November was another great month of birding in South Carolina, focused not only on finding new birds for my SC list, but also on learning about hotspots within the “Upstate” (the higher elevation counties in western SC). Along the way I teamed up with fellow Hendersonville birder Dave Minnich, who in turn introduced me to several Greenville County birders including Michael Robertson, Gary Harbour, and David Palmer. And given my success with so many relatively easy birds, I prepared this monthly summary rather than individual blog posts for each trip – that will likely come in December.
11/4 – Tall Pines WMA
Dave Minnich and I had visited Tall Pines WMA in October and got a great introduction to the area with Michael’s, Gary’s, and David’s help. When we came back on November 4th, Dave, Michael, and I first headed to several fields that looked like they could have good sparrow habitat. We had a few sparrows here and there, but not the good numbers, and good species, we hoped for. When we reached the third field we headed to the far side that was flooded and found some nice weedy habitat. And within just a few more steps we flushed a small sparrow which flew a short distance to a brushy perch. It sat in the open for just a couple seconds which was just barely long enough for Michael and me to ID it as a rare inland Lincoln’s Sparrow, new for my SC list. Unfortunately, Dave didn’t get on the bird in time.
My statebird map for Lincoln’s Sparrow is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t yet seen it. Now that I’m living in the southeast maybe I can fill in some of those gaps for this species.
As we walked from the field we entered a brushy area along a stream and began to hear the chattering calls of a Winter Wren – target #2. This one was more cooperative, sitting in the open for us all to see. I just need this species in one more state in the southeast as a wintering bird, though several more as a breeder in the Midwest.
Next we headed to a nice mixed hardwood/pine woodland. In our previous trip to Tall Pines we took this same trail and didn’t see much. This time we all thought that the woodlands could be a good spot to find my next target – Brown Creeper. As we slowly walked the trail, we admired the trees and plants in the undergrowth, but once again didn’t see many birds. But then we heard a single high-pitched call from high in the woodlands, which we all thought was likely to be a Creeper. It continued to call and we eventually got looks at this shy bird. We later had 2 others in this same stretch of woods. Nice when a prediction comes true. Six more states to go to fill in my statebird map for this widespread species.
11/9 – Anderson County - Townville Area
This was an organized trip run by the Greenville County Bird Club to visit several hotspots in the Townville area in Anderson County. The key targets were Vesper and White-crowned Sparrows, along with Snow Goose as a recently reported rarity. I met Michael near Greenville and carpooled to the starting point of the walk. There we met up with about a dozen other birders, and we started with some nice woodland birding at Beaverdam Creek WMA. Key highlight here was a late Yellowthroat. Then we were off to the farm fields at Dobbins Farm. A pair of Snow Geese had been reported on a small farm pond at this site for several days, as recently as the day before our trip. But despite our best efforts we found no white geese. We even tried several other ponds nearby without success. Our best find here was a distant flock of 7 small peeps that were just too far to identify. Michael mentioned that this spot was also well-known for wintering Brewer’s Blackbirds – something to keep in mind for a future trip.
Next Michael and I decided to leave the main group and head directly to Prater Farm where he has had the best luck with our target sparrows. We made our way to Tom Martin Rd. and stopped at a brushy edge that had been good for the sparrows in the past. Just as we got out of the car we flushed a sparrow from the roadside which flew up to a cedar tree. Hmm… - that’s very typical of Vespers which will fly up to a higher perch after being flushed. We changed our angle a bit and got a view of the sparrow in the tree – it was indeed a Vesper. Then we noticed more activity in the tree, and spotted no less than 4 more Vespers. It was an amazing flock of 5 Vesper Sparrows – I don’t remember seeing anything more than individuals away from their breeding grounds.
After celebrating our experience with the Vespers we started walking a bit further down the road and flushed another sparrow – it was a young White-crowned! We found five other White-crowns here, including at lead one singing adult. I just need this species in GA and DC to complete my statebird map.
At this same spot we also had a large flock of 100 Pipits in an adjacent field, a Eurasian Collared-Dove, and a perched Loggerhead Shrike. A nice stop, and a nice way to end the morning’s trip. I’ll definitely have to come back here in the winter to look for Brewer’s Blackbirds. And since this area is close to the GA/SC stateline, maybe a future trip could include some time working on my GA list as well.
11/19 – Northern Greenville County Lakes
The goal of this trip was to check out a number of the lakes in northern Greenville County that can have some nice waterfowl during winter. We had no key waterfowl targets – it was just a scouting effort. But then oh by the way, Michael suggested we might get lucky with Rusty Blackbirds at Lake Cunningham. He’s had them there off and on this time of year. As I pulled in to Lake Cunningham David and Michael were already at the lake doing a bit of birding. And within just a couple minutes a few blackbirds flew into a nearby tree. After a quick view we realized we had our first Rusty Blackbirds. Within the next few minutes more Rusty’s flew in – I counted 160 birds in total. But just as quickly as they arrived, virtually the entire flock had flown away. A nice start of the day! I just need this species in 5 midwest states as a migrant or wintering bird. Though it’s nice to have seen this species as a rarity in CA as well.
We made stops at 6 other ponds and lakes that morning, finding a few waterfowl here and there, the best being 5 Horned Grebes at Lake Robinson. We also made a quick stop at Jordan Pond where Common Goldeneyes have wintered the last couple years – something to keep in mind for a future trip. And my last stop was at the Stamey Valley Road lake where I had a flyover flock of 20 Rusty Blackbirds. A nice way to end the morning.
I ended November with 6 new statebirds for my SC list which now stands at a nice round number of 250. That’s 18 new SC species since I moved to the area just over 2 months ago. Although there have been a couple rarities, most have been pretty regular species. And with a dwindling list of relatively easy target birds, I’m sure I won’t be able to keep up this pace for too much longer.
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