Ground hog month

He saw his shadow so 6 more weeks of winter....On sunny days so I try to get out there and enjoy it...went to the Environmental Park, better known to me as Bramblewood, and the river is out of it's banks again...

the last 5 steps are a little bit  tricky

On the way out I stopped at the Sports Complex and something was enticing these Black Vultures in...

One day the weather man got it wrong, and I headed out thinking it would clear off it didn't saw some Turkey in a field...haven't been seeing any so this was good.  

On Wednesday it was very windy and cold but I went to my favorite spot to check for sparrows.  Found a few too,,,

Sweet Chipping Sparrows, saw at least 100 they really challenged me to check thru them looking for the Tree Sparrow...didn't see any but the chippy's are just so cute, 

NO disappointment there, and one of my favs is the Field Sparrow with his perfect white eye ring.  

Still a lot of Song Sparrow around too,,,

Sparrows used to drive me crazy, now I consider it a welcome challenge to look for those subtle differences, it's like trying to figure out Identical twins sort of,,,

And this is the Pine Warbler who was fantastic out in the sun, 

Im using Facebook to host my photos, it is working; so far so good.. 

Then on our last partly sunny turning cloudy day I went to a spot by the Wateree Lake Dam..  This place is so abused by bank fishermen leaving trash it's horrible. 

I picked up this and 3 times more of it, discarded fishing line, nets, it's such a killer of wildlife, 

LOTS of Common Grackle and RedWinged Blackbird around,,

And at least 500 Ring Billed Gulls downstream...

Couldn't get any closer, so I concentrated on what I could see...the Eastern Towhee, also a Sparrow

And this lovely little White Throated Sparrow,,,

Perfect in every way,,,and the female Cardinal with her beautiful orangey blush

Some Sandhill Crane were spotted not far away I double dipped on them,..and now the field is being plowed so that's that.   

I decided to give the Riverside Park a visit, it's dried out some there but the water level is high there too.  This place is upstream of Bramblewood...

They replaced the bridge that moved off it's foundation during a flood in 2019.  

There was a small landslide due to all the rain and parts of the riverside walking trail was lost but some parts they have been opened up again...

Got my FOY  Redheaded Woodpecker, brings to mind the song..."raspberry beret" 

A large flock of Killdeer swooshed overhead me a couple times, they eventually landed in the farm field on the other side of the river. 

On the way home I stopped at the Racetrack to check the pond, it has a lot of water, but the landscape crew has cut most of the bird cover away so that affects things...did see a Redtail taking a look around...

 

 

And that's it for me this week...hope you had an interesting week,..

Happy Birthday to my son, now 40 yrs old. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Last weekend of Jan

On Friday  I drove back to Lee County.  Y'all heard me blog about the Beaver Pond there was ruined when they killed the Beaver, and so for a long while I couldn't even bring myself to go back and when I did found an alligator in the pond...That was such a devastating thing...they destroyed a productive environment builder and it was immediately replaced by a savage beast who will eat and destroy the balance of the wetland.   Anyways my soapbox is always handy.   The pond is doing okay with all the rain but if we have a dry spell it surely will drain...

Beaver Pond 

Anyways my main goal is to check on the Eagle nest.  Been watching this pair for at least 3 yrs...and they have at least one chick in the nest, I can't see the head popping up yet so there may be more. 

think I got too close...

One hunts while one waits, and the arriving parent has a fish in the talons...

I love this wetland it's such a shame it is not being protected... enjoyed it while I had lunch from the van 

It is not near as birdy as it was when the beaver dam was in place...but others were there...

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Carolina Chickadee

The Red Shouldered Hawk 

Great Blue Heron 

                             It's South Carolina, soooooo yes we have Palmetto Trees...or they could be Sable Palm they are similar. 

Nearby is a Ashwood Lake, the dam broke there a couple years ago, and everything disappeared, but they repaired it and now it's returning...Im happy they have it posted no Fishing.  So they repair a man made pond and destroy a beaver natural made one? Only humans would do such a stupid thing.

Pano of the live oaks 

I saw Cormorants, PB Grebe,  C Geese, and Ring Necked Duck.  Also Yellow Rump Warbler, American Goldfinch, and other perching birds.  And heard Barred Owl, the second of the day heard one at the Beaver Pond also. 

                                                Goldfinch love the Sweet Gum seed pods

Saturday
 I made it up to Marlboro County and to Lake Paul Wallace in the town of Bennettsville.  

scoping the lake..:o)

The lake had a lot of individuals Coots, Ruddy Duck, Ring Necked Ducks, Pied Billed Grebes, Cormorants, and a few Bufflehead and Geese. 

Ring necked Duck

Ring Necked  female foreground 

Pied Billed Grebe 

                                                       Double Crested   Cormorant 

                                                                   Bufflehead 

I took a long walk on this causeway that splits the lake into 2 lakes.  

A couple Ring Billed Gulls have paired up..

 

A large raft of Ruddy Duck more than 200 ducks in this group its amazing how small they are compared to the coot which is a small duck also...

Ruddy above 
Coot below 

Ruddy Female 

A few Great Egret were hanging out near the edges of the lake..

Ruddy Male no blue on the bill yet..

And in the surrounding trees, 

Northern Mockingbird

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

and a tree full of American Robin

The sky clouded up and the water grew moody so I packed it up for the day..

And then it rained the next two days...so 

Until Next Time...

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.