Found these in my files and thought I'd type them onto my bird blog since I've got time right now.
7-6-88 - We spent the morning fishing on the Saluda River in Newberry County. About 7 am I saw my first prothonotary warbler when two of them swooped in front of our boat and landed in the trees on the bank. I was able to study them with the binoculars and also several more that morning.
I studied the swallows under the 121 bridge and concluded that they are cliff, not barn, swallows. The tails were definitely square; the breast cream colored, and the neck rust. I couldn't see them well enough to see the forehead.
We also saw an anhinga. A little out of range according to the books, but swimming with only neck and head exposed; long yellow bill; cormorant-like flight. Maybe a double-crested cormorant?
We watched four egrets who kept retreating as we boated toward them. We watched a beaver make two trips across the river.
7-8-88 - Last night while home alone I was awakened by a horrible screaming sound. I slept fitfully, thinking something was happening to someone across the creek. This morning Mrs. Waite said it was an owl of some sort who shrieks terribly. The first shriek was in a tree by Kristen's window; the last four from the woods across the creek. The only owl who shrieks like that that I could find was the long-eared, and it's a winter owl. ? [EDIT: It was a barred owl.]
8-20-88 - Saw an immature red-headed woodpecker on Moultrie Square in Anderson. It had adult plumage but the head was not yet bright red. We watched him peck for several minutes.
9-4-88 - On the drive to Newberry we saw a beautiful Canada goose silhouetted against a field. [EDIT 1-16-2021: I now find that observation a little amusing. Back then a Canada goose was a nice observation. Now that they are commonplace, and somewhat obnoxious, I would never make such an observation.]
9-13-88 - Tonight as we got out of the car we heard a screech owl between the driveway and the road. We stood very still and Mike imitated its call. Within 15 seconds the owl flew overhead into the trees by the house! Mike repeated the call and the owl called back to him several times. In about a minute the owl flew back overhead to the woods by the road again. I'd have loved to see its features, but even seeing its silhouette against the sky was exciting.
12-3-88 - As I was walking into the house, I saw two yellow-bellied sapsuckers working their way up the red maple in the front yard. Also, a flock of cedar waxwings is passing over today, stopping in our trees - perhaps eating the holly berries?
12-15-88 - We hung the feeder a few days ago. The titmice are back in full force, cleaning the tray daily. Chickadees are here also, though not as many. The white-breasted nuthatch also appears regularly, though not as often. And occasionally I see a cardinal, a pine warbler, or a house since. Juncos fly up sometimes to eat on the tray. I thought they were exclusively ground feeders.
12-19-88 - We watched a red-tailed hawk swoop down to the median, capture a mouse, and fly back up, holding him in his talons. P.S. - I read in the paper that there are so many hawks by interstates because the large population of mice in the median is inaccessible to foxes and other land animals there.
2-26-89 - Friday there was tremendous flocking behavior of robins around the Academy - Some grackles too. They were eating holly berries - and they baptized my car.
Today (Sunday) we saw a loggerhead shrike on a wire outside of the Shealys' house in Newberry. I got a good look at him through the binoculars.
The feeder has been busy, but with no new birds this year. We have yet to see a pine siskin - probably because this has been a very warm winter. The red-bellied woodpeckers, male and female, have been back - Sometimes the bluejays approach, and yesterday even a robin made a brief landing. This year I've seen two and even three Carolina wrens at a time, eating seeds, and yesterday I saw three goldfinches in winter garb on there. One had a standoff with a song sparrow.
4-6-89 - Yesterday for the first time I saw clearly the yellow lores at the eye of the white-throated sparrow.
Today at two separate times I watched robins carry twigs to their nests.
The kids in my homeroom have picked out the song of a bird which they asked me to identify. I think it's a song sparrow. Very observant of them!
The cedar waxwings are returning. I hear them every day.
