On Saturday Oct 14th Santee National Wildlife
Refuge had a bird walk with wildlife experts so we met at 7:30 at the Visitor’s
Center. The group was led by local experts Nate Dias & Dr. Dennis Forsythe.
There were around 16 of us and it was a great group of fellow birders. Despite
the size of the group it worked out well. Lots of birds seen on the Indian
Mound.
It was great birding with people that know the local birds (not just by sight, but how they fly and their calls and songs) Super nice people and they didn't seem to mind us tagging along.
We all started in the parking lot of the visitor's center where we immediately started finding birds. One little guy stumped the group. Greg got a semi decent shot of it that he emailed to Nate who wanted to work it at home on the computer. Hopefully, we'll find out what it turned out to be. Probably an immature bird that just looks goofy.
2 not great photos of the mystery bird
Then, we all got in our respective cars and followed the guides to Bluff Unit trail and the Indian Mound. There was a lot of activity around the mound and along the road. We saw quite a few more a couple of days ago in a different part of the parking area.
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-breasted Chat
sure, you can see birds in there can't you? (there were lots of them in there)
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Cardinal - female
Red-shouldered Hawk
Veery Thrush
Summer Tanager - female
Summer Tanager - female
Summer Tanager - female
Summer Tanager - female
Summer Tanager - female
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue Snail
After spending quite a bit of time there we headed for Pine Island after someone in the group calling to make sure it was open and not closed for hunting season. It was open for bow hunting, but it was OK for us to go.
So, we all followed again in our cars. We saw 3 Bald Eagles flying overhead a field. Nate had to leave as he was driving to the coast to get on a boat to see a Pink Flamingo that apparently had been blown there by the storm.
Indigo Bunting - female
Tropical Checkered Skipper
Bald Eagle
We saw 3 new birds for us today. (Yellow-breasted Chat, Veery
Thrush, Savanah Sparrow) It was a great day out with fellow birders.
We then took a break and went to lunch. Grabbed something quick at Taco Bell.
After lunch we went to Santee State Park.
Visitor's Center
Cypress Trees in Lake Marion
Caspian Tern
Cypress landing - General Store
Chipping Sparrow
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird eating a worm
we hiked the short trail
there were several deer along the trail
We saw some Sparrows, Titmice, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Bluebirds and some Chickadees. Nothing unusual. There were a lot of people camping at the park. From tents to the large motor coaches.
We drove to one last short trail. It was the Sinkhole Trail.
limestone sinkhole
gator in the reflection of the fall colored trees on the water
Black-and-white Warbler
It was time to call it a day and we drove home to make some dinner. On the drive into the park we saw these cute sparrows.
House Sparrows
Tonight we had our second meal cooked on the grill. In the spirit of fall, I made
a delightful garlic orange pork loin for the grill and acorn squash with lots of butter and
brown sugar in the convection oven. YUM!
We had planned to take tomorrow off, but a cold front is coming through and tomorrow should be our last warm day, so we are headed to the Cuddo Unit of the Santee Refuge.
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