden head and the Female...who is just as brilliant...with her mello yello

Along the service road back to the parking area and  about 1/2 a mile in under the forest canopy, I found 2 more Yellow Crowned Night Heron, one on the road edge

and one just in the marshy area...

and a little pick me up...

It was a super fun day...In my next post I will show you my new bike rack this post is too long to add it here...NOW if we just had gas to go someplace our gas stations ran out of Gas on Wednesday and so far they still are...So I have to be content to do what's within walking or biking distance for now...hope everyone  has a good week. Ciao!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.