The great rewards of birdwatching

After working in the yard yesterday, we went for some birdwatching at the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge.  We wanted to see some waterfowl so we headed straight to the pond and marsh areas. 
What a nice surprise as we got there!  A Double-crested Cormorant was sitting right in the middle of the pond on a tilted log. Just like in the bird books.  We know this bird but we've never actually seen one before.  We see his "cousins" the Anhingas all the time.  Hello, Mr. Cormorant, you're not bad looking.  A small flock of Canada Geese were having some "loud conversations" at the other edge of the pond. 

Now, we're off to the marsh areas. We met various Passerines (songbirds) on our way.  A determined Titmouse was singing his heart off, calling for a female. Never mind humans walking by!  Getting close to the marshes.  Nothing, nothing, nada.  Turtles... wait a minute, ducks, YES!!! ducks, pretty ducks.  These are some very pretty ducks playing in the water.  You think the Wood Ducks and Mallards are pretty.  Yes, they are, but these ducks are different and pretty.  Full and fluffed red-burgundy head with a green mask, the same distinctive green you see in the Mallards and Wood Ducks.  More of the same green was in their wings as they were splashing in the water. A straight white line runs downward  his body toward the front, his tail... what's that???  Some distance to the right of the ducks were four Sand Hill Cranes watching us and wondering why we were not looking at them instead!  They're special visitors from Florida!!!  We don't have them here in Georgia usually.  We saw their unmistakable red caps before they took off.  Four of them, big but graceful in their flight.

The Sand Hill Cranes got the Green-Winged Teals aware and they too took off.  Yes, those pretty ducks were Green-Winged Teals.  After our Teals took off, another group of ducks took.  Those might be Wood Ducks, we didn't have a good look. Then another group!  Mallards? Oh well, there they go.  We've seen Mallards and Wood Ducks here before.  The Green-Winged Teals were our first.  As we were walking around, another group of 4 waterfoul just took off also.  Were those sleeping or something?  And how did we miss them?  Ok, ok, now we know.  Next time, we're coming even earlier, setting up a blind and waitting for them birds! We ain't walking in on those no more, hear?

That wasn't all, folks.  Before we left the swamp area, we saw three Rusty Blackbirds. Have you ever seen one of those?  Well, today was our first time too, so don't feel bad.  We got back the truck, ID'ed the birds we've seen and had our breakfast, very contented.  As we headed back driving through the forest, we were quite surprised at how vocal the birds were today. Chipping Sparrows, Chickadees, Cardinals... all singing.  We were the only humans around so, I guess, they all were happy to see us too.  The feeling is mutual.  To cap it all, there goes a BIG bird.  What was that?  We were driving quite slowly already and saw the biggest Red Tail Hawk we've ever seen.  He was flying low through the trees, his copper color tail looking very prominent.  We stopped and watched him for a minute as he perched, then we all went our ways.

I wish someone told me earlier birdwatching is so rewarding.  If you're reading this, trust me, birdwatching is fun.  I'm telling you.