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Bear Island and Donnelly



An e-friend from Ohio was in town today and we went to Bear Island and
Donnelly Wildlife Reserve, both part of the ACE Basin.  It rained the entire
day, sometimes lightly and sometimes heavily--we didn't even get out of the
car.  We used pretty much the whole day but with a late start of 10:00am.
In spite of the weather we racked up 74 species.  They were all pretty usual
so I won't list all of them unless someone requests.  Highlights for me were
loggerhead shrike, glossy ibis, harrier, Savannah sparrow, redheaded
woodpecker, long billed dowitchers, pectoral sandpiper, yellow crowned night
heron, wild turkeys, common snipe, stilt, and a beautiful pair of least
bittern.  We also saw nine different fox squirrels with various amounts of
black on them.  And at an area in Donnelly we estimated at least 200
alligators!  The mosquitoes in some areas were so bad we couldn't even open
the windows.  We missed woodstork, bald eagle, and painted bunting, but I
blame the weather for that--there were many roads we didn't dare go onto
because of the mud.  With the leaves pretty well out, it was impossible to
see the warblers and vireos so the ones we counted were those few whose
songs we were positive about.  I didn't realize how much I've missed birding
all day, which I haven't been able to do since I opened the gallery.

Bruce Krucke
Yonges Island, SC
bkrucke@awod.com
http://www.toogoodoostudios.com