March-birding: A BIG MONTH!

      March has been my favorite month this year yet, getting lots of new county birds and now beginning to experience SPRING MIGRATION!  Here is some of the news from this current month:

March 1-

            Drove by Merry Bros. Brickyard Ponds on the highway and saw the Common Loon that has wintered here in Augusta through the window! No pictures, but county year-bird #100!!!  

After seeing that species, I realized that I was 50% through with my goal! I was a little bit behind my mark for that #, as I wanted to be at 100 by the end of January. But, I made up for the slacking with some good year-birds this month. Later that day at Bluff Plantation, I not only saw more Greater Yellowlegs, but also Lesser Yellowlegs! A year-bird!

Lesser Yellowlegs- Richmond Co. Year-bird #101

March 2- 

    I heard a Fish Crow call above my house, which meant #102.

March 9-

   Went to Phinizy Swamp and saw an American Bittern.

American Bittern- Richmond Co. Year-bird #103

March 22-  

         A beautiful Saturday, but no one to drive me anywhere. So, I decided to improvise, walking to one of my secret birding spots (which may or may not be on private property) near the neighboring golf course. I went in with 103 and came out with 105. 

     Blue-gray Gnatcatcher- Richmond Co. Year-bird #104
     Northern Parula- Richmond Co. Year-bird #105

   This was a sign that SPRING WAS HERE!!!!!





March 23- MOVING DAY


         Went to Phinizy Swamp on bikes with my Dad. Very birdy day with dozens of Northern Parulas, Yellow-throated Warblers, and White-eyed Vireos singing. Before even pulling into the park we saw what made us blink twice:  MISSISSIPPI KITE! The earliest record for Georgia EVER! Was seen circling in an airfield. This find pumped up our adrenaline for the rest of the day. We ended up seeing 3 new year-birds, but got pictures of none of them... Which didn't matter in the end. Cause' I finally got pictures of King Rails! After 3 straight trips with incredible looks at these super-secretive birds, and with no camera, I now was able to gets shots of them!

Pair of King Rails

King Rail Closeup

King Rail

I also got a good one of another American Bittern.

American Bittern

On another note, we also saw 16 different snakes, 3 different species, and 11 within 10 sq ft of each other!

-13 Cottonmouths

Baby Cottonmouth

Nasty Cottonmouth

-2 Rat Snakes

Rat Snake

           -1 Red-bellied Water Snake

Year-birds were: 

Mississippi Kite- Richmond Co. Year-bird #106

Tree Swallow- Richmond Co. Year-bird #107

Sharp-shinned Hawk- Richmond Co. Year-bird #108     (a crucial year-need picked up just in time)

March 26-

     On the way home from school I saw 2 Eurasian Collared-Doves.

Eurasian Collared Dove- Richmond Co. Year-bird #109

March 28-

       On a rainy afternoon, I went fishing in my neighborhood pond. I was surprised to see 5 Wood Ducks and 2 species of swallow. Both swallows were year-birds.

Barn Swallow- Richmond Co. Year-bird #110

Northern Rough-winged Swallow- Richmond Co. Year-bird #111

So, as of now, the Richmond Co. Year-list is at 111.

Thanks for keeping up with the blog! I promise to stay up to date!