2024 Yawkey Center Winter Tours are Heating Up

Van access at Yawkey is Great!

Touring one of the best preserved wildlife areas on the South Carolina coast is best done during cooler weather, and the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center aims to please. These free guided tours are offered weekly from September through May, including topics such as Carolina Rice Culture, Awesome Alligators and a Longleaf Forest Exploration. A phone call or email to reserve your seat, translates into a short boat ride to this barrier island for a van tour along sand ridge roads that make this wildlife wonderland accessible. Locals may have known about the Yawkey Tours for years, but first-time visitors are trending, and this property offers biodiversity that is
extraordinary.

To view the feature article in the Post and Courier click on Tideline.

To view past blog entries from the Yawkey Center click on Patrick McMillan -  2023 Winter Birding - 2023 Fall Birding -  2023 Formula For Success - 2023 Winter Photo Safari -  2018 Walk Through History - 2016 Birding Tour - 2015 Shorebirds with Manomet - 2015 Yawkey Legacy Story 

To view past blog entries from Tideline click on 2024 Red Trout tourney -  Sullivan's Island Bird Banding Station -  Beidler BioBlitz -  October Conservation Calendar -  October Saltwater Forecast -  Birds of a Feather Toast-  Photography Tips - Riton Optics - Lighthouse Inlet Preserve -  Coosawhatchie WMA -  Holy City Tarpon Tourney - Int'l Fly Fishing Film Festival - Carolina Kingfish Classic -  Fishing For Mountain Trout -  Hooked On Miracles -  HMY Lowcountry Cup - Turkeys For Tomorrow-  Carolina Ladies Billfish Classic - Paddling For Pups Photos - 2024 Atlantic Cup - Silvopasture Forestry- Beidler Forest 50th Anniversary - Charleston Race Week Photos - Southeast Shorebird Festival - ACE Basin Day Photos - Santee Big Cat Brawl - Carolina Marsh Tacky Association - SEWE Photos - Five Birding Hotspots 

 

2024 Red Trout Celebrity Classic Kicks Off

Anglers Marvie Benford and Jamie Moore releasing redfish

Redfish tournaments in the Fall of the year are not uncommon, but the one that brings celebrities to the Lowcountry to Catch A Cure for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is unique. What started in 2002 as a part of the RedBone Series out of Florida targeting redfish and bonefish, is now a stand-alone event in its 23rd year targeting redfish and trout. TV show hosts Blair Wiggins and Carter Andrews will anchor the celebrity anglers, and 27-boats are registered to fish on November 7 and 8. The two-person fishing teams are paired with a professional guide and everyone departs and returns to Shem Creek for daily events at Water’s Edge.

“This is an inshore catch and release tourney, where fish lengths for reds and trout are measured, and release times recorded by the guides,” said Onskyo. “We have many regular fishing guides and anglers each year that are chomping at the bit to compete in the Red Trout, and the fishing action can be red hot. We have a pairings party on Thursday Nov. 7 at the Cabana Bar at Water’s Edge, and on Friday and Saturday we have Lines In for fishing at 8 AM and Lines Out each day at 3 PM. The Red Trout tourney supplies the fish rulers to all the boats so that uniform measurements are recorded, and scoring sessions follow each day of fishing, with an awards reception on Saturday.”

To view the feature article in the Post and Courier click on Tideline. 

To view past blog entries from Red Trout click on 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

To view past blog entries from Tideline click on Sullivan's Island Bird Banding Station -  Beidler BioBlitz -  October Conservation Calendar -  October Saltwater Forecast -  Birds of a Feather Toast-  Photography Tips - Riton Optics - Lighthouse Inlet Preserve -  Coosawhatchie WMA -  Holy City Tarpon Tourney - Int'l Fly Fishing Film Festival - Carolina Kingfish Classic -  Fishing For Mountain Trout -  Hooked On Miracles -  HMY Lowcountry Cup - Turkeys For Tomorrow-  Carolina Ladies Billfish Classic - Paddling For Pups Photos - 2024 Atlantic Cup - Silvopasture Forestry- Beidler Forest 50th Anniversary - Charleston Race Week Photos - Southeast Shorebird Festival - ACE Basin Day Photos - Santee Big Cat Brawl - Carolina Marsh Tacky Association - SEWE Photos - Five Birding Hotspots 

2024 Sullivan's Island Bird Banding Station - Inaugural Fundraiser

The migratory warblers that fly thousands of miles during migration are looking for places like the maritime forest on Sullivan’s Island as a brief resting place. Biologist Sarah Harper is the director and permit holder for the Sullivan’s Island Bird Banding Station (SIBBS), conducting seasonal migratory bird research and environmental outreach. The busy Fall migration season begins on September 1 and will come to a close on Nov. 20 and Harper has been in the field with her team of dedicated volunteers for early morning bird banding and record keeping. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Oct. 15

The first ever Fundraiser for SIBBS well be held at the Sullivan’s Island Club on Saturday, November 2 from 1 – 4 PM. Two bands, food and drink, and of course social time with birding enthusiasts all within an easy walk to the bird banding area at Station 16.

To view the feature article in the Post and Courier click on Tideline.

