2023 Botany Bay WMA - Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Published in The Edisto News

The Inaugural Christmas Bird Count on Edisto Island was completed by 22 volunteers on Monday, January 2. This bird count is affiliated with the Audubon Society and has over 100 years of prior history, and new counts are welcome to join in. A range of dates from December into January each year gives bird count groups some flexibility to choose a date that works for them. Tom Austin from the Edisto Land Trust tallies all of the reports from the different teams that were in the field, and enters the official count numbers with Audubon.

Flock of shorebirds containing multiple species

The four-person team that was dispatched to count birds at Botany Bay WMA was led by SCDNR volunteer coordinator Bess Kellett. An all-day effort began at 7 a.m. at the welcome kiosk with a brief walk down the property line looking for woodland birds, before a short drive down to the dove fields where a larger number of birds were counted. A flock of 1000 red-winged blackbirds moved through the air like an amoeba and the volunteers were in awe. Just then a painted bunting was spotted, which was a surprise since neotropical migratory birds usually leave for winter. 

Bird Count Team on Boneyard Beach at Botany

            

The plan for the team to visit the beach at Botany during a 10:30 a.m. low tide worked perfectly as lots of shorebirds were found foraging at the water’s edge. Diving ducks could be seen just offshore using binoculars and spotting scopes. A flock of fourteen while pelicans flew right down the beach in a V-formation and a kingfisher could be heard fishing in a gully nearby. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent searching for wading birds like Ibis and Egrets on the back side of Botany WMA along the salt marsh. The entire Edisto Island Bird Count tally included 129  different species of birds counted, with over 10,000-total individual birds. 

To view past blog entries from Audubon Christmas Bird Count click on Palmetto Bluff 2022 / 2021

To view Field Trips from 2023 click on Pinckney Island NWR - ACE Basin NWR Combahee Unit

To view past blog entries from Edisto in 2022 click #WhoYouWhit Benefit - Land Trust Oyster Roast - Edisto Belles Beach Walk - Edisto Billfish Tourney - I Love Edisto Auction - Botany Bay WMA Birding - Edisto Dolphin Slam 

To view past blog entries from Edisto from 2021 click #WhoYouWhit Benefit- Edisto Water Sports Redfish Tourney - Edisto Beach Sweep - Manatee Sightings- Edisto River Sweep - CCA Barge Sunk off Edisto - Belles Beach Walk - Vacasa Purchases Atwood-  Gullah Blessing for Hutchinson House - Town Budget - Town Turtle Patrol - Edisto Billfish Tourney