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Broad River WMA 2/13 and feeder report




Despite the cool weather and the misty rain, I decided to go out to Broad
River in search of ducks.  After all it was lovely weather - if you're a
duck!  While nothing unusual turned up, as Molly Bonnell has said, sometimes
you just have to go check that everybody is still there.  The fields are
still flooded for the ducks, so mostly what is there is ... ducks.
Highlights below:


Northern Pintail - the best duck of the day in my opinion.  Several
beautifully plumaged males present.  And there were actually quite a few of
them at Broad River.

Ring-necked Duck - there were hundreds, possibly a thousand of this species.
When I sneezed, the flooded fields thundered back at me when hundreds of
Ring-necks became airborne.  It took me a moment to figure out why they were
so jumpy - they don't know that duck hunting season is over, that I didn't
have a gun and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if I did have one.

Green-winged Teal - distant views of at least one pair.

Northern Shoveler - there were at least three pairs of this species present,
too.

Black Duck - at least one male seen.  There were many "dark mallard-sized"
ducks visible, but only on one could I ascertain bill color.  The "seeing"
really was bad today.

Mallards - many, in lovely feather.

Canada Goose - many, noisy.

Wigeon - at least one pair present.

Red-winged Blackbird - many, noisy.

Swamp Sparrow - There were at least twenty of this species, feeding in a
drier ditch between the two major flooded fields.

Song Sparrow - nice long looks at a single bird, busy feeding in a grass
tussock beside the road.

In feeder news, I counted 91 (no, that is not a typo, ninety-one is what I
meant to type) Pine Siskins at the feeder this morning. Obviously, this is a
season high so far and a monthly high so far.  As I remember from winters
past, the number will continue to build through mid-March.  If this keeps up
I will need photographs to count Pine Siskins.  Also present were 16 Purple
Finches, 40 Goldfinches, the resident Blue Jays and House Finches, a few
returning Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles.

A nice winter birding day, all in all!




 


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