2013: Week 18 – East Coast Refuges

April 28^th – May 4^th

       Each year as we head back to the northeast from our winter quarters in Florida, we take our time and make an attempt to visit several National Wildlife Refuges.  We managed to visit four of our national preserves en route although one was an abbreviated stop due to adverse meteorological conditions.

       Our first stop was in the state of Georgia….the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge.  The 2,824 acres of this park remind us of one of our favorite areas back in New York, the Shawangunk Grasslands, in that both refuges were at one time WW II airfields.  Harris Neck was established as a refuge in 1962, the park is made up of  salt marsh, open fields, forested wetland and mixed hardwood/pine forest habitat and as such is home to many resident and migrating birds throughout the year.  We’ve been visiting this refuge at the beginning of May for some years now and have come to expect  seeing certain species..  The park has a somewhat inauspicious entrance gate with a small parking lot (not unlike other NWR venues).  The road leading down to the Visitor’s Center should definitely be walked and not driven as that quarter of a mile can yield a plethora of wonderful sightings One such sighting this year was the Summer tanager.  As soon as we emerged from our car, we heard the richer raspier “robin song” associated with this bird.  Sure enough within a few minutes we found the bird singing this song and managed to get a clear view.

       We also had nice FOY views of the Red-headed woodpecker as we walked the road along with a White-eyed vireo singing from an isolated shrub and easily viewed.  Other birds we commonly see along this stretch of dirt road are the Brown thrasher, Painted bunting and Northern parula.

    

       As we continued on the loop around the refuge (there are over 15 miles of paved roads and trails within the confines of the park), we came across many nesting Wood storks, herons, egrets, gallinules and this feeding anhinga.  Those catfish have some wicked spines, and the bird worked hard at first stunning the fish by beating it against the branch below it, and then flipping it around until it could get it into the “safe” head-first orientation. 

       

       As the thunderstorms began to roll in, we took one quick look at one of the impoundments adjacent to the old airfield and found Bobolinks flitting about the meadows.  We know we’ll find these up at our “airfield refuge” later this month, but these Bobos were the first of the year and a treat to see.

    

          From here, we continued north to South Carolina and Santee National Wildlife Refuge.   Located on the shore of SC’s largest lake, Lake Marion, the reserve was established back in 1941 and is now comprised of over 13,000 acres of managed lands.  This is also one of those places we “always” visit on our trips down to and returning from Florida.  

       As we entered the park early on Tuesday morning, we made a stop at the VC to see what birds were taking advantage of the feeders.  We found House finches and grackles along with the beautiful male Painted bunting.  We’ve had some nice sightings of this bird down in the sunshine state, but this may be the last view we have in some time, so we relished this splendid specimen.

       One bird we always hope to see here is the Prothonotary warbler.  A boardwalk winds its way through the swamps of Wright’s Bluff, a perfect habitat for these beauties and sure enough no sooner did we draw close to the swamp than we could here the ringing “tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet” call of the bird.  As we walked the swamp, several individuals flew overhead and perched to check us out. 

       As we photographed this striking warbler, fellow birder Joe noticed a large bird flying into the swamp at some distance.  Easily seen we found it to be a Barred owl.  The bird was not alone as it began its resounding series of “Who cooks for you?” and was quickly joined by the response of a second owl.  The two continued to converse back and forth long after we had left the boardwalk and the swamp.  The sound was almost ethereal as we walked along the trail on this cool misty morning.

       While exiting Santee, we came across one last bird of note.  Throughout the day we had heard many Great crested flycatchers calling from the tree tops.  We had even seen a few, but none so close as this individual which was obviously on the nest.  Actually, the bird was on the road getting ready to return to the nest.  As we slowly drove by, the flycatcher simply held its ground until we were on our way and they flew up to the nest.  Quite a sight!

        We still had miles to travel on this day, however, so we headed north for Virginia.  The next morning, the plan was to visit the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, and we did make a brief stop.  Mother Nature was not fully cooperating this morning, however, so Sharon suggested that we continue north towards more welcoming weather and another of our favorite birding sites, Bombay Hook in Delaware.  And so, off we went.       About four hours later, we drove onto Whitehall Neck Road in Smyrna, Delaware.  Strange that our journey began three days ago in New Smyrna Beach, Florida and here we were at a refuge in a town with a similar abeit not that common name.  Anyway…..

       As we entered the preserve, we found the feeders were attracting Goldfinches, Red-winged blackbirds, and White-crowned sparrows.  Tree swallows were making use of the bluebird houses and the Martin houses were over-crowded with purple martins.  It looked like we were going to pad the year-list nicely at this refuge.

      Shortly after leaving the Visitor’s Center, there is a parking area and a short trail to an observation tower overlooking one of the large impoundments.  When we arrived….what a sight!  Easily fifteen hundred Dunlin packed into the shallow water of the ponds, shoulder to shoulder.  Every so often, something would cause the myriad to rise en masse, make a quick flyover and then alight back into the water.  How they managed to all move in such synchronicity without crashing into one another is yet another wonder of nature.  Sprinkled in among the dunlin were quite a few Black-bellied plovers and both these plovers and the dunlin were well on their way to sporting their full breeding plumage.  Gorgeous!

 

       As we drove the loops and walked throughout the trails, we found many signs of spring and the nesting season.  Walking out to the marsh where we hoped to get our first Clapper rail of the year, we were surrounded by chattering House wrens.  We may have been getting too close to their staked out territory for their own comfort, so we quickly moved on. 

       Just down the trail, we found Tree swallows doing what Tree swallows should do….setting up their nesting site in a tree!  We commonly see these swallows nesting in bluebird boxes and other bird houses, but it was nice to see them actually using a natural cavity to nest in.

       

       When we finally made it out to the observation deck, we heard our second wren species of the day the Marsh wren.  We also heard the Clapper rail we were hoping for, but like the Marsh wren, it was heard but not seen.  Back to the car to continue our way around the refuge.  We had heard reports of one last bird we really wanted to find before we departed and made the final leg of the journey home.  Although no specific directions were offered, someone had posted finding a Tundra swan on the refuge.  We carefully were checking each and every body of water we came across, but to this point we had not found the bird.  Time was running out.  But a swan is a big bird!  How could we miss it?   As luck would have it, on the last impoundment we checked, there it was.  A white blob far out on a sand bar in the middle of the pond just had to be the swan.  We definitely needed the scope, but sure enough there was no mistaking this swan for anything but the Tundra.  A great way to end the visits to four of our national treasures….the National Wildlife Refuge system.

       We’re back in New York and the Hudson Highlands once again and it’s just the beginning of warbler season.  Next week, we’ll be out and about in search of these little gems.  Until then……