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NAMC in Fairfield county




A good day in the field should answer some questions and should occasion
more small mysteries to be researched.  Saturday was just such a day for
me.  As circumstance would have it, I ended up spending most of my time in
the eastern half of the county, around Lake Wateree.  My time was not wasted.

As the rest of migration has been spotty or slow, so was Saturday.  I found
four migrants of three species - Black-throated Blue Warbler, Rose-breasted
Grosbeak (2), and American Redstart.  But the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
was in full song mode and they are second only to the brown-backed thrushes
for favorite singers to me.

While I didn't break any "high number of species recorded" records, I did
break several "individual numbers of a species" records.  Northern Parulas,
Orchard Orioles, Prairie Warblers, Gray Catbirds, American Robins (for all
the years I have been skunked on American Robin...), Yellow-breasted Chats,
Louisiana Waterthrushes (I think there was one singing very loudly at
almost every creek  I drove over), and Common Yellowthroats were everywhere
and in excellent numbers.  What species I found, I found plenty of them. 

Among the really serious misses and small mysteries opened - Wood Thrush.
While land use patterns have been changing around me, there are other
places in the county still possessing excellent Wood Thrush habitat.  But
there were no birds there, either.  Where are they?  I miss them.

Among the small mysteries solved on Saturday was the question of whether or
not Black-and-white Warblers breed in Fairfield county. For years, I have
noted that some springs they seem to be here; some springs they are not.
Since they seem to quit singing once breeding is underway, I was never sure
if they actually stayed to breed.  Dunn & Garrett show them as having a
patchy breeding range through the lower Piedmont of SC.  Saturday, I
encountered a female Black-and-white Warbler feeding two recently fledged
youngsters (no tails, still retaining the brown and dirty white loose
plumage of juveniles, flying but not too well).  I believe that wraps up
that mystery rather nicely.  And it isn't too often I get to see warbler
fledges, either.

In sum, it was a different North American Migration count day, one short on
migrants but full of other small surprises.


Donna S. Bailey		
Winnsboro, SC

e-mail: dsbailey@conterra.com

URL:  http://www.conterra.com/dsbailey
	Where are the Birds?  Migration across South Carolina