Howdee all,
Another cold morning in Georgia…I put on my down coat and went for a morning walkA mist of cold above the water…Here we sit…our windows face the lakeThe car was frosty..The Eucalyptus tree …reminds me this is a warm weather area..
Jeff and I left the RV park after it warmed up..and on the way in a side ditch..note the beer bottle in the water….was a beautiful BirdAmerican Bittern
On the way to the park we noticed this Clever sign…hee hee
Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Harris Neck NWR was established in 1962 by transfer of federal lands formerly managed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a WWII Army airfield. Located in McIntosh County, Georgia, the refuge serves as an important link in the chain of refuges along the Atlantic seaboard, and is the inland base for two neighboring barrier island refuges, Blackbeard Island and Wolf Island refuges, both located southeast of Harris Neck.
Harris Neck's 2,762 acres consists of saltwater marsh, grassland, mixed deciduous woods, and cropland. Because of this great variety in habitat, many different species of birds are attracted to the refuge throughout the year. In the summer, thousands of egrets and herons nest in the swamps, while in the winter, large concentrations of ducks (especially mallards, gadwall and teal) gather in the marshland and freshwater pools.
We scanned the river for birds..
Only a few Egrets...in the grasses Palm Warblers
OH NO!This tree was yelling something…Do you think there is a bird in its mouth?I don’t know why it was yelling…maybe I just startled it…Or MAYBe it was surprised how chilly it was for a January day in Georgia.Second stop…. the birdie Bluebill PondLots of Cooties…I loved the green muck in the water…Isn't it beautiful?
We saw at least eight Snipe…More coots..we did see many other ducks here…List at the end of this post..The Coots were the only birds that got close enough…For my point and shoot camera to photographIts times like these I wish I had a big lens DSLR
Instead I will be happy with what I can capture with my point and shoot…Ohh..lookie here..Red-shouldered Hawk..And another coot…Two more Coot..We left the pond and drove a bit further checking out the water areas along the road..We parked the car and took another walking path to a few small ponds..A Possum crosses the road…Small ponds..hard to see the birds..mostly Coot..and too far away for photos…So I take a few shots of cat tail..I really liked the fuzzy seed heads…We walked further….And one of those Walking helmets cross the road.A great day….
Jeff and I are now in Sunny Florida..well not too sunny today..its overcast, breezy and beautifully warm..73 degrees. Tomorrow is the start of the Space Coast Bird and Wildlife festival…We have a 4:30 am start to the day..Early to bed for me tonight!
Birds of the Day
American Bittern
Palm Warbler
Tufted Titmouse
Mourning Dove
Common yellowthroat
Yellow rump warbler
Northern cardinal
Great egret
Snowy egret
Turkey vulture
Red bellied woodpecker
Hermit thrush
Ruby crowned kinglet
Gadwall
Green winged teal
Coot
Wilsons snipe
Killdeer
Ring necked duck Common merganser my bad..meant to put Bufflehead thanks Scott for the heads up
Hooded merganser
Pied billed grebe
Lesser yellowlegs
Eastern Phoebe
Blue wing teal
American pipet
Swamp sparrow
Song sparrow
Red winged blackbird
Carolina chickadee
American goldfinch
Downy woodpecker
White ibis
Red shouldered hawk
Eastern towhee
Pileated woodpecker
Eastern bluebird
Savannah sparrow
Northern harrier
Pine warbler
House wren
Wood stork
Common Moorhen..thanks Hap. I forgot to add
Looks like a beautiful location, Dawn. You guys compiled a pretty nice list while there!
ReplyDeleteHope y'all enjoy the Space Coast festival. :)
Hi Dawn, great post. It's fun to
ReplyDeletefollow you and Jeff around this
country. Hope you get into some
better weather soon. I noticed a
handful of Common Moorhen in the
water with some Coots near that
White Ibis in front of the little
island with the alligator. I did
not see this on the list of birds
at the end, so, hopefully you
have added one! Good birding and
blogging, I'll be watching.
Hap in New Hope (MN)
Gorgeous misty morning images! Sounds like you spent an enjoyable day at Harris Neck NWR. A most scenic place. Each and every photograph is so very lovely! Enjoy the festival. Happy birding!
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is amazing!
Great bittern pics!
I think Common Merganser is a rather exceptional bird for Georgia if I'm not mistaken. You might double-check that it wasn't Red-breasted.
Cheers
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteThanks, we did see some great looking birds, too bady record keeping wasn't better see below, will have to double check my list next time.
Hap,
Wow, you are one observant fellow, you are absolutely correct, we did see many Moorhen, just neglected to put them on the list.. Need to double check my list next time I post .. See below.
Julie,
Aww thanks so much for your kind comments!
Scott
Thanks so much, you are absolutely right about the common merganser., I should have double checked my list before I copied and pasted from the day.. Should have added Bufflehead instead, thanks for bringing that up,. I appreciate it....
Thanks fellas for your keen observations and help!
A cold morning, but beautiful scenery Dawn.
ReplyDeleteSuper post Dawn! I LOVE that American Bittern!! And what a Gorgeous place!! Hardly looks like winter!
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky, Dawn. Again I wished I could switch places with you but I have to tend to the home fires (otherwise they go out:-) Lovely images of birds and landscape!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to FLORIDA... We did have a bout of horrific weather yesterday down here in Pinellas County. Loved your photos today and WOW I could clearly see the face in that tree... GREAT!!!
ReplyDeleteHave fun & Travel Safe
Donna
Love the expression on that big old tree!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures sicksta! I loved that cool tree!!!! Reminds me of The Wizard Of Oz when the trees came to life..
ReplyDeleteDawn... you live a really cool life! I would love to take a year off and just travel the USA!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your adventures with us.
Well, aren't you just having tons of fun! Hope you didn't bring any "cooties" home with you! HA! Ballie might like to play with one though, but I think it would mess up the homey! Have fun at the festival!
ReplyDeleteA great place for birding, love the Bittern would make my day. Neat shots of the funny face tree.
ReplyDeleteLoved the pictures Dawn, and that is a fantastic list of sightings. Long may you enjoy your adventure.
ReplyDeleteRoy
ReplyDeleteThanks Roy!
Kerri
Thanks ..it was a beautiful area..just a bit cold.
Hilke Breder
Thanks Hilke..keep those home fires burning!
squawmama
OH i must check out where you are..maybe we are close and can meet..we are going to Lake Worth on Thursday.
diane-j-m
Thanks Diane
Tink
Yes Sicksta..it does look like those trees!
Bren
I hope you get to take a year off and travel sometime..you wont want to stop!
Kathiesbirds
Howdee Kathie..no Cooties were brought home..hee hee..
Ballie would have loved one!
eileeninmd
Thanks..the Bittern was a great find..strange place to see it though.
woodpecker
Thanks so much. We love to travel and hope to do it for many more years!
Thanks everyone again for commenting..I have been at the Space coast birding fest the past week and now I need to catch up and read everyones blogs...
see u soon!