Bobolinks at Whitehouse Road

Went out to my favorite field birding site to see the annual appearance of the Bobolinks in the large wheat fields out there. Saw over 20 of these beautiful black, white and yellow migrants heading for the grain fields of the Midwest and Canada. They love to sort of flock hop through the fields. I first heard them in the trees behind the Big Slough. Always a welcome site. Here's a complete list of the birds I saw that day.

Location: White House Road
Observation date: 4/26/09
Notes: Bobolinks were in trees behind the wheat field. You could see and hear them the from the Big Slough.
Number of species: 36

Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Turkey Vulture 6
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
American Crow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Cedar Waxwing 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Yellow-throated Warbler (dominica) 1
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Eastern Towhee 1
Northern Cardinal 9
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 28
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle (Purple) 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Orchard Oriole 1

Toadshade

Toadflax Field 5

Toadflax Field
Originally uploaded by toadshade

Ran out on Dickcissel Road for 5 miles at 46:51 and 9:23 per mile. It was getting hotter but I really didn't feel it. Was a good strong run after all these days off.

The field has been planted; I don't know with what but I hope it's wheat to attrack the Bobolinks. They are always a treat. Expected to find some Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings but all I found was an off the chain Mockingbird singing every song known to man, a loud Blue Jay, and a Starling. Reckon it was the wrong time of day.

toadshade

Catkins and 8 Miles

Hickory Catkins
Originally uploaded by toadshade

I did a 10 miler at 1:39:18 at 9:56 per mile. I think my times are going to dwindle if I don't start hitting the roads more. I could really feel it in the last mile and a half. Was pretty dehydrated and had to take on a lot of fluids afterwards. But I'm 58 years old and, as the current saying goes, it's all good!!

The picture of the catkins is indicative of the Spring growth virtually everywhere. I know it's one the Hickories, either Pecan, Shagbark or Mockernut. There's a new flower or leaf blossoming everyday and the perspective of the world changes with them. Good to be alive.

toadshade

Dandelion Wind

Dandelion Wind
Originally uploaded by toadshade

As the Rolling Stones say, "Dandelion don't tell no lies, Dandelion will make you wise." Dandelions bloom on any warm day any time of the year, but they flourish in the warm winds of March and April after the freezing temperatures are gone. When they get ready to spread their seeds, the stems shoot up to almost a foot from the ground to give to give the fluffy seeds a greater chance of dispersal in the growing season. That's why Dandelions are virtually everywhere. That's pretty wise and they don't 'say' nothing. I'm approaching my late summer to autumn years and maybe this blog is my way of dispersing the things that move me to others out there. I just like to report on the vitality of life. As Dylan Thomas said, "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower/Drives my green age. . ."

I had a great 8 Miler down Ulmer, around Reflections and saw a lot of the natural world coming alive. My leg felt fine all the way. I had a time of 1:17:40 at 9:42 per mile.

toadshade

Cherry Blossoms and 8 Miles

Black Cherry Blossom
Originally uploaded by toadshade

It was good to get out on a cool windy day and get a decent 8 mile run in. Lots of flowers are coming up everywhere but the dominant is the Black Cherry pictured above. The long racemes of beautiful white blossoms are visible everywhere where there's a patch of woods. If you crush the leaves you'll be treated to the pungent smell of wild cherry.

toadshade

A Taste of the Mountains in the Midlands

More Quaker Ladies
Originally uploaded by toadshade

Spring keeps me a little more in my hiking boots than my jogging shoes. Even though I take my camera with me when I jog, I sometimes have to go where the flowers are. In this case it was Harbison State Forest in Northwest Columbia. It did not disappoint on the bird or the wildflower side. Plenty of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Red-eyed Vireos, Cardinals, Titmice, Louisiana Waterthrough, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers, Brown-thrashers and Towhees scratching through the bushes. The wildflowers were a bigger treat with these Houstonia Caelurea (Bluets or Quaker Ladies) growing in abundance on the dirt road leading into the forest. You mainly see these in the mountains while their cousin, houstonia purpurea, grows down here. It's more of a purple 4 petalled flower while the one pictured is a sky blue. Other wildflowers were Wood Anemones, Cinquefoil, Buttercup, Violet Wood Sorrell, Bird's-foot Violet, Rattlesnake Weed, Pinxter Flower (Pink Azalea), Hawthorne, Blue-eyed Grass, Bittercress, Atamasco Lily and False Garlic.

There are many trails in the Forest and I always take the Eagle Trail, mainly because it's off limits to mountain bikers, unlike the rest of them. I may go out tomorrow and take the trail that goes by the Broad River. This one today sure produced a lot. The trees haven't filled in yet and there were a lot of Dogwood and several of the beautiful Pink Azalea trees forming the understory. A lot of the Bluets and Buttercups were by the small streams that you can get to by the trails or when they cross the dirt road. You don't have to walk far to just sit down and get lost in the beauty of things.

toadshade