2013: Week 3 – Heading South

       Our winter journey south began this week as we drove down through the Delmarva Peninsula on our way to visit friends in South Carolina.  As we drove down Rte 113 in a light rain, we first noted a massive field of pulsating white far off in the distance.  What else could it be but a flock of Snow geese?  Still, we’d have to assume that was what they were from that distance. 

     

         As we continued down the peninsula, we began to spot more and more of the corn fields playing host to thousands and thousands of the geese.  At 55 mph and behind the wheel, it does not often behoove one to try and snap a few photos of these fantastic assemblages.  So, I checked on the Garmin and noted that it appeared that there was a small road up ahead which would wrap around one of the fields in question and might afford me a much more advantageous vantage point from which to record a few images.  Sure enough, before long we were able to pull off to the side of the farm road and get nice close shots through the light drizzle. 

       As we observed the geese, it became more and more obvious that there were a considerable number of blue morphs in the flock.  With more friendly conditions, I’m sure we could have picked up a few Rosses in the mix, but the rain was beginning to fall more intensely and I was forced back into the vehicle.

       Later in the week, we had the opportunity to cruise up and down the Trent River, a tributary of the Neuss River in New Bern, North Carolina.  The weather had finally taken a turn for the better and we had bright sunny skies with cool low 60s temperatures (not so cool when compared to the 19 degrees we left in New York earlier this week!)  Along the banks of the Trent, we were greeted by a handsome mature Bald eagle keeping watch over the shallows of the waterway. 

       Later on or journey down the river, we heard the repetitive cries of the Red-shouldered hawk.  While in New York, the default hawk tends to be the Red-tailed, that position is relinquished to the Red-shouldered here in the south.  The red-shoulders of North Carolina will tend to be a shade or two darker than their counterparts down in Florida, and indeed, this was a very dark individual.  As we neared the perched bird, he took flight and flew across the river across our path as we idled by.

       The final bird of the day and our first of the year was a Great blue heron.  The bird was skulking along in the shallow edges of the river in search of some unsuspecting bait fish.  As I captured the bird’s image, he slowly crept back into the reeds and finally disappeared into the higher vegetation. 

      Next week, we will finally be in our wintering grounds of East-central Florida where we expect to encounter many of the birds which have led the procession down the coast before us.  We’ll have a full report on our first week in Florida next weekend.