New Year's Eve Toast to 2023

Wood Duck hunt in 'Da Swamp 12/27/23

My 15th Annual Toast to following the outdoors trail, and bringing stories and photos to like-minded followers, will be much like as in the past. The weather does not stop outdoor activities as the calendar flips from January to December each year, but the pursuits dictated by hunting seasons can change, while fishing or birding are in-season all year long. I remain grateful to the publications that chose to work with this veteran writer to raise awareness about conservation and tales from the field in 2023, and stand ready for more of the same in 2024. 

Top Stories are Tall Ship Nao Trinidad - S.C. Hawk Watch, Kiawah Bird Banding - Wildflowers at Webb Center - Surf Fishing Clinics - 60th Coon Dog Day  - Beidler Birding By Ear - Horseshoe Crab Awareness - Bio Blitz at Caw Caw 

Trout Fishing on 12/1/23

To view past blog entries from my New Year's Eve Toast click on 2022 - 2021 - 2020- 2019- 2018- 2017- 2016 - 2015- 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 

2023 Palmetto Bluff - Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Anhinga over Duck Pond

The annual Christmas Bird Count at Palmetto Bluff took place on December 15 under very windy, but clear and cold conditions. The team assembles in pre-dawn darkness at the duck ponds to watch for waterfowl stirring at first light. A great-horned owl sounded off in the darkness several times, and a Wilson's Snipe made its kissy noise before 150 wood ducks lifted off for the horizon. Other waterfowl observations that followed included 45 green-winged teal, 10 blue-winged teal, 18 Buffleheads, 25 hooded mergansers, 5 Canada Geese, and 1 Northern Shoveler. 

Palmetto Bluff CBC Team hard at work

We went on to spot 3,114-individual birds encompassing 73-species of birds. This data is included in the Hilton Head Audubon circle. The data from the South Carolina 2021 CBC and the 2021 National CBC are both available now for Birders to review and enjoy. 

To view past CBC counts at Palmetto Bluff click on 2022 - 2021 

To view 2023 Birding Trips click Yawkey Center / Winter - Nemours Wildlife Foundation - Yawkey Center / Fall - Botany Bay WMA -  Fripp Island -  Wings Over Beaufort -  Sea Island Shorebird Festival - Beidler Forest - Harbor Island- Kiawah Island -  Webb Wildlife Center - Whooping Crane Pond - Jarvis Creek Park - Caw Caw Bio Blitz - Hammock Coast Birding Festival  -  Botany Bay WMA - Pinckney Island NWR -  ACE Basin NWR Combahee Unit 

Pair of Bald Eagles: one mature, one immature

Hermit Thrush near Barge Landing

2023 Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center - Winter Birding

Elusive Sora (click on pic for larger view)

The Birding Photography Tour on December 5 at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center enjoyed partially sunny skies and particularly good light for photos. Photogs from Hilton Head, Charleston and Myrtle Beach had traveled to Belle Isle landing to catch the ferry over to Cat Island for the day trip van tour. The open understory of the longleaf pinewoods makes for good viewing, but the woodland critters did not show themselves on this day. The first of many van stops overlooking waters of the Santee Delta is where we found waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds a plenty. Other highlights include a Sora, a Bonaparte Gull and large flocks of migrating short-billed dowitchers.

Short-billed Dowitchers flocking

To view past blog enrtries from Yawkey Center click on 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 birding trips from 2023 click on  Nemours Wildlife Foundation - Yawkey Center / Fall - Botany Bay WMA -  Fripp Island -  Wings Over Beaufort -  Sea Island Shorebird Festival - Beidler Forest - Harbor Island- Kiawah Island -  Webb Wildlife Center - Whooping Crane Pond - Jarvis Creek Park - Caw Caw Bio Blitz - Hammock Coast Birding Festival  -  Botany Bay WMA - Pinckney Island NWR -  ACE Basin NWR 

Hawk patrolling the marsh

Coots (in foreground) and migratory waterfowl

2023 Waccamaw NWR - Hasty Point Plantation

Beautiful Hasty Point Plantation

Established on December 1, 1997 the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge is defined by the Great Pee Dee and the Waccamaw Rivers. These two rivers scoured out the alluvial flood plain forested wetlands and they create unique places such as Sandy Island, which is just one of the landmarks now protected by the Refuge system. Hasty Point Plantation and Carver's Bay, a black bear hot spot, have come into a wide portfolio of properties that is now the Waccamaw NWR. Even though this Refuge property is reserved for the wilder parts of nature, the water heading downstream is a source of drinking water for the Grand Strand region.

