Field trip at the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge

We took our June field trip at the Piedmont NWR this past weekend.  This is a great place for birding in Middle Georgia and one of the few places where you can find the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.  If you don't already know about the "Piedmont", click on the link I've inserted in the first sentence for you.



At Lake Juliette

 The group, twelve of us, met at Juliette by the river where we spent some twenty minutes birding and observed about 30 bird species. 


Bitter Sneezeweed, by Doug Kimball



This includes a pair of Eastern Kingbirds feeding four chicks, Summer Tanagers, Canada Geese, and many more.

We continued on to the Kid's Pond area with a stop on the way. A pretty male American Goldfinch showed off his yellow.

Ok, we're here for birding, but who can resist all the beautiful blooming wildflowers?
We also spotted two otters and beavers at the Kid's Pond.  

Allison Lake

We were rewarded by the morning hours birding.  We enjoyed a good birding activities with various warblers including Kentucky, Northern Parula, Hooded, Pine, Prairie, and Yellow Throated. These last two gave us some good viewing. They were beautiful to behold!



Buttonbush, by Doug Kimball

As we moved along to Allison Lake, we were surprised by the number of Anhingas that were there.  Seven! Also observed, were a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, Orchard Orioles, Red-winged Black Birds, various vireos including Blue Headed (thanks Paul Johnson!), and a good number of Sparrows.  Apparently, Bachman Sparrows are breeding in this area as we've noticed a good number.  

Falling Water



 We made a stop at Falling Water before heading to Pond 2A. 

More and more birds as we moved along.  Eastern Towhee, various Flycatchers including the quite vocal Great Crested, Wood Thrushes, lots of Indigo Buntings proclaiming to the world where their territories are by their pretty songs, Northern Bobwhites (by the Kid's Pond), lots of Red Headed Woodpeckers, fewer Red Bellied and Downies, and just one Pileated.



Bachman's Sparrow, by Jim Gilreath



Japanese Bush-clover, by Doug Kimball



We finally made it to Pond 2A to see the ...Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.  We didn't see them.  These are typically early birds.  But we did see a lot of Tree Swallows! going in and out of their nesting spots in tree cavities. 



Tree Swallow



A confused "Bamby", a fawn, performed a nice gallop for us to the delight of everyone. 



Where is my Mommie, all  these humans around?? Photo by Jim Gilreath.

Great shot! Great hop!



Pond 2A



Spiked Hoary-pea, by Doug Kimball


We appreciated more birds near Pond 2A with the Summer Tanagers, Prairie Warblers, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Bluebirds, Brown Headed Nuthatches, all the birds I cannot mention here.  All in all at least 56 bird species and 100s of beautiful birds.  Field trips are great!

Comments are welcome!

The pictures in this post that do not have someone's name in the caption are by Andre Coquerel