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Congaree Bluffs HP, 8/16/2001



        
With Robin's blessing, I worked the Hawkwatch at Congaree Bluffs HP today.
I am pleased to report the view is quite nice and the place is quite birdy.
I also am pleased to report while I didn't find any large numbers of
migrants, I did find migrants in my six hours at the site.  And I even had
help for a while when Van Atkins and Ben Smith from the Charleston area
stopped by!  Species of interest are below:

Mississippi Kite:  26 birds all total today, coming by in groups of three
and four with one kettle of six.  That number excludes birds I had to assume
were residents by their continued presence at particular spots in the sky.
Even with visibility estimated at 5 miles (a very good day for the Midlands
of SC in the middle of August!), most of the birds were at the limit of
visibility and tended to wink in and out.  Van's scope proved useful for a
while.  All of the kites moved through before 2:00 pm and by 2:30 even the
residents had disappeared from the sky.

Tree Swallows: Again no big numbers, but I never had such an easy time
identifying migrants in an aerial feeding species.  All of these guys zipped
by high and fast, blue-white undersides sparkling in the August sun.

Chimney Swifts:  Bigger numbers here and again, most of them were definitely
migrants as they zinged by.    

Black-throated Blue Warbler:  Today's bonus bird.  Within 15 minutes of
arriving, I stood listening to an unfamiliar warbler chip note.  When at
last the bird materialized, I was surprised at the species.   It was a
pleasant surprise indeed!

By 3:00 pm, however, the heat and humidity proved too much even for this
native South Carolinian and I had to call it a day.  Even shortened though
it was and slow by most objective measures, it sure beat just another day at
work!

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