Eastern Kingbirds – King of the Flycatchers

One of our summer residents who has just arrived in the Lowcountry is the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus).  These medium sized birds are members of the flycatcher family, who normally sit on a perch and actively catch insects on the wing.  Like all flycatchers, they are dark with a light breast and a “fuzzy” head.  Kingfishers tend to be darker than most flycatchers, with a whitish breast and a distinct white along the edge of the tail, giving them the appearance of a wearing a tuxedo.They aggressively defend their territories by divebombing birds, snakes, mammals or any critter that comes in their territory.  Because they do it so aggressively, they are accused of being a “tyrant”, hence the scientific name!  Look for them in and around Oldfield, perched on top of grasses, signs, posts, and even the flags on the greens of the golf course.

Yellow-bellied Sliders

We’ve all seen turtles stacked up on logs along the ponds, or in this case, stacked on top of each other, but what are these turtles?  These turtles are the most common semi-aquatic turtles found in the Lowcountry and are called Yellow-bellied Sliders (Trachemys scripta).

These turtles can be seen all around Oldfield on the pond banks, or any floating structure such as a log.  They have a tendency to sun themselves out of the water, many times lining up along the bank, covering every inch of a floating log, and many times they appear to go from biggest to smallest!

They are easily recognized by the black and yellow stripes on the head, but the distinct yellow patch on the cheek is a dead giveaway.  Of course, I don’t have to tell you what color their belly is!  Their eyesight is pretty good too.

You can’t get close to the turtles without them detecting you and slipping into the water!  Next time you’re out and about Oldfield, try your hand at sneaking up on a yellow-bellied slider

It’s Rookery Time!

Well, March Madness and the Big Dance can also apply to our wading birds and their preparation for breeding, nesting, and raising young.  March is halfway done and the great egrets, snowy egrets, herons, anhinga, wood storks, and others are in the “throws” of spring nuptials.  Breeding plumes and in their best shape, egrets are fluffing out their breeding feathers or aigrettes, doing their mating “dance” and starting to build nests.

If you’ve ever been to a rookery, you will agree with the March Madness analogy.  Just imagine 50–100 birds flying back and forth with nesting materials, each time receiving a guttural greeting (or maybe a chastise for bringing the wrong stick, but hey, I’m an optimist).  With all of the flying, diving, squawking, wing flapping, bill clacking, etc., it is truly a frenetic, sensory overloading frenzy that truly is a big dance and the epitome of March Madness!

Bluebirds of Happiness

The wonderful weather we’ve been having in the Lowcountry has everyone thinking of spring, including our resident Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis).

The warm temperatures have our bluebirds beginning to pair up and start the process of building nests in the many bluebird houses in Oldfield.  It’s quite a site to see the female with her head sticking out the nestbox hole and the male perched on top.

By this time, both the male and the female are in the throws of courting and the male is building a nest to impress.  Look for the male singing his heart out to attract the female, as well as some “butterfly fluttering” to impress her.  He puts it all on the line, “building” a simple nest to entice the female to look at his house and be impressed with it’s “potential”.  If she accepts, she will build a nest of pine needles and grass.  If not, then he’s off to another site to try and impress her with a different location.  Location, location, location!  Are we any different?…

Great Egrets

One of the natural events that occur here at Oldfield probably draws more admiration, astonishment, and awe, is the nightly gathering of “white birds” here at the Outfitters Center and River House pond.

Each night before sundown, 30-50 egrets, wood storks, herons, anhinga, cormorants, and others gather in the trees to spend the night.  This gathering of birds is not a nesting site or rookery, but more of a night time roost.  These birds gather together for safety and security.

Interestingly enough, they prefer to roost (and nest for that matter) over water, because it minimizes the threat of predators.  A bunch of birds all looking in different directions can spot a predator such as a raccoon, cat, fox, or other mammal predators, but also, if they attempt to try and swim over to where the birds are, Mr. Alligator takes care of that threat in quick, stealthy fashion!

Take a walk over to the bridge that comes over to the Outfitters Center and River House just before the sun begins to set.  You’ll be rewarded with dozens of white birds sailing in from all directions, swooping down to claim a perch before nightfall.