Great Pee Dee River at Welcome Center

While migratory waterfowl and songbirds are a primary focus of management here, game species abound including hogs, bear, deer and turkey. Public access hunting, especially for youth, is a hallmark of the Waccamaw NWR. In regards to Hasty Point plantation the USFWS stewardship efforts include maintenance of a historic Rice Barn, and this boat landing offers the easiest access to the managed impoundments on Sandy Island. During my visit on December 6 with biologist Craig Sasser, he related that thousands of wood ducks were seen roosting on the island the evening prior when USFWS were holding an end of day gathering. No tour of Hasty Point is complete without seeing lots of fox squirrels scurrying about the mature live oak allee.

Bear Taxidermy at Welcome Center

Refuge Boundaries

To view past blog entries from the Pee Dee region click on 2018 Waterfowl Workshop - 2014 SALTT Trail  - 2014 Warrior Tribute Duck Hunt - 2012 TNC acquires Carvers Bay - 2012 Duck Hunt 

2023 American Striped Bass Challenge - Santee Cooper Country

Team Blazer Boys claim First Place

The second Striped Bass Challenge at Santee was fished on December 2. Thirty-three teams went onto the Santee Cooper Country Lakes in search of Striper during a foggy, cool and windless day. A forecast for heavy rain did not materialize and teams were able to fish hard all day. The Drive-thru weigh-in at Santee State Park begins at 3 where the SCDNR freshwater tank trucks are awaiting to receive the striped bass. The tournament fish are weighed in alive, with teams weighing in two fish each, and then they are to be released back into the lake by SCDNR. 

Team Laid Back waiting on a Striper to Bite

Team Blazer Boys won first place with a two-fish aggregate weight of 29.9-pounds, good for the First Place prize of $14,150-dollars. Angler Dusty Pearson helped this team by weighing in a 20.7-pound striper that also won for heaviest fish of the day. His father Rocky Pearson and crew member Jason Brock came from Edgefield to fish the Santee tourney. The Top Ten places were awarded a prize, and so were the best youth angler and best lady angler. In addition to tourney prizes, a $6000 donation was made to Christian Adoption Services as a way to give back to the community.

Damon Melcho weighs in his Stripers

Santee State Park Ranger, Santee Cooper
Country Rep Jane Powell, and DNR staffers

To view past blog entries from Santee Cooper click on 2023 Crappie Camp - 2022 Crappie Camp - 2016 Duck Hunt TV Show - 2011 SCWA Duck Hunt - 2011 Gator Hunt - 2010 Duck Hunt - 2009 Duck Hunt

2023 Tall Ship - Spain's Nao Trinidad

Aft View in windy conditions

Nao Trinidad in Georgetown on 12/6/23

The full size replica of the Nao Trinidad was built in 2018. Nao Trinidad was one of the five ships under Magellan's command when the first circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1522, and the replica has been sailing to ports of call since 2022 to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the historic feat. Visitors are welcome to board the Nao Trinidad at ports of call, like I did in Georgetown, S.C. and she is also a floating maritime museum with a Spanish accent. She weighs 200 tons, is 95-feet in length and is 26-feet wide with 5 decks, 4 masts and 5 sails. Her full-time crew serve as hosts when in port, and they love sailing this wooden ship from Europe to visit North America, where the mere sight of her raises awareness about nautical history.

Rigging looking up to Lookout

Historical Maritime Tools

While aboard, I learned that the Nao designates a type of ship, which was the most advanced Tall Ship of its time. Its design was the result of evolution of Spanish ship building in order to improve their characteristics like greater load capacity with minimum draught depths often required for exploring unknown channels. The replica Nao has called on the Caribbean, Mexico, the East Coast and the Great Lakes thus far on her journey. The fact that it is the Holidays was not lost on the crew and I saw a fully decorated Christmas tree and heard wishes of Feliz Navidad.

