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western horry cty., 04-05-03



hi y'all,
cruised around western Horry Cty. today with the initial thought of checking
out a few spots along the Little Pee Dee River, but the water's still a wee
bit high in most places (you can get to the landing at Port Harrelson now,
though.) before heading out, had a few neat birds in the yard here:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-and-white
Prairie
Red-eyed Vireo
Am. Goldfinch - a small band with a few males in beautiful plumage.

a stop to check out a road-kill snake (eastern black; saw 5 of these and one
eastern king; s'pose they met their untimely ends escaping the high water)
serendipitously put me beside a nice foraging group along a 100 meter
stretch of Pee Dee Hwy that included:

Red-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
N. Parula
Yellow-throated
Black-and-white
Pine
Paririe
Prothonotary (heard or saw these everywhere i went today)
Worm-eating (2)
Yellow-rumped
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow - ~20, some looking very dapper indeed.

Passing motorists that appeared somewhat perplexed (dead snake, parked
truck, guy on side of hwy with binos.)

other observations:
Great Egret - several in flooded powerline cuts
Cattle Egret - ~20 engaged in a fav pastime, following a tractor
Little Blue heron - 3
Red-shouldered Hawk
Am. Kestrel - 2
Tree, Barn and N. rough-winged (1) swallows
Purple Martin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - these guys are doing well. they're everywhere.
Chipping Sparrow - 3 (still 20+ hanging around my feeders)
E. Bluebird - many
Loggerhead Shrike - 2
Brown-headed Cowbird - another species i saw/heard everywhere, including a
flock of ~50 perched on a powerline.
Rock Dove - one flying out in the middle of nowhere
Turkey and Black vultures

many butterflies:
E. Tiger, Black and numerous Palamedes swallowtails
Cloudless and Orange sulphurs
Monarch
Polygonia sp.
Azure sp.
Pearl Crescent
Duskywing sp.
Silver-spotted Skipper
Skipper sp.

Dogwood, Coast Azalea, Dewberry, Horse Sugar, Wild Plum, Cherokee Rose, Red
Clover, White Clover, Toad Flax, crabapple sp. in bloom.

a nice morning.

;-)

gary phillips
conway, sc
sunset zone 31

"...where is the person, I ask, who, on observing this glittering fragment
of the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with
reverence..." (J.J. Audubon)