Be careful to be a quiet observer, because they can be startled into numerous flights and expend unnecessary energy, so approach quietly and enjoy from a distance.  With all of the white birds against the green foliage of a live oak, you can see why we call this phenomenon a “Lowcountry Christmas Tree”!

Bluebirds

Well, spring is around the corner and it’s time to start thinking about our bluebirds.  Here’s a few things to check on to get ready for our bluebirds to begin pairing off and starting to think about raising a family, hopefully in your bluebird box:

• February is the time to clean out your boxes.  Remove all old nest material, unhatched eggs, etc.  Look closely for any signs of insects such as wasps, fly, fly larvae, insect exoskeletons, etc.
• Clean the box inside by using a very dilute bleach solution and wiping down the inside
• Make repairs to your box by replacing the hinges, making sure the box is held together and the nails/screws are intact
• Consider moving your box if you did not have success last year

If you would like to get a new box and install it, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to be a “house consultant” to help choose a good location for a bluebird house.  Join us in February for a bluebird house building program, where we will discuss the biology of bluebirds and then everyone can make a bluebird house to take home!

Oldfield’s Bald Eagles

Well, it’s that time of year when the bald eagles have returned, set up their nesting territories, and are actively hunting food in the form of fish, carrion, waterfowl, etc.  Look for these stately birds all around Oldfield as they perch around our golf course, ponds and waterways.  Adults have a white head and white tail, where immature birds are dark brown with differing degrees of tawny mottled coloration on the breast and wings

Red-shouldered Hawk – Swamp Raptor

When I think of hawks in the Lowcountry, the first hawk that comes to my mind is the Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).

This medium-sized hawk is a relatively common hawk that is frequently associated with Lowcountry swamps, rivers, floodplain forests, and other wetlands.  Often heard before it is seen, the red-shouldered hawk screams “kerr,kerr, kerr, keeeerrrrr!” as it flies overhead and through the forests.

Adults have a beautiful rusty barred chest, black and white banded tail, and a dark back with spots, making it easy to distinguish from the larger, beefier, and more aggressive red-tailed hawk (which has a red tail, of course).  These colors are more pronounced in the breeding season and birds tend to look a little paler in color in the winter in our area.

Look for this beautiful raptor perching on the fence posts in the pastures and fields around Oldfield, but also don’t forget to listen for the easily recognized and frequent call of this Lowcountry swamp hawk…

Tree Swallows Arrive at Oldfield

The tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), is a small swallow that is emerald green on top and clean white on their undersides.  This swallow like other species of swallow is migratory and we are fortunate to have them migrate down to the Lowcountry, with some staying through the winter and many continuing further south to their non-breeding wintering grounds.  This time of year, we can see huge flocks of tree swallows number in the thousands, but along the east coast, flocks of hundreds of thousands of birds are frequently seen!

The tree swallow winters farther north and arrives earlier than other swallows because, unlike other swallows that only depend on flying insects for food, the tree swallow also includes plant foods like berries in its diet, so it is not so dependent on insects and warmer weather for food.

One of the most amazing sites is to watch a large flock of tree swallows arrive right before sunset to their night time roost.  They fly in, swirling like a cyclone, spinning and swirling, and one by one, they gradually settle down in a grassy, reedy, or cattail marsh to spend the night.

Roseate Spoonbill Still Hangin’ Around

Lately, there have been more and more sightings of roseate spoonbills here in the Lowcountry.  With the loss of habitat in Florida due to development, South Carolina and Georgia have benefitted from the exodus of birds leaving the Panhandle state for other options.  15 years ago, there were NO wood storks found in the Lowcountry.  I’m not saying that there were only a few, I’m saying NONE.  Now, we have more breeding and nesting wood storks than Florida!

The roseate spoonbill is a beautiful, pink wading bird and is hard to mistake for anything else.  Since July, we have had one hanging around with the wood storks and he’s been seen consistently around the golf course and ponds.   Who knows?  Maybe we will be fortunate enough that one day soon, we’ll have a roseate spoonbill pair nest here in the Lowcountry and that will give rise to a trend where these pink birds will embrace and grace our wetlands like the wood storks…”