I was introduced to birding in Anderson County by my SC
birding friends Michael Robertson and Gary Harbour back in November 2019. The county has some excellent and diverse
habitats including agricultural areas, woodlands, and lakes. Some of the best birding in the ag lands is at
Dobbins Farm, which features large pastures supporting a herd of cows, a feed
lot, planted fields, and two large farm ponds.
The grassy fields are full of meadowlarks year-round, with occasional
Brewer’s Blackbirds wintering especially near the cattle feeding troughs and
feed lot. The planted fields have Horned
Larks year-round, joined by Pipit flocks in winter. The ponds feature a surprising array of
waterfowl and shorebirds. And all these
birds are kept on their toes by a nice collection of raptors that feed in the
area. The only downside is that access
to these fine habitats is somewhat limited – there is just one road that passes
through the farm, and although you are allowed to bird from the road, you can’t
walk into the fields.
Here is a picture showing typical pasture habitat with one
of the ponds in the background.
On that November 2019 trip we hoped (in fact expected) to
see 2 long-staying Snow Geese at one of the ponds. Alas, they were last seen the day before our
trip. Though Vesper and White-crowned
Sparrows at nearby Prater Farm were nice additions to my SC list at the time.
Then in November 2020 no less than 3 rarities were reported
at Dobbins Farm. Not all at once mind
you, meaning that I had to make 3 separate trips to the site to chase after
them. Good thing it’s only about 90
minutes from home. And there’s great
birding at the spot even if the target rarities don’t cooperate.
November 13
On November 12, almost exactly a year after my initial trip
to the area, came a report of a possible Western Meadowlark at Dobbins
Farm. When I saw a video of the singing
bird there was little doubt that it was indeed a Western Meadowlark – both
based on song and plumage. It was most
cooperative, not only given that it was in full song, but it was also visible
quite close to the road. Once accepted
it would turn out to be only the 2nd SC record listed in eBird.
But would it still be cooperative in the future? After all, there were hundreds of acres of
suitable habitat, with no access to areas not close to the roadway. And with dozens of Eastern Meadowlarks
singing and foraging in those fields, that meant that finding the target bird
could be a needle-in-a-haystack kind of proposition, especially if it wasn’t
singing. But I decided to give it a try
the next morning, hopeful that the bird would still be cooperative.
I arrived at 8 AM on Friday the 13th and there were already
8 or 9 birders on site. One birder had heard
the Western singing at about 7:30, but no one had had it since. There were many Eastern Meadowlarks singing
throughout the fields, along with good numbers of Larks and Pipits twittering
from the planted fields. Plus large
flocks of Pine Siskins were feeding in the sunflower field. Not to mention 10 or more Bald Eagles perched
around the upper pond. It was once again
a great time at Dobbins Farm. With the
obvious exception that I wasn’t finding the target Western Meadowlark.
I spent an hour or so waiting and listening around the area
of the ponds with no success. Then I
noticed quite a bit of Meadowlark activity a short distance to the south as
well, so I decided to take a walk down to that area. I was by myself now so it would be a bit easier
to pick out a Western song, especially if I had to separate it from the many Easterns
singing in the area as well. I listened
for a while but with no luck. Then I
heard a different song not too far away.
I strained my ears and focused even more intently – and there was the
song again. It was the Western
Meadowlark! I was able to call over a
couple other birders who also heard it.
And although we never saw the bird, we watched a Meadowlark fly from the
general area where the song was coming from just as we stopped hearing it sing. So perhaps we at least saw the bird in
flight. Seconds later the rest of the
birders came down to that area but unfortunately we no longer heard the bird
singing. Though later that day some were
able to see and hear the bird again in that general area.
In my statebird map for Western Meadowlark below the
blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular
range. The cross-hatched states are
those where I still need this species, generally along the eastern edge of its
regular range. And now I’ve seen it as a
rarity in those 2 tan-shaded states – VT and of course SC.
