Bird class- A life list?

Today I had my second birding class at Clemson. I did have a short course at Tremont, but did rather badly - I'm hoping for better this time. The first class took place on campus in the middle of an incredible amount of development ... workers digging holes, building things and even one man mowing the dirt. It was so hard to hear, but we started our bird list with 10 pretty common birds. The highlight was a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk who didn't seem to quite have the hang of flying an perching. I think he thought he was hot stuff but we saw him more as a goof-ball. But he was very cooperative and we got a really good look at his developing belly band.

The birds we saw, Day 1: Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, House Finch, signs of a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Cardinals, Red-talk hawk, Brown Thrasher, Red Headed Woodpecker, White throated sparrow, Dark eyed Junco and the ever cheery Carolina Wren.

I knew everything except the White Throated Sparrow. I didn't get a good look this in the first class, but this morning I had a great view of one in the bushes below the Bob Campbell Geology Museum. I didn't get this close but was able to see his yellow lores as he scratched around at the base of the lantana stems.



Today, in our second class, we visited the SCBG. I had gone to the Garden after class on Tuesday for something and was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Robins feeding on the American Hollies outside the Hanson Discovery Center. There must have been around a thousand or more. As I scanned the tall, rich green bushes studded with brilliant red berries I spotted a Cedar Waxwing with its characteristic mask, bright yellow tail and bright red wing tips.