To view past blog entries from Tideline click on Beidler BioBlitz -  October Conservation Calendar -  October Saltwater Forecast -  Birds of a Feather Toast-  Photography Tips - Riton Optics - Lighthouse Inlet Preserve -  Coosawhatchie WMA -  Holy City Tarpon Tourney - Int'l Fly Fishing Film Festival - Carolina Kingfish Classic -  Fishing For Mountain Trout -  Hooked On Miracles -  HMY Lowcountry Cup - Turkeys For Tomorrow-  Carolina Ladies Billfish Classic - Paddling For Pups Photos - 2024 Atlantic Cup - Silvopasture Forestry- Beidler Forest 50th Anniversary - Charleston Race Week Photos - Southeast Shorebird Festival - ACE Basin Day Photos - Santee Big Cat Brawl - Carolina Marsh Tacky Association - SEWE Photos - Five Birding Hotspots 

Director Sarah Harper and Volunteer Mary English

2024 Birding Journal Observations - September / October

Red-tailed Hawk in Birdbath on Oct. 2

The months of September and October were both warmer and drier than average, with the exception of Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene. Migratory bird patterns did not miss a beat though with Amercian redstarts one of the earliest arrivals in September. Common yellowthroat, catbird and ruby-crowned kinglet were in town by early  October and finally by late October the yellow-rumped warblers were plentiful. The Kiawah Island bird banding station is set to have processed a record amount of migratory birds in 2024.

Of course Hawk migration was going strong starting in September and the Hawk Watch program at Botany Bay on Edisto will record sighting for the months of September, October and November. Waterfowl migration may be a little slow, with he harvest moon in October thought by many to be the green light for ducks, and I have heard reports of wood ducks, pintails and ringnecks arriving in S.C.

To view the most recent Birding Journal Observations click on July / August 2024

To view past Birding Journal Observations from September / October click on 2023 -  2022- 2021 - 2018- 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009  

2024 Stono Preserve / Dixie Plantation - Fall Birding

Spotted Sandpiper sighting

The Seabrook Island Birders (SIB) traveled to Hollywood, S.C. on Oct. 29 for a full day of birding. College of Charleston Faculty member Melissa Hughes welcomed the SIB group at the barn and then led us along the banks of the Stono River. A bald eagle gave us a glimpse as it flew across the spartina marsh, and then not long after walking in the same direction, we found a new eagle nest in a living pine tree with two mature bald eagles sitting in it. Eureka! 

Heading into the woods on a hiking trail we spotted lots of movement from smaller birds and saw the Common yellowthroat, yellow-rump warbler, tufted titmouse, cardinal, mockingbird and more. A plethora of woodpeckers were sighted with the Northern flicker and Yellow-bellied sapsucker letting us know they are back in town for winter. About five spotted sandpipers were spotted at an impoundment, along with two white pelicans, one roseate spoonbill, one little blue heron and two snowy egrets.

Seabrook Island Birders viewing Eagle nest

To view past birding trips from 2024 click on Beidler Forest - Carolina Bird Club -  Earth Day / Kiawah - Spring Island - Southeast Shorebird Festival - Hammock Coast Birding Festival - Huntington Beach State Park - Yawkey Center - Yemassee CBC - Edisto CBC 

2024 Beidler Forest and Audubon Center - BioBlitz

River Otter at rest at Beidler Forest on 10/12

The hardwood bottomland ecosystem at the Francis Beidler Forest and Audubon Center hosted the BioBlitz on October 12 and invited guest naturalists and also welcomed to public to participate.

The gates to Beidler Forest open at 9 AM and master naturalist Kerri Barrett was volunteering to help, and assigned the task of heading to the oxbow lake and deploying a fish trap to try and attract aquatic life. A cool snap brought the overnight temperatures down to 45-degrees, and I was able to join Barrett on her trek down the boardwalk to the lake. Wildlife observations are best in the mornings and since we were the first to set foot on the boardwalk we quickly spotted a doe deer, two otters taking a morning swim, wild turkeys and a wood stork resting in a cypress tree.

To view the feature article in the Post and Courier click on Tideline.

Inaugural Beidler BioBlitz 10/12/24

To view past blog entries from Tideline click on October Conservation Calendar -  October Saltwater Forecast -  Birds of a Feather Toast-  Photography Tips - Riton Optics - Lighthouse Inlet Preserve -  Coosawhatchie WMA -  Holy City Tarpon Tourney - Int'l Fly Fishing Film Festival - Carolina Kingfish Classic -  Fishing For Mountain Trout -  Hooked On Miracles -  HMY Lowcountry Cup - Turkeys For Tomorrow-  Carolina Ladies Billfish Classic - Paddling For Pups Photos - 2024 Atlantic Cup - Silvopasture Forestry- Beidler Forest 50th Anniversary - Charleston Race Week Photos - Southeast Shorebird Festival - ACE Basin Day Photos - Santee Big Cat Brawl - Carolina Marsh Tacky Association - SEWE Photos - Five Birding Hotspots

2024 October Conservation Calendar

October is filled with activities promoting the outdoors in Charleston, from tournaments to fundraisers. Here is a look at four fun ones:

Southern Sailfish Derby tournament

Botany Bay WMA Hawk Watch Day Oct. 26

Charleston Ducks Unlimited Fall Banquet Oct. 18

Wingspan Fall Gala to benefit Center for Birds of Prey Oct. 27

To view the feature article in the Post and Courier click on Tideline.

To view past blog entries from Tideline click on October Saltwater Forecast -  Birds of a Feather Toast-  Photography Tips - Riton Optics - Lighthouse Inlet Preserve -  Coosawhatchie WMA -  Holy City Tarpon Tourney - Int'l Fly Fishing Film Festival - Carolina Kingfish Classic -  Fishing For Mountain Trout -  Hooked On Miracles -  HMY Lowcountry Cup - Turkeys For Tomorrow-  Carolina Ladies Billfish Classic - Paddling For Pups Photos - 2024 Atlantic Cup - Silvopasture Forestry- Beidler Forest 50th Anniversary - Charleston Race Week Photos - Southeast Shorebird Festival - ACE Basin Day Photos - Santee Big Cat Brawl - Carolina Marsh Tacky Association - SEWE Photos - Five Birding Hotspots