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Oconee County, SC NAMC - Crossbills
- To: "Carolinabirds (E-mail)" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Oconee County, SC NAMC - Crossbills
- From: Steve Wagner <swagner@lander.edu>
- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 10:57:18 -0400
- Organization: Lander
- Reply-To: "swagner@lander.edu" <swagner@lander.edu>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
We had a windy, but otherwise beautiful fall day on Saturday for the Oconee
county, SC NAMC. We started the day at the Walhalla Fish Hatchery, made a
quick stop at Burrell's Ford and spent the afternoon along the Tugaloo
River/Lake Hartwell looking for shorebirds (with no luck). The birding was
slow and we didn't have huge numbers of anything. We ended up with 65
species for the day. The highlights: 10 Red-breasted Nuthatches (7 at the
Hatchery, 3 at Burrell's Ford), 2 Brown Creepers, 59 Broad-winged Hawks, 12
species of warblers (nothing unusual), and a pair of Red Crossbills.
The Crossbills were an unexpected treat. They weren't at the Hatchery or
Burrell's Ford, where we had commented on the good cone crop (white pine)
and the possibility that Crossbills might be around. Instead, we found the
birds sitting on a power line along a small pasture with no pines in the
immediate area. Because of the habitat, I assumed they were House Finches
when I first saw them. They were very cooperative and we had great looks
from < 30 ft. The male even flew to the ground to feed in an area of bare
dirt in the pasture, about 20 feet from where we were standing.
___________________________________________
Steve Wagner
Division of Biological and Physical Sciences
Lander University
Greenwood, SC 29649
Phone: (864) 388-8226, FAX (864) 388-8130
swagner@lander.edu
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