Allendale kite area
Robin Carter
Directions
From the intersection of US 278 and US 301 in Allendale go southwest on US 301 (towards Georgia) for one block. Here turn left (southeast), onto Flat Street. Go three blocks on Flat Street and then turn right onto Road 19, Barton Road. Continue south on Barton Road for about 2 miles, to the intersection with Road 47, Revolutionary Trail. Park along Barton Road just south of this intersection.
Birds to look for
Anhinga (s), Least Bittern (s), Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron (s), Cattle Egret (s), White Ibis (s), Wood Stork (s), Osprey (s, m), Swallow-tailed Kite (s), Mississippi Kite (s), Bald Eagle, American Kestrel (w), King Rail, Virginia Rail (w), Sora (w), Wilson's Snipe (w), American Woodcock (w), Common Moorhen, Eastern Kingbird (s), Loggerhead Shrike (s), Horned Lark, Tree Swallow (m), Bank Swallow (m), Cliff Swallow (m), American Pipit (w), Vesper Sparrow (w), Savannah Sparrow (w), Blue Grosbeak (s), Indigo Bunting (s), Painted Bunting (s), Rusty Blackbird (w), Brewer's Blackbird (w)
Description
All of the areas described here are private property. All birding must be done from the public roadside. The agricultural fields and pastures along Barton Road and Revolutionary Trail sometimes attract large numbers of Swallow-tailed Kites and Mississippi Kites. From mid July until early August, especially from about 9:00 AM until about noon, birders often find flocks of both species of kites. Fifty Swallow-tailed Kites and 30 Mississippi Kites, feeding over the fields, are not unusual.
The fields and pastures of this general vicinity are good for roadside birding at any time of year. If you go east on Road 47, Revolutionary Trail, you will pass pastures next to a large prison (good for kites). About 2 miles east of Barton Road along Revolutionary Trail you will find a small marsh that is sometimes good for bitterns, rails, Common Moorhen, and a few shorebirds.
Horned Larks breed in large, bare agricultural fields along Barton Road and also along Road 129, Oswald Drive, which goes east from Barton Road about 1.6 miles north of the intersection with Revolutionary Trail.
Common Ground-Doves have been found more than once in agricultural areas a few miles north of Allendale and should be looked for along Barton Road and Revolutionary Drive as well.