November 19
And then on the 16th, while the Western Meadowlark was still
being seen, came a report of a flock of Snow Geese at the lower pond. I wouldn’t have thought that a flock of Snows
would visit these little ponds, let alone hang out there for a while. But of course I remembered those Snow Geese
that stayed there in November 2019 for a week or more – moving on just before
my trip there. So maybe these birds
would hang on for a while also. But not
wanting to tempt fate two Novembers in a row, I decided to head there as soon
as I had the chance. I met Gary Harbour
there the morning of the 19th and the first thing we spotted was the flock of 9
Snow Geese on the lower pond – 5 white phase and 4 dark phase birds. I got these passable phonescoped photos of
the flock.
Since they were so cooperative I had time to head across the
stateline into GA for a bit of birding there.
As well as another stop back in SC.
But that’s for my next blog post.
SC was my 43rd state for this wide-ranging Goose, including
Maine where it’s a rarity. And although
it’s a rarity in the upstate of SC, it’s more expected in coastal SC so it’s
not quite a rarity statewide.
November 24
All my earlier winter trips to Dobbins Farm and nearby spots
have featured large numbers of Pipits and Horned Larks in the appropriate
habitats. That made me think that an
occasional Lapland Longspur could be a possibility mixed in with those other
“prairie birds”. But with a bit of eBird
research I found only a few records from the area, most recently in 2014 from
Dobbins Farm and 2016 from Prater Farm. It
is a bit surprising that Lapland Longspur is such a rarity in the area, given
that they are regular in the mid-South (AR, TN, MS), at even lower latitudes. I remember seeing good-sized Longspur flocks
in that area, including in AR where Lapland Longspur was my 10,000th total tick
(sum of my state lists) back in December 2003.
Then on November 23 came a report on the Greenville County
Bird Club listserve of a Lapland Longspur at Dobbins Farm. The bird was seen in the planted fields,
where the Larks and Pipits feed. Plus
another birder had a pair of Brewer’s Blackbirds there later in the day, out in
the pasture with the cows. Those were
two key targets for me - it was time for yet another November trip to Dobbins
Farm!
I arrived at Dobbins Farm at 8 AM the next morning, parking
near the lower pond. My plan was to
listen intently for the unique rattling flight calls of a Longspur likely mixed
in with Pipits or Larks, while scanning the pastures for blackbirds. I started with a quick scan of the pasture,
easily picking up the Snow Goose flock (I guess I didn’t need to make that last
trip on the 19th after all). Then I
heard several blackbird call notes nearby.
It took me a while, but I eventually tracked down the calls and spotted
a blackbird flying away from one of the feeding troughs. I watched it in flight until it disappeared
near the feed lot. I couldn’t get enough
on the bird to get an ID, but both the trough and the feedlot are excellent
locations for a Brewer’s. One that got
away I’m afraid.
Then I started my focus on the prairie birds. I was hearing a few Horned Larks singing and
calling, and an occasional Pipit, but had few birds in flight. Over the next hour it was more of the same,
though I did have a pair of birds fly overhead that gave a single call note
that was different than the Larks and Pipits – reminiscent of a Longspur but
not enough for me to figure out for sure.
A bit later a birder pulled up in a car and was asking what I was
seeing. While his car was running right
next to me I spotted my first larger flock of Pipits overhead. I desperately needed to listen to the call
notes from this flock but couldn’t hear them over the engine noise. This was getting frustrating…
It had now been about 90 minutes since I arrived and I still
hadn’t come up with either of my targets.
Though I had had possibilities for both.
I was feeling pretty defeated, though I said to myself that just a few
seconds of Longspur flight calls would turn it all around. And just then I heard calls overhead and spotted
a pair of birds flying from the planted fields.
The calls were dry rattles very different from the higher-pitched and
more musical Lark and Pipit calls. I had
a pair of Longspurs! They passed
directly overhead and disappeared out in the pastures. Then a couple minutes later I heard the calls
again, and this time picked up 2 Longspurs flying low from the soybean field
and landing far out in the sunflower field.
Although the birds were too far to ID visually, their call notes were unique,
just like most other prairie birds.
SC was my 29th state for Lapland Longspur – still a lot of
states to look for it in its regular range.
Though I now have it on my SC and WV lists as rarities.
Quite a month for Dobbins Farm!
