Just took the opportunity to go back through every page of this thread. May it run forever!!!
The white pelicans have left us and moved north for another season. A true marking on the calendar that Spring is here.
Just saw a wild turkey in our pasture, just outside our yard. First time for us here, been here 12 years. Blackbirds migrated back a few weeks ago , and the robins. Finches stayed all winter eating us out of house and home. Used to have lots of sparrows, but the finches and junkos are now in the majority it seems. Very few sparrows.
We enjoyed a really great day of birding Friday. There were just so many birds that we spent almost 4 hours at Occoquan. Some of the birds we saw: Cormorant, Bluebird, Cardinal, Chickadee, Yellow-breasted Chat, Common Yellow Throat, Prothonotory Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Northern Towhee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Osprey, Tree Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Goldfinch, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellowlegs, Sandpiper, Brown Thrasher, Orchard Oriole, and others I don’t remember off hand. Also some water snakes and river otters. A neat day and every one was singing. Here’s the Common Yellow-Throat.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030334_YellowThroat.JPG)
Indigo Bunting
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030409_IndigoBunting.JPG)
The Bluebird was taking food to the kids
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030359_Bluebird.JPG)
It had been awhile since we had seen the Yellow Breasted Chat:
Back on May 12, I took this picture of 4 robins in the nest. It looks like a TIGHT fit.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030423S.JPG)
A couple of days ago, one of them was seen begging for food.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030489S.JPG)
Today, we walked around Bull Run battlefield. We saw a lot of the Eastern Meadowlark.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030510%20s.JPG)
And, though plain, this Grasshopper Sparrow. He has a wierd call…sounds like an insect.
Last month we visited my wife’s sister and family in South Carolina. While birding, we ran into this Fox Squirrel. We mostly get gray squirrels here, so this was a bit of a novelty.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030591.JPG)
A Blue Grosbeak
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030601.JPG)
Northern Parula
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030615.JPG)
She had a hawk come take a bath in her backyard
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030709.JPG)
The Painted Bunting doesn’t come north by us, so it was a sight to see
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030716.JPG)
This Yellow-Billed Cuckoo was also in her yard
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030760.JPG)
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Took these last weekend down at Occoquan Wildlife Refuge. It’s a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Usually, they’re hard to snap because they are always moving around. This one wanted to pose.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030856_BG_GnatCatcher.JPG)
Bruce Chandler said:Upstate or the low country? They have white squirrels in Henderson County about 30 minutes from here. They are not Albino. I've always wanted to trap a few and start a colony here. Ralph
Last month we visited my wife's sister and family in South Carolina.
Pretty low, I guess. They live near Myrtle Beach.
Got a nice shot of a Baltimore Oriole and his nest last Tuesday, Occoquan NWR.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030919_BaltimoreOriole.JPG)
Bruce Chandler said:I lived in Murrels Inlet and worked in Myrtle Beach. I don't remember seeing any Fox Squirrels. I was a bit younger then. Maybe I just wasn't looking ;)
Pretty low, I guess. They live near Myrtle Beach.
Did you get a chance to go to Huntington Beach State Park? Great place for birding, swimming and spotting Gators.
Ralph
Heck, I never heard of a Fox Squirrel. We went to the gardens next to the beach. 
I got a few nice shots today. This is the King Bird.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030933_KingBird.JPG)
The King Rail:
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Birds/P1030942_KingRail.JPG)
The Prothonotory Warbler:
Ah,
Brookgreen Gardens. Nice place. Did you take the boat ride on the Intercoastal? The Gullah people inhabit an Island just to the south.
But I bet you would enjoy Huntington Beach more.
Take my word and go if you get the chance.
I’d like to see the bird photos you’ll take there 
The marshes are prime habitat for birds, as well as alligators.
We lived just minutes away. We were either at Huntington Beach or Pawley’s Island nearly every day.
Ralph
Nice shots, Bruce. How do you get the birds to pose for you? They never stick around long enough here to get a good picture…
Ken Brunt said:You should see all of the pictures I have of leaves and branches...not a bird in sight ;)
Nice shots, Bruce. How do you get the birds to pose for you? They never stick around long enough here to get a good picture................;)
Very nice photos Bruce. I really enjoy them. My home town, Goshen, IN, has black squirrels. They have taken over for the normal brown squirrels. In the late 1800’s a couple of local guys went up to the Yukon looking for Gold. All they brought back were a couple of black squirrels. Smaller than the brown but much more feisty. Know to chase small dogs. Every once in a while you will spot one that is 1/2 brown & 1/2 black.
(http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/sheepdog/BlackSquirrel.jpg)
(Not my photo) Craig
Could not open the door, and was afraid to work the blinds much, for fear of scaring the woodpecker, I do believe…
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/andyc/Not%20Trains/Birds/Woodpecker%20Pic%202.jpg)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/andyc/Not%20Trains/Birds/Woodpecker%20Pic%203.jpg)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/andyc/Not%20Trains/Birds/Woodpecker%20Pic%204.jpg)
Looks like a red-bellied woodpecker. Something like this:
Bruce, yes, that’s it… Seemed funny to me to see them eating at a bird feeder…
Hehehe. Yeah, you never know. We get them here on our feeder as well. Pretty bird.