VENTURE TO:
Caroland Farms, Pacolet Valley,
Landrum, SC
March 25, 2007
This was indeed a hot day- probably the hottest day of the year so far and without any leaves on the trees, it was hard to find any shade. As one person said, we should not complain about the heat so early in the season! Anyway, onto birds now, we started with one of the best birds of the trip- a spectacular Barn Owl that flew out of the barn and low over the group and gave us great views all around. This was also certainly a sparrow day with 11 species seen, including Eastern Towhee and Dark-eyed Junco. One of the highlights had to be the scope views of 2 Vesper Sparrows that gave us every feather detail as they sat in a bare tree over our heads. Alas the Lincoln's Sparrow only gave us brief views before it dropped into the underbrush- never to be seen again. Savannahs and Swamps were more cooperative and just sat still while we enjoyed them. A newly-arrived male Common Yellowthroat played hide and seek with us before sitting in the open and singing for us- well, it seemed like that anyway! After a very pleasant picnic lunch at a nearby farm we made a couple of quick birding stops to enjoy a Blue-headed Vireo, a pair of nesting Pine Warblers and a sky full of Purple Martins. It certainly was an enjoyable, if hot, day.
| Birds seen and heard | |
| Great Blue Heron (2) | American Robin |
| Canada Goose | Northern Mockingbird |
| Wood Duck | Brown Thrasher (2) |
| Turkey Vulture | American Pipit (1) |
| Red-shouldered Hawk (2) | European Starling |
| Red-tailed Hawk (1) | Blue-headed Vireo (1) |
| American Kestrel (1) | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Killdeer (3) | Pine Warbler (3+nest) |
| Wilson’s Snipe (1) | Common Yellowthroat (1) |
| Rock Pigeon | Northern Cardinal |
| Mourning Dove | Eastern Towhee |
| Barn Owl (1) | Chipping Sparrow |
| Belted Kingfisher (H) | Field Sparrow |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | Vesper Sparrow (2) |
| Downy Woodpecker | Savannah Sparrow (2) |
| Northern Flicker | Song Sparrow |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Lincoln’s Sparrow (1) |
| Eastern Phoebe | Swamp Sparrow |
| Purple Martin | White-throated Sparrow |
| Blue Jay | White-crowned Sparrow (8) |
| American Crow | Dark-eyed Junco |
| Carolina Chickadee | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Tufted Titmouse | Eastern Meadowlark |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Common Grackle |
| Carolina Wren | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | House Finch |
| Eastern Bluebird | American Goldfinch |
| (H) = Heard only | |
| Other Critters | |
| White-tailed Deer | Gray Squirrel |
| Butterflies | |
| Pipevine Swallowtail | Sleepy Orange |
| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | Juniper Hairstreak (ST) |
| Clouded Sulphur | Spring Azure |
| Orange Sulphur | Silver-spotted Skipper |
| Cloudless Sulphur | Juvenal’s Duskywing |
Birding on the Old Bridge
North Pacolet Valley