To view past blog entries from wooden boats click EOS - Windy - Grace- Aphrodite - Osprey - Annalee - Hinckley

To view past blog entries on Tall Ships click 2012 Savannah Challenge -  2009 Charleston HarborFest - Spirit of Carolina

2023 Nemours Wildlife Foundation - Fall Birding

Royal tern in non-breeding plumage

The Fripp Island Audubon Birders went to Nemours on Nov. 17 for a full morning of birding. Cooler temps and a NE breeze called for jacket weather but after some morning mist the coastal clouds fared off. Beau Bauer and Heather Krause from Nemours staff greeted everyone at the educational building complex and the birding began by observing the ponds behind them. Avocets were present in large number, like 100, and 4 black-necked stilts and 2 Stilt Sandpipers were mixed in with them - which is a home run for shorebirds. Some wading birds and waterfowl were scattered here, and the calling of a bald eagle could be heard.

Fripp Island Audubon Birders

The group loaded onto the Birding Wagon after that and took a driving tour of the property that included stops at impoundments and woodlands. A large flock of 200 - 300 blue-winged teal were present and other waterfowl species were mixed in including pintail, mottled, gadwall and ring-necked ducks. Non-game fowl included Pie-billed grebe, Common gallinule and American coot. Other notable species flying over the Combahee River watershed were White Pelicans and Roseate Spoonbills. At another inland impoundment we saw terns, kingfishers, and gulls patrolling the area. At a freshwater impoundment we saw scores of alligators waiting for the warm up that was coming after noon, which is about when our tour was complete.

Combahee River Vista

Combahee River Flyway Waterfowl

To view past blog entries from Nemours click on 2022 Spring Birding - 2021 Fall Birding - 2021 Spring Birding - 2018 Waterfowl Workshop  - 2014 Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers - 2014 USDA Under Secretary -  2012 Army Corps of Engineers -  2011 Mottled Duck Study - 2010 Plantation Managers Mtg.

To view past blog entries from Friends of Nemours click Fall 2023 - Fall 2022 - Spring 2022 - 2021- 2017- 2014- 2013 - 2012 - 2009

To view 2023 Birding Trips click Botany Bay WMA -  Fripp Island -  Wings Over Beaufort -  Sea Island Shorebird Festival - Beidler Forest - Harbor Island- Kiawah Island -  Webb Wildlife Center - Whooping Crane Pond - Jarvis Creek Park - Caw Caw Bio Blitz - Hammock Coast Birding Festival  -  Botany Bay WMA - Pinckney Island NWR -  ACE Basin NWR Combahee Unit 

2023 Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center - Fall Birding

Mated Pair of Bald Eagles on Nov. 7

The November 7 Birding bus ride at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center took place in warm and sunny conditions, with a mosquito alert in effect. One never knows what to expect when setting foot on the exclusive Cat Island because the calendar and weather combine to dictate what is present. On this day, I was expecting to see lots of shorebirds, but was instead inundated with waterfowl, especially on the goose pond. Wading birds like wood storks and herons were present on the back side of the island at Blackout, but the shorebirds were darn near absent. A few blue-winged teal (less than 100) were loitering in this area though. This is a very active bald eagle site and my takeaway after seeing mature baldies all day long, is that they were for sure already paired up and making nest preparations for mating season.

Warm Weather had the Wildflowers in Bloom

To view 2023 Birding Trips click on Nemours Wildlife Foundation -  Botany Bay WMA -  Fripp Island -  Wings Over Beaufort -  Sea Island Shorebird Festival - Beidler Forest - Harbor Island- Kiawah Island -  Webb Wildlife Center - Whooping Crane Pond - Jarvis Creek Park - Caw Caw Bio Blitz - Hammock Coast Birding Festival  -  Botany Bay WMA - Pinckney Island NWR -  ACE Basin NWR Combahee Unit 

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

Yellowlegs Shorebird

2023 Raptor Migration / Hawk Watch in S.C.

Published in the November Issue of Trilogy Outdoors

Typically the months of September, October and November are associated with songbirds moving from North to South ahead of Winter. The same formula is at work for raptors and vultures too, and South Carolina has two stations along the coast to monitor them. The Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw and the Botany Bay WMA on Edisto utilize volunteers to sit, observe and count these birds as they pass by during these three months. Bald eagles are frequently seen during these counts, with many of these being mated pairs returning to South Carolina to use previously established nesting sites. 

