July 1, 2012 Grand Vue

Bluebirds continue to flourish. I think there are birds on 3rd or 4th brood. Observed many young in trees awaiting food from parent birds. Nest box 1 has newly hatched chicks. Only three boxes of my five boxes where utilized by bluebirds but their population is doing well. Grandvue July 1 2012 Yellow throated vireo, Bluebirds in boxes and feeding young ( many), Flicker, Field sparrow,Chipping sparrow,Carolina wren,Cardinals,Common yellowthroat, Crow Wood thrush,Bluejays,Indigo bunting,Robins,Red eyed vireo, Towhee, scarlet tanager, Acadian flycatcher note April-July sitings Louisiana Water Thrush (note multiple sitings over time)

June 13, 2012 Hunnington Beach St. Park, South Carolina

In June I enjoyed some time just south of Myrtle Beach. There Hunnington Beach State Park is always my favorite spot for birding. Many birds not listed but of particular interest include a painted bunting and a brown booby. The painted bunting was at a feeding station. The brown booby is a more interesting story. After spending the better part of a morning birding I was running out of time but I decided to visit the jetty located at the north end of the park. Someone directed me toward the jetty but I quickly observed that the distance to actually walk there was going to prohibit me from actually stepping foot on the jetty. As I returned to my car with binoculars harnessed to my chest I met a couple also with binoculars and several really nice cameras. Us birders kind of stand out among the beach goers so we struck up a short conversation. They too were pressed for time but wanted to visit the jetty where it had been rummored a brown booby had been seen. Now you know you are talking to a birder when that statement is not followed by a multitude of one-liners. I stated that would be a first for me. The gentleman indicated he had seen them before just not in North America. Anyway, I could not find the time to turn and seek the bird of a life time, but I did note that our fishing plans the next day did include the water around the jetty. To make a long story short from our pontoon boat the next day I did observe two large flying birds, one brown, the other with distinct markings that would indicate a brown booby. I had maybe 20 seconds of viewing time. The adult definitely had the white to black "belly" markings of a brown booby. I have made every attempt to find another bird of that size with that distinct black to white transition on the breast of the bird. I am 95% sure that I saw a brown booby. Some other birds: Blue gray knatcatchers,Carolina wren,Mocking bird,Carolina chickadee, Boat Tailed Grackles,Brandts, cormorant,double crested cormorant,Great egrets,Little blue herons, Tricolored herons,Great blues, Red Shouldered Hawks,Red winged black birds,Anhigas, Wood stork and multiple gulls.

May 19, 2012 Grand Vue

I noticed I have neglected to post for quite sometime so let me get caught up. On May 19 I enjoyed a long hike. At one point I called turkeys from two different location. Unknowingly I was also calling in a coyote. I was positioned in such a way that he had to walk up and around a ravine so he was not able to identify me before I saw him. His 5 seconds not but 40 or 50 feet from me proved to be my best view of a healthy adult coyote... fantastic. The birding was good. I believe I have one set of bluebirds on their second brood on this day in May which I think is pretty early. I also located one of the geocaching boxes which I did not disturb. Other birds include: Least flycatcher, Brown thrasher,towhee,Many blue birds one in box,Cowbirds, Field sparrow,Song sparrow,Yellow throats,Flicker,Red bellied,Chipping sparrow, Tree sparrow,Many fledglings,Indigo bunting,Turkey,Peewee,Chickadee,Titmouse,Crow  Grackle,Scarlet tanager,Rose Breasted Grossbeak,Nuthatch,Louisiana water thrush pair Acadian flycatcher,Red tail hawk,robin,starling,purple finch,english sparrow,goldfinch downy,hairy, pileated woodpeckers, Black Throated Green Warblers,Common Yellow Throats, Baltimore Orioles, others