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Historic Brattonsville on 14 Nov 2001



Hi C-Birders,

Last week Caroline and I watched a rented video of Mel Gibson's _The
Patriot_. A lot of the locations for this film were at a private park in
southern York County, SC -- Historic Brattonsville. I was reminded that I
have never visited this 290 hectare property, so yesterday afternoon I
played hookie from work and buzzed up I-77 to check it out. (See
http://www.yorkcounty.org for details).

I found a beautiful Piedmont farm, with a couple of ponds, great
oak-hickory-pine forests, and large hayfields. Since I grew up on a Piedmont
farm in Virginia in the 1950's the place was very familiar looking. I did
not find any unusual birds, though I did chase a sparrow around the
battlefield for a while which just might have been a Henslow's, but it might
have been anything else.

The most unusual animal I found in the area was a ground hog. We do not get
this species at all in the Columbia area and I was surprised to find one
just 70 miles from my home.

I approached the park by driving some back roads in northern Chester County
and southern York County. I found the usual Ruddy Ducks at Lake Oliphant in
Chester County. I was most interested in the large cotton fields in extreme
southern York County. Does anyone know (Bill Hilton or some of you Charlotte
area birders) if these fields get Horned Larks or Lapland Longspurs in
winter? I also noted a couple of old cotton gins and old silos, which looked
great for Barn Owl. I need to get back up there in the dead of night and
listen for this species.

Here is my list for the Historic Brattonsville property. If you decide to
check it out note that it is open from 10 AM to 5 PM on Mondays through
Saturdays, 1 PM to 5 PM on Sundays. You will be charged $2 a person to hike
around, or $6 to check out the exhibits and hike around, quite a bargain.
This would be a great place to go with a non-birder who is interested in
history.

Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch

Robin Carter
Columbia, SC
rcarter@sc.rr.com