In fact, the number of Bald eagles nesting in S.C. is at unprecedented levels as conservation efforts the past two decades have helped preserve prime coastal habitat. Bald eagles are the earliest birds to nest each year, getting a jump start on all others, with some bald eagles laying eggs in December and January. So if you observe bald eagles on a nest in November, they likely are shoring up its structure with fresh sticks or moss, and this behavior also serves as a prelude to mating. Bald eagle clutch sizes range from one to three eggs, with incubation taking five weeks, and young ones can remain in the nest for twelve weeks after hatching. Great-horned owls are also early nesters, usually laying eggs in February.

Bald eagles are no longer listed as an Endangered Species, as their recovery continues to soar. The S.C. bald eagle nest survey in 2009 recorded 253 eagle nests, and their population growth was estimated at 10% per year. Bald eagles eat roadside carrion, can catch fish with ease, and they feast on waterfowl that overwinter on coastal areas. An interesting fact is that Bald eagles do not have all-white heads and tailfeathers until they reach maturity at five years old. The immature eagles appear all brown, but at years three and four they can have a mottled appearance as white feathers begin to appear, giving advanced birders unique traits to look for.

            

As a volunteer for the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) I attended a training class ahead of the 2023 Fall migration. One thing I learned during training was that Turkey Vultures are migratory, and then during my days in the field I learned that they migrate A LOT! As of press time for The November issue of Trilogy Outdoors, the Edisto site has recorded 18,146 Turkey Vultures that flew right overhead, going down the coast. Other notable migration totals from Edisto are Osprey at 329, Bald Eagle at 241, Northern Harrier at 177, Sharp-shinned hawk at 128, Cooper’s Hawk at 155, Red-tailed Hawk at 82 and American kestrel at 358. To view data from any counting site in the HMANA database visit www.HawkCount.org on the Internet.

To view past blog entries from Trilogy Outdoors click on Kiawah Bird Banding -  2023 Crappie Camp -  Early Birds of September -  SCDNR Salt Fishing Clinics -  Silver King Makes Big Splash - S.C. Mahi Series - 2023 Yawkey Wildlife Center - 2023 Hammock Coast Birding Festival - 2023 Lowcountry Oyster Festival - 2022 Sea Turtle Season - Navigating an S.C. Public Draw Deer Hunt - Crappie Camp - Blessings of a Sporting Father

2023 Birding Journal Observations - September / October

Wet Osprey at Fripp Island on Oct. 5

The climactic conditions during late summer and early fall were drier and warmer than normal. Sure there was one cool week, and one named storm Idalia, but those were blips over the two-month timeframe. The subtle changes at the bird feeders began with the departure of my painted buntings, while the summer tanagers and blue grosbeaks held on for much longer. As these neotropical migratory birds began to fade from the landscape, the final act was when the ruby-throated hummingbirds departed for winter about mid-October. Plenty of butterflies remained on station at the pollinator garden, so the same source that kept the hummers entertained all summer remained in good shape, but they still headed out.

A flock of Ibis sitting on the Dock in September

Closer to the coast, the return of bald eagles and white pelicans began the first of October, and they should become more prevalent in November. Some shorebirds were already passing by the coast in early October but many of them stayed stationed on barrier islands to refuel during this same time. A new endeavor going on at Edisto Island is a HawkWatch Count program designed to capture the number of migrating raptors during the months of Sept, Oct. and November. Thus far the observations were slow in September, then heavy in October (perhaps signaling the peak of migration) and the numbers for November are not in yet. Overall, the fall migration of raptors and songbirds is greater that the spring migration, making this a great time of year to listen for birdsong and to carry optics to try and identify avian life.

To view the most recent birding observations click on July / August 2023

To view past Birding Journal Observations for Sept. / Oct. click on 2022 - 2021 - 2018- 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009