[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Congaree Bluff, 9/13/2001




A visit to Congaree Bluff HP yesterday had its highlights.  While raptor
migration was a bit slow, songbird migration was a different story.  As on
my last visit last week, I was again surrounded by flocks of migrating
Red-eyed Vireos.  Again I found flocks of Indigo Buntings in the field
behind the observation deck.  Also notable was the decrease in the number of
Parulas and the absence of a fly-by Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  It was 11:00
am before I heard the first (and only?) Parula.  And for the first time in
all of my time at Congaree Bluff lately, I did not have a Ruby-throated
Hummingbird come to check out whatever red item I might have had (notebook,
shirt, Coke can, whatever).

The real highlight of my time at Congaree Bluff yesterday, however, had to
be my first *seen* Catharus thrushes of the fall season.  I got excellent
looks at both Swainson's Thrush and Veery, feeding in the fox grapes in
front of and just below (downslope) from the observation deck.  While the
thrushes were being harassed and chased off by the Parula and various
Red-eyed Vireos, they always came back to the grapes and choked down a few
more fruits.    

A short visit at my parents' house in Lexington county (near the eerily
silent Columbia airport - last time the air was so quiet over there, they
were repairing the runway closest to my folks' house, effectively removing
us from the flight path) afterward found a Veery in a large Magnolia,
swallowing Magnolia fruits greedily.  The bird was so busy eating he stayed
out in the open long enough for all of us to get excellent looks.

Good luck to all the NAMC counters tomorrow in whatever state you are
working and, again, as always, THANK YOU!!  The northeast winds are in our
favor tonight, if they stop before sunrise, and we aren't simply overflown.
Here's hoping for a fallout near you!

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