Backyard Birds- Rain or Shine or Snow!

 

Snow in coastal South Carolina? It's rare, but we've now had the white stuff in consecutive years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s.

We woke up to snow on the ground (and our bird feeders) on Feb. 1. It’s such a novelty here! Seeing birds in a snow setting was neat to capture on my feeder camera. 

The Baltimore Orioles really crave the grape jelly, even it it's icy. Check out a Northern Cardinal enjoying a winter mix of seed and jelly. 

A surprise visitor this winter has been the Orange-crowned Warbler. They too like the grape jelly. 

The Hermit Thrush is another unique bird with a great name. All species are welcome to my year-round, all-weather buffet! 

“Hoodies” Back in the ‘Hood!

 A favorite migratory bird has been in my (the golf course actually owns it) backyard pond for almost a week now. These are Hooded Mergansers, “Hoodies” for short. This time of year (or earlier in the fall) they come south from as far away as Canada. Last Monday I counted five, four females and one male- he has the big white patches on his head. The last few days seven have been here more evenly distributed between boys and girls. 

A Little Blue Heron flies by a brace or raft (collective names) of Hooded Mergansers.

Hoodies have come to this pond in the past this time of the year. I first became aware of this unique-looking species years ago at Magnolia Cemetery. They have wintered in the ponds there for years. 

In the background are (right) a Great Egret and three White Ibis. 

Great Egret and Little Blue Heron 

"Down the Hatch" with a Great Egret

I feel fortunate to live in a nice neighborhood with lots of trees and a small pond just beyond my backyard.

The environment, plus my bevy of bird feeders, baths and houses, is very hospitable to our feathered friends.

Marching into March at Donnelley Wildlife Area

I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday, March 2 to drive down to the ACE Basin for a visit to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. The WMA site is located about 40 miles south of Charleston off Highway 17. The ACE Basin is one of the Lowcountry's true treasures- tens of thousands (at least) of acres of protected lands in a region named for the confluence of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers, hence the ACE acronym.