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Lake Wateree



        
In the vague hope of finding a Mississippi Kite and some vagrant shorebird
of some description, I headed to the top of Lake Wateree (the northern -
Chester - dam end) this morning. Songbirds were few and far between as the
day began to heat up before I arrived (I left home at 8 am, late for me to
get started).

List below:

Double crested Cormorants 6
Great Egret 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 55
Turkey Vulture 3
Wild Turkey 2 (beautiful hens who crossed the road in front of me as I drove up)
Rock Dove 11
Belted Kingfisher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1 (?? -this bird was either a malnourished
youngster or an adult in serious molt - it had almost no head feathers,
flight feathers were ragged at best, tail consisted of all of two feathers,
the body plumage was so patchy that I had great trouble deciding the belly
was yellow and I never did decide what color the wings were - it
unfortunately never called - my id rests on the yellow belly, the flycatcher
behavior and the size and shape of the bill) 
Carolina Wren 3 (heard only)
Blue Gray Gnatcatcher 2 (heard only)

The birding was slow, but I watched the vultures kettle up as the first
thermals of the day (a bad day for thermals, I am sure) rose.  On the drive
home I stopped and turned around twice - once for an immature Red-shoulder
and once for a soaring Osprey in with five Turkey Vultures.  The Osprey was
puzzling - unless he was moving between Wateree and Monticello in search of
lunch.  The fishing  looked slow at Wateree to judge by the herons and
egrets.  It seems a bit early for Ospreys to be thinking of migration already.


 
Donna Bailey
Winnsboro, SC
e-mail: dsbailey@conterra.com
URL: http://www.conterra.com/dsbailey
     "Where are the Birds?  Migration across South Carolina"
URL: http://www.conterra.com/dsbailey/audubon	
    "Columbia Audubon Society"