Savannah National Wildlife Reserve

Savannah sparrow

     We're finally back on-line and ready to report on several trips as we head south down to our winter home in Florida.  Due to a Spectrum induced lack of internet availability over the past week or so, I've been unable to keep up as regularly as I'd like to do, so bear with me as I make an attempt to get caught up on our birding travels.

     As we headed south earlier this month, we stopped at a preselected birding venue as we always attempt to do.  This year, it was the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on the South Carolina - Georgia border.  So nice to be in a little warmer clime as we've left the brutal chill of the New York winter behind.  It's been several years since we last visited this refuge, so we didn't know quite what to expect.  Fittingly, one of our first birds and a
'first of the year" was the Savannah sparrow.  The refuge is comprised of a number of impoundments which we expected to be good for winter waterfowl, and we were not disappointed in that regard.

Bufflehead

     Our initial sightings of the ducks included the Ruddy, Ring-billed, Scaup, & Blue-winged teal.  We had high hopes for seeing plenty of these and more and we were partly correct.  Of the species noted above, we did indeed find good numbers.  Beyond those, however, we found no other species.  Literally hundreds of the aforementioned ducks were dabbling away in the impoundment shallows, but recent rains had left the water levels higher than normal which may have been an impetus for some of the other fowl to move on further south.

Great egret

     Coots (of which I've seen one so far this year up in New York at the Newburgh waterfront) were present in large numbers.  These birds are always found on virtually every body of still water in the south.  It is indeed difficult to bird anywhere in the Carolinas, Georgia, or Florida without having counts in the hundreds by days end.   It was nice to see the ibises, herons, and egrets in good numbers along the banks of the ponds as well.  We were quickly getting back into the Sunshine state-of-mind as we continued to drive around the impoundments observing the birds.

     Birds of course are not the only game in town.  The friendlier climate of the south means a greater abundance of reptiles and amphibians.  Turtles such as this Yellow-bellied slider and alligators (icons of the south) were evident as well and are just the tip of the iceberg(?) we are headed for in Florida.


     From here it's on to Florida where we will spending our next three and a half months in search of the wildlife of the welcome warmer and sunnier climate.