Peedee Wildlife Refuge

[Jules <jlfray@ix.netcom.com>]

I did a very chilly morning trip to the Peedee National Wildlife Refuge
in Anson County,NC Sunday.  My first walk in was into the low grounds
area next to the Peedee River where refuge personnel are flooding the
fields in the winter to improve habitat for migratory birds.  There is a
relatively new elevated viewing shed on the west side of this area
offering a "blind" site to view birds without disturbing them.  The
augmenting of this part of the refuge area is a combined effort by
various conservation organizations and federal agencies, who I
appreciate for their efforts. 

By the way, to walk into this site the road crosses a swampy area where
in wet times the path is covered with the shallow overflow of a stream
and the Prothonotary Warbler is found nesting in the spring and summer.

I didn't have a scope or high power pair of binoculars with me,because
actually I was there doing some winter botanizing (winter weed and twig
id),but I did see a large quantity of some species >1000 Mallards and
>100 Wood ducks,also 20-30 Wild Turkeys, 4 Red-Tailed Hawks 50-100 Killdeer, 50-75 Crows, 50-100 White-Throated Sparrows, 25-50 Song Sparrows and a few Savannah Sparrows.
I am sure there were some other seasonal duck species which I could not
identify.

Also there were the usual Robins, Chickeedees,Phoebes,Cardinals and
Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a Great Blue Heron at another pond site.

Also saw in the distance a muskrat scampering between flooded fields. 

Driving east on highway 24/27 that morning I saw 200-500 of one of the
Blackbird species scouring the plowed fields and flying in mass
unorganized formations.

Jules Fraytet
Charlotte,NC