It was a beautiful morning when we all met at FENCE that morning with the promise of a perfect early spring day. We started with a walk up “migration” hill behind the FENCE Center. Which can be excellent for birds moving north, and the row of trees was hopping! White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos showed themselves very well, along with Prairie, Yellow-throated and Northern Parula Warblers. Small parties of Purple Finches and Pine Siskins were moving north after a big push of both species last fall. As we drove through Saluda on our way to the Green River Cove Road, a pair of Barn Swallows was sitting on the wires at a local fuel station in Saluda and were probably new arrivals. The Green River Cove road was quite birdy, with Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Parula and Pine Warblers all singing. Several Louisiana Waterthrush had also recently arrived and were singing and establishing territories along the Green River. Most were only heard, but we did have close views of 2 at the entrance to the Walcott Tract. Also serveral spring flowers were popping their heads above the ground and it was good to see Bloodroot and Toadshade Trillium already starting to bloom. After lunch at the boat launching site and a soaring Broad-winged Hawk, we drove over to Thompson Road in Mill Spring to enjoy the Eastern Meadowlarks. Of course it was now quite warm and most birds had stopped singing, so it took us quite a while to actually find them. Thankfully we were rewarded with great views of several birds in the overgrown fields. Let’s hope the fields remain unmown so that the birds can raise their young this spring.
Thanks again for joining us on this great early spring birding day.
FENCE, Green River Cove, Lake Adger & Thompson Road
April 5, 2021
56 Species Encountered
Canada Goose
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Field Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Louisiana Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Pine Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Northern Cardinal
.png "Broad-winged Hawk by Ventures Birding")
