Bachman's Sparrow at Babcock-Webb

The Ides of March - 2012

Eastern Towhee

I arrived just past sun-rise and expected to miss the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers as they exit there nest holes. I did hear a couple of calling Bachman's Sparrows in the pines after I had  passed the gun range, and as I appreached the the RCW colony on Oilwell Grade I could see that I was not the first ones here today.  Met a very nice couple from up-state New York, who already had one of the woodpeckers in their scope. But the other two woodpeckers found here did not exit their holes till ten minutes later. It was very nice to have hit on two of the three special species seen at Babcock so quickly. But it was too not long of a wait for the Brown-headed Nuthatch as I had one sighted in the same locality shortly,  while sorting through a mixed flock of Palm, Pine and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Bachman's Sparrow at Babcock-Webb by Joe Turner

As we were watching the woodpeckers another couple, Leslie Starr and Joe Turner from Maryland arrived. I offered suggestions on where to find the Bachman's Sparrows and later on I reconnected with them as they were scoping on a singing male bachman.  Joe was able to offer the a couple of his better photos of the sparrows for posting on this blog.  Leslie is quite a birder. As of this posting she has 323 birds for the year and is sitting #10 on the ebird list for the United States.

I was able to add most of my expected birds for Babcock-Webb  totaling 41 species - Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Stork, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tri-colored Heron, White Ibis, Swsallow-tailed Kite, Turkey Vulture, Common gallinule, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, Tree Swallow, House Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

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