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     This morning I headed south to do what I hoped would be a decent 
inventory of the birds at the Little Pee Dee State Park east of 
Dillon, SC.  I'll need to go back sometime when the wind isn't 
blowing because the small birds mostly weren't flying.  The park 
doesn't open until 9 a.m. and I got there about 8, so I backtracked a 
half mile or so to a small creek I had spotted on my way in.  Then at 
9 I went into the park, checked the lake, and walked the Beaver Pond 
Nature Trail.  Here is my tally for the area:
      red-tailed hawk
      red-shouldered hawk
      Amerian kestrel (3)
      pileated woodpecker
      loggerhead shrike
      kingfisher
      yellow-rumped warbler
      ruby-crowned kinglet
      American crows
      Carolina chickadee
      Canada geese
      American wigeon (6-8)
      ring-necked ducks (small flock)
      hooded mergansers (2)
      pied-billed grebes (2)

     Since I was already out and had time, I drove west to 
Bennettsville to bird Lake Paul Wallace.  On the way I saw at least 
three red-tailed hawks plus some odds and ends.  I checked Lake 
Wallace from the middle and then from both ends.  Here's the list:
      mallards
      northern shovelers (a dozen or more)
      hooded mergansers (4)
      ruddy ducks (more than a dozen, spread out widely)
      pied-billed grebes (2)
      American coots (many)
      double-crested cormorants (6-12)
      kingfisher
      killdeer
      Bonaparte's gull

     I saw some other gulls that I couldn't identify properly, but I 
thought those were ring-bills.  I watched the Bonaparte's hunting 
over the water, first through binoculars and then through my scope. 
It was an adult in winter dress and the white wedges in the wings 
were clearly visible.

Bob





-- 
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Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311
910-630-7037     rperkins@methodist.edu