5-30-89 - Last Saturday we finally saw one - a painted bunting. It is even more brilliant than it appears in pictures. We were on Litchfield-by-the-Sea, and we accidentally pulled into a remote maintenance area, when one flew across my view. I yelled "Painted bunting!" and we both watched it land on a branch near us. We both got beautiful views of it, both with binoculars and unaided, for about 2-3 minutes. It was the highlight of our vacation to Pawleys Island.
On Sunday, at Barbara's house, I watched a redheaded woodpecker for several minutes - I hadn't seen one of them for three years, close-up, so that was a treat also.
6-30-89 - On the trip through Central Illinois last week I saw red-winged blackbirds along the interstate almost constantly. There were many ponds, and each bird probably had his nesting area mapped out. The red-wings to me are much more appealing than the grackles.
On the trip home, on the way to southern Illinois, I saw cattle egrets around a cluster of cows; and on one of the rivers I saw a flock of ducks - couldn't identify them but know they are not mallards because there was too much white on them.
Yesterday morning, in Alabama, Mother got me out of bed to see the unusual bird in the backyard drainage ditch. It was very unsteady on its feet and had bright yellow legs and bill. It was an immature of either a black-crowned or yellow-crowned night heron. Mother got a better look and says it was a yellow-crowned, but the Golden book says they are much less common than the black. It's hard to say which it was, but it was fun to see. I'm glad Mom got me up to see it.
7-10-89 - Right in front of our car, yesterday as we pulled around Gaston to the nursery, we saw a brown thrasher angrily chase a chipmunk across the road!
7-30-89 - Saw a summer tanager out the window of the Summers' mobile home yesterday.
This morning as Andrew and I walked to the road to get the mail, we watched a robin take a mid-morning dip in a puddle in the driveway.
There are a number of flickers around right now and have been for several days. I watched two of them "talking" to each other for several minutes in the front yard. They were only about two feet apart on the ground.
12-19-89 - The pine siskin have returned to the feeder this morning - the first time they've been here in a couple of years.
I'm fairly certain I saw a ruby-crowned kinglet a couple of weeks ago.
The red-bellied woodpecker dominates the feeder again this year. Most of the other birds scatter or retreat to the far side when either the male or the female appears.
1-4-90 - On 12/23, Mike and I went to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and spent over an hour studying the ducks. Saw pintail, widgeon, mallards, black ducks. Mike saw "scaup" but I never could identify them. Also saw coots and Canada geese. The paper said that 2,400 snow geese were also on the reserve, but I was unable to get back out there to try to see one. Dad didn't think I should go alone; Mike was gone, and no one else could ever work it out to go with me.
Sunday morning, 12-31, I positively identified a ruby-crowned kinglet, outside the kitchen window in the bush, at Mom and Dad's house.
2-17-90 - Saw a pair of hooded mergansers in one of the creeks coming up from the ocean at Kiawah Island - then we watched a red-breasted merganser also. Both were new to me; Mike had never seen the red-breasted though was familiar with the hooded. They were beautiful ducks.
6-7-90 - Beautiful red-headed woodpecker living somewhere near Mark's house in Atlanta - we saw it several times out of the kitchen window. Once it lit on the grass in the brilliant late-afternoon sun, and the contrasting colors were beautiful.
6-1-92 - Since the kids have come along this has really slipped. Often I've seen things and made a mental note to record them - and then get caught up in the demands on my time.
--Last fall: Hooded mergansers spent several weeks on the two ponds behind Garrison's farm. Mike said he'd never seen that large a flock - between 20-30 ducks.
--A couple of weeks ago I identified the dickcissel near those same ponds.
--Last night I saw a kingbird on a power line near the interstate bridge, the first I've seen in about three years.
--A month ago: Three deer feeding by the bridge early in the morning (7:30) scrambled for cover when I slowed the car.
--This winter: A large red-tailed hawk swooped low over our car at approximately the same place as where the deer were feeding.
--I am re-enjoying the common birds again through the delight of teaching them to Andrew, who at age 3 is fascinated by their actions. He gets very excited whenever he sees a robin - he knows a number of other species also.
