Christmas Time Bird Surge!

 

Tis the week before Christmas and all through the yard and pond creatures are stirring. Especially birds.

The current spell of colder weather was highlighted by a damaging nor’easter on Sunday, Dec. 17 that wreaked havoc in the Charleston area. Fortunately we had no major problems here in North Charleston. 

Since that storm, temperatures have hit freezing overnight. 

This is a favorite new photograph of a Wood Stork at dusk on the edge of a pond near my backyard. 

Bird activity at our backyard feeders has been frenzied as the chill in the air has our feathered friends eager to fill their bills and bellies. 

Eastern Bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows have been among at least a dozen species I have spotted. I’ll show some more feeder photos later but first…

Wood Storks are not regular guests at the golf course pond near our backyard so it definitely caught my eye to see this one the day of the big nor’easter. Maybe it was blown off direction! 

This Stork had a fishing partner in a Great Egret. Ahead in this post is video I took of the Wood Stork hunting in the small pond. 

Wood Storks have long been one of my favorite birds. Their population has been growing in the S.C. Lowcountry for a number of years now. See details in this news article. 

I see them on occasion at other nearby ponds, creeks and drainage areas. Often they are by themselves, as this one was on this day. 

Next is the video I mentioned…

Another pleasant surprise has been the presence in recent days of another favorite of mine, Hooded Mergansers. 

In past years, around this time of year, cute and cuddly looking “Hoodies” have graced our pond. The male is quite colorful with big patches of white on his head. The female is elegantly subdued in her coloring. 

The small diving ducks migrate south for the winter, flying in from as far north as Canada.

The Hoodie population has fluctuated from one or two up to six or seven. 

I hope Hooded Mergansers will stick around for a while. In previous years they have called this pond home for three or four months. 

I’ve seen three here at a time in recent days. In the past up to a dozen have been here at once. See more Hoodies in this post I did in January. 

White Ibis, with their distinctive long curved orange bills, dropped by for a few days this week. 

There must be some good eats in the shallow water and in the soft mud along the bank. A Great Egret is also looking for food, as was the Wood Stork shown previously. 

The Ibis are good about traveling in congregations or wedges (their collective names). Unlike the other large wading birds in this post the Ibis is rarely alone. 

This Great Egret has been “on golden pond” for several consecutive days now. I think it’s the same one! 

Little Blue Heron ("long legged with a daggerlike bill" as described in the All About Birds website)

I came out a few mornings ago to see this gorgeous Great Blue Heron on the bank.

Love the colors of this big bird! 

Back to the feeders…

From left: Pine Warbler, Eastern Bluebird and Chipping Sparrow

Pretty Pine Warbler ("rarely seen away from pine trees" hence its name)

Pine Warbler

Carolina Chickadee 

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Chipping Sparrows

Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) 

Eastern Bluebird

Wide shot of our backyard and feeders. There’s a small window in an upstairs bathroom that I can stealthily open and shoot my camera down at the birds. 

Eastern Bluebird- that shade of blue is gorgeous! 

Female Eastern Bluebird 

This is a new feeder that I recently bought and mounted on the stand to replace a very old wooden feeder that was rotting away. 

That’s a Chipping Sparrow enjoying the big block of seed. 

This is a longtime feeder in one corner of our yard. This year it went months and months not needing a refill. 

But in recent weeks, again with the cooler weather, this feeder has had lots of business from small birds such ad these three Chipping Sparrows. 

Note also the camellia blooms in the background. Very Christmassy! 

Look closely and you see the single seed in the bill of this Chipping Sparrow. This feeder is a good one with its cover that only allows in the smaller birds.

Finally, this is a bird that never comes to my feeders. The food it craves are in the trees it pecks at relentlessly. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have frequented for years some specific trees in the very back of my backyard. I hear the loud pecking and detect where it’s coming from. When I can actually see the Sapsucker I’ll grab my camera, as I did today. 

This one is a female. The male has red along its throat. 

It’s like reconnecting with an old friend when I capture an image or two of this interesting bird with the best name: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! 

And last but not least: a Carolina Wren. This is the state bird of South Carolina.

Fast forward to February 2024. Here a few new types to visit the bird buffet recently. This is the striking Yellow-throated Warbler.

And this tiny songbird is a Brown-headed Nuthatch.