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 

2023 Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge - Winter Birding

Orange-crowned Warbler

The Fripp Island Audubon Club traveled to Hilton Head to visit the Pinckney Island NWR. The morning of Tuesday Jan. 24 was clear, cold and had little wind - excellent birding conditions! Even the parking lot was full of activity with flocks of cedar waxwings circling nonstop overhead in the hardwoods. There was just no stopping the sighting of robins, yellow-rumped warblers and ibis all day long. One of the highlights of this property is Ibis Pond and it did not disappoint yielding sightings of the orange-crowned warbler and the common yellowthroat, plus a solo male blue-winged teal. Very memorable stuff!!

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

Guide Bob Speare led our group

To view Field Trips from 2022 click on Palmetto Buff Christmas Bird Count - Walterboro Wildlife Sanctuary - Bailey Mill Plantation - Niederhoff Seed Orchard - Hunting Island State Park - Botany Bay WMA

 - Nemours Wildlife Foundation - Cumberland Island - Harbor Island - Silver Bluff/Audubon - Phinizy Swamp - Oldfield Plantation - Dolphin Head Beach - Bear Island WMA - Widgeon Point Preserve - Port Royal Sound Foundation - Parris Island 

Common Yellowthroat

 

Horned Grebe on Mackay Creek

2023 Lowcountry Oyster Festival / Boone Hall Plantation

To view the entire feature story on the CCA Oyster Recovery at the Lowcountry Oyster Fest click on Trilogy Outdoors and go to Page 10. 

To view past entries from Trilogy Outdoors click on 2022 Sea Turtle Season - Navigating an S.C. Public Draw Deer Hunt - Crappie Camp - Blessings of a Sporting Father

2023 ACE Basin NWR Combahee Unit - Winter Birding

Waterfowl At Rest

The Fripp Island Audubon Club traveled to Beaufort County to look for wintering waterfowl at the managed impoundments along the Combahee River that belong to the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge. Cold and sunny weather proved successful for the birders as they hiked about three hours along the dikes that surround the flooded impoundments. Bald eagles perched in snag trees out by the river were a sign that there were plenty of ducks here on this day, and everyone enjoyed spotting songbirds and wading birds along the way. Roughly 1000 ringneck ducks were in one group, and they would fly up and then back down at a leisurely pace, since there is no duck hunting on the property. 

Fripp Island Birders

To view Field Trips from 2022 click Palmetto Buff Christmas Bird Count - Walterboro Wildlife Sanctuary - Bailey Mill Plantation - Niederhoff Seed Orchard - Hunting Island State Park - Botany Bay WMA - Nemours Wildlife Foundation - Cumberland Island - Harbor Island - Silver Bluff/Audubon - Phinizy Swamp - Oldfield Plantation - Dolphin Head Beach - Bear Island WMA - Widgeon Point Preserve - Port Royal Sound Foundation - Parris Island  

Grebe Vs. Coot comparison

Glossy Ibis Flyby

To view Field Trips from 2021 click  2021 Botany Bay WMA Birding - 2021 Tillman Sand Ridge- 2021 Nemours Plantation / Fall Birding - 2021 Coastal Exploration / South Fenwick Island - 2021 Hunting Island State Park / Lighthouse and Beach - 2021 Hunting Island State Park / Wildlife Sightings - 2021 Coastal Exploration / Bennett's Point- 2021 Edisto Canoe and Kayak Commission - 2021 Congaree / Swamp Plants - 2021 Congaree - Swamp Critters - 2021 Furman University - 2021 Givhans Ferry State Park -  2021 Spring Island - Reptiles and Amphibians - 2021 Spring Island / Plants and Insects - 2021 Fish Haul Beach / Wildlife - 2021 Fish Haul Beach / Vistas - 2021 Beidler Forest / Flora and Fauna - 2021 Beidler Forest - Name That Snake - 2021 Walterboro Wildlife Sanctuary - 2021 Nemours Plantation Birding

2022 Birding Journal Observations - November / December

Willet at Edisto Beach on Dec. 28

After New Year's Day spent with family for Sunday Supper, my outdoors calendar year begins with the first ever Christmas Bird Count on Edisto Island. The Bird Count is a function of the Audubon Society and has been in existence for more than 100 years, and is constantly adding new areas to their tally. I scouted for birds at Edisto Beach on Dec. 28 and saw scoter diving ducks right off the beach, a willet on the groin rocks and some Kingfishers over by the Marina. Much of the Edisto bird count focus will include Botany Bay WMA, and the surrounding areas.

Kingfisher at Edisto Marina on Dec. 28

During the final week of December the Lowcountry experienced a push of super-cooled Siberian air that caused low temps in the teens with a wind chill of 3-degrees. Overnight freezing temps persisted for five nights, and anyone worth their birdseed was keeping their songbird feeders stocked up and were surely rewarded with extra bird sightings. Suet and peanuts and any high-energy foods were really appreciated by the birds. Of course, large concentrations of birds can attract raptors and I had a Cooper's Hawk hunting right at my feeder on two consecutive nights near dusk, and I saw it have success at grabbing a small bird.

To view another Christmas Bird Count blog click on Palmetto Bluff

To view the most recent birding Journal Observations click September / October 2022

To view past Birding Journal Observations from November / December click on 2021 - 2020 - 2018-  2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013- 2012 - 2011 - 2010