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ducks, winter residents




While the "Great Lower Piedmont Duck Run", a route that began at the Camden
dam of Lake Wateree and planned to sweep up the Fairfield side of Lake
Wateree and end at Lake Oliphant in Chester county, was cancelled yesterday
halfway through due to a abysmal lack of ducks, I did find a few birds of
interest while on the "Duck Run".  At the Camden dam, I watched three
immature Bald Eagles goofing off and honing flight skills.  One of the three
appeared to be a hatching year bird, all dark and just a tad ungainly in flight.

As usual in the "doldrums", the best birds are quite frequently in the yard.
Three winter resident species showed up in the yard today.  A handsome male
Dark-eyed Junco showed up today under the feeders in the company of some
American Goldfinches.  Also in the company of American Goldfinches was at
least one Pine Siskin, feeding on the seeds of the sweetgum, extracting the
seed from within the spiny sweetgum balls.  At least this individual Pine
Siskin preferred not to hang upside down to extract seeds as the Goldfinches
were doing, preferring instead to sit upright and grab the stem of the gum
ball and pull the gum ball up within striking distance of the beak.  This
date bests my previous earliest date for Pine Siskin in the yard by several
weeks.  Hearing the flight note of a small flock of Pine Siskins seen flying
earlier in the day confirms an uncertain ID of Pine Siskin at Broad River
last week.  A date of 10/27 is three and half weeks earlier than my previous
early date of 11/21 for Pine Siskins. Also noted today was a brief glimpse
of a Brown Creeper at the suet.  This is only the second record of Brown
Creeper in the yard.

If the winter residents are arriving, it must be about time to start Project
Feederwatch.

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