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Inland American White Pelicans in S.C. - Sat., 4/12/2003



On the heels of sightings of American White Pelicans along the SC coast this
weekend, I had 3 of the same while birding Dreher Island State Park on
Saturday.  Dreher Island is on Lake Murray in Newberry Co. (SC Piedmont) but
these birds were seen across the lake (Lexington Co. side, maybe?) riding
the thermals with apparently migrating Turkey Vultures.  At long distances
like this it is possible to confuse AWP's with Wood Storks, but these birds
did have white heads (the orange heads not discernible at this distance) and
their tails above were white, not black like they would be in Wood Storks.
Oh yeah, and they were BIG!  Quite a nice bird so far inland.  Other birds
of note were 2 Caspian Terns, 38 Blue-winged Teal, and a house finch nesting
in an abandoned Cliff Swallow nest under the bridge nearest to the store.  I
also flushed a duck while walking the edge of the parking lot of the
Tournament Boat Ramp that was sitting on eggs.  What's weird about this duck
was that it had all the field marks of an American Black Duck.  It can't be
a wild A. Black Duck if it is breeding here in S.C., so maybe I should be
careful reporting all ABC's I see at the park in winter as for real American
Black Ducks.
Along White House Rd. in lower Richland Co. on Sat. I saw 8 Greater
Yellowlegs and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs.  That afternoon in the FLOODED fields
along Beckham Swamp Rd. were 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 1 American Coot, 28
Blue-winged Teal, 2 Mallards, 1 Caspian Tern, 1 sub-adult Bald Eagle, 2
Osprey, 12 Great Blue Herons and 4 Great Egrets.  Oh, and about half a dozen
people out in the fields with gigs, pitchforks and nets trying to catch the
Common Carp that were wallowing about.  Kind of a bizarre scene.  Do people
actually eat those things?  Yuck!

Mike Turner
Columbia, SC
Mike Turner
Columbia, SC