2021 Field Trips Announced!
The field trips for the first half of 2021 are here! Mark your calendars now.
January 16 – Phinizy Waterfowl field trip. This is a Phinizy event. Sign up on their page: https://phinizycenter.org/events/waterfowl-guided-drive/
January 23 – Lover’s Lane – meet at Popeye’s at Walton Way and Gordon Hwy at 8am. We will drive over to Lover’s Lane and look for wintering species. This is a great time to look for White-crowned Sparrows and we may possibly see wintering Painted Buntings.
February 6 – Silver Bluff Audubon Ponds – meet at 8 am at the Kathwood Ponds at Silver Bluff (look for the fence with the wooden birds on it). We will walk around the ponds to see what is there. If we have time we may drive down to the visitor’s center and walk the Nuthatch Trail to see what is there.
February 20 – Sparrows at Silver Bluff – We will meet at the visitor center picnic pavilion at 8 am to talk about sparrows. It is not as hard as people think to identify these little brown birds and Lois will give you tips and suggestions on how to tell them apart. We will walk around the field at the start of the Quail Trail and possibly walk into the sparrow field to get hands-on field work in identifying sparrows.
March 6 – Phinizy NP – Meet in the parking lot and we will walk the loop looking for early spring arrivals and waterfowl before they leave. The loop is approximately 2.5 miles long and goes through the wetlands as well as the woods.
March 20 – Lover’s Lane – Meet at Popeye’s at Walton Way and Gordon Hwy to drive to Lover’s Lane. We should find some lingering winter visitors and possibly some arriving spring visitors, you never know what you are going to find on this trip.
April 3 – Silver Bluff Audubon Center – Wings and Things. Meet at 8 am at the visitor center picnic pavilion. We will wander over the property looking for butterflies and dragonflies and anything else we find. Possible species include Piedmont Clubtail (dragonfly), Yucca Giant-skipper and Goatweed Leafwing (butterflies).
May 1 – Aiken Migration Count – Mark your calendars. We have teams out to count as many birds as possible in Aiken County. You can hit the road and count an area or you can count the birds at your feeders. We will organize closer to the day.
May 15 – Phinizy Swamp NP – Meet at the parking lot at 8am. We will walk the loop (2.5 miles) looking for breeding birds. This will be a great time to look for Painted Buntings (probably seen before we even get started).
May 29 – Silver Bluff – Meet at the visitor center picnic pavilion at 8am. We will walk the Quail Trail loop (3 miles) looking for summer breeders, butterflies and dragonflies.
