Day 16: January 16th - Pinckney National Wildlife Refuge

Partly cloudy, calm winds, 54 degrees

     Pinckney NWR is a wetland located 1/2 mile west of Hilton Head Island, SC.  Our targets today include any of the sparrows associated with salt marshes....Seaside, Saltmarsh, and Nelson's.  Let's see what we can find!

Pinckney National Wildlife Refuge

     Plenty of hiking around the refuge and very little in the way of a "drive-around".  The hiking is very easy, however, as the "trails" are as wide was most wood roads and are steady underfoot.  Our targets today are the sparrows as mentioned above, but they were so elusive as to make identification difficult at best, skulking in the depths of the thick cover of reeds and rushes as they are want to do.  
     We travelled along the Ibis Pond Trail and eventually came upon the "pond".  More of a fresh water moat around an island of low lying scrub and trees, the area was an oasis for the local avian life.  Passerines were flying in and out of the shrubs, and "first-of-the-year" Common gallinules, Coots, and Hooded mergs were swimming in the water surrounding the island.  

      On our right, as we circumvented the island oasis, a thick stand of long-leaf pine seemed like a likely habitat for the Brown-headed nuthatches which had eluded me up at Santee.  No calls, no visual sign, but  man, it looked like such ideal habitat for the Brown-heads.  So, I pulled out the "jam" and gave a few "shout-outs" to see if I rouse any these little guys.   Within 30 seconds, three of the nuthatches descended upon me.  I grabbed the Nikon and fired away....evidence of another year bird.

Brown-headed nuthatch

     Coming around to the back side of the island oasis, we came across a pair of Hooded mergansers.  The male was obviously interested in the female as he had his hood fully raised and was certainly making headway, or so we thought.  Before long, he seemed to lose interest and with lowered hood, swam away from the female with an air of "who needs you?"  Playing hard-to-get may pay off for the drake, however, as when we were about to leave, the hen seemed to be moving in closer, trying to close in and perhaps make amends with the male.  It is the middle of winter, and this may in fact be mere role-playing.  But for now, it appears to be a "man's world" with the male in control of his own destiny.

Video: Hooded mergansers