July Birding

[ernest snavely <snavely4@sccoast.net>]

July Bird List
	While flying model sailplanes at the Industrial Park I was exposed to a
number of bird songs, different from those in town. Among them were
Bobwhite quail, (more than last year), Easter Meadowlark, Song Sparrow,
Blue Birds, Indigo Bunting, Red-tailed Hawk, and a fly over by a Green
Heron.  There were Turkey Vultures, and Cattle Egrets and Rock Doves
around,too. Still unidentified was a mournful song resembling a Common
Loon, or Curlew, at the edge of the woods.
	Neighbors reported that a Red-bellied Woodpecker had enlarged a hole in
their Blue Bird box and laid four eggs. Other friends at Socastee invited
us to observe a family of Barred Owls that seemed to like their back yard,
the 3 or 4 young getting close enough to take flash pictures. This went on
for two to three weeks and Lois and I got to see them once. 
	In our back yard the feeders have been busy with the chicks of Titmouse,
Brown-headed Nuthatches,Chickadees, Wrens, Downy and Red-Bellied
Woodpeckers, Cat Birds, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Mocking Birds, Brown
Thrashers, House Finches and Sparrows. A family of Great Crested
Flycatchers has been calling for a month. A few Hummingbirds come through,
but they shun the feeders in favor of the fuschia plants.
	At the Senior Center lawn we watched a Killdeer brood a nest of three eggs
for what seemed to be a long time, six feet from a frequently traveled
sidewalk.  We got good display pictures of her defending the nest, and she
fledged two cute miniature killdeer.  Chipping Sparrows sang in the tree row. 

Ernest & Lois Snavely   snavely4@sccoast.net
Loris, SC