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winter loosens its grip




Having spent the last few mornings listening to sunrise birdsong as time and
weather permitted, I haven't logged any more new arrivals since the
Yellow-throated Warbler arrived on the 13th.  But I have had a few other
surprises.  The Song Sparrows that I occasionally spot in winter in the
scrubby stuff beside the pond sometimes add a phrase or two to the morning
chorus.  This morning I heard a song which puzzled me.  A spin of the
always-handy bird song CD for suspects was disconcerting.  As I got past the
Ammodramus sparrows, I began to think I was running out of likely
candidates, as the Longspurs were next.  But it was here I found the mystery
singer.  Wedged between Ammodramus sparrows and Longspurs was Dark-eyed
Junco, the unknown songster.  It is not a song I hear very often.

This afternoon a walk through the creekbottom with my favorite four-legged
birding companion was an interesting juxtaposition of winter and spring.  We
stopped to listen to a Hermit Thrush whistling to himself.  The song was
fully developed but not full volume, almost as though the bird were
"humming" to himself.  After he stopped, we took two steps and heard the
loud, urgent song of the Louisiana Waterthrush.  This was my first notice of
his arrival.  We stopped on the bridge over the creek, hoping to hear a few
more phrases from the Waterthrush.  While we didn't hear any more singing,
we did hear numerous repitions of the alarm note of the Louisiana
Waterthrush, an abrupt "chink" repeated often, who was apparently being
answered by many Song Sparrows from various spots around the creek, across
the creek and on the other side of the bridge.  We also heard several
woodpeckers in the creekbottom this afternoon, including Hairy, Red-headed
and Red-bellied.

I was pleased to note that the creekbottom is a creekbottom again, with all
of its many little streams flowing again into Morris Creek since yesterday's
rain.  I hope that situation will prevail for a while.  

Here's hoping for a Parula or two soon!

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