Lowcountry outdoors: 2023 Hunting Island Shorebirds

Piping Plover with Leg Bands - BLING!

A new birding festival popped up in the Lowcountry called Wings Over Beaufort, and I was fortunate to buy a ticket for a shorebird walk on Hunting Island, because other events were sold out. My fellow Master Naturalist Jenn Clementoni organized the festival, but my trip was led by Craig Watson and Pamela Ford of Charleston. Each birder received a Visitor Pass from the State Park kiosk upon arrival so that we could park near the lighthouse, and enjoy a leisurely 2-mile hike down the beach to the southern end of this barrier island. The tide was low and the opportunistic beachcombers (like me) were able to see many seashells along the way like moonsnail, sand dollars and the occasional conch with a crab residing inside.

Skimmers flying into the wind with grace

The first shorebirds spotted were down at the water's edge, running left and right with no particular rhythm, as Sanderlings tend to do. The next small group of shorebirds included a willet, in nondescript non-mating plumage, and several Ruddy Turnstones. Looking far away down the beach Watson said he spotted a fire Red Knots, but they flew off before others could ID them. A few black-bellied plovers with mostly white bellies were seen on the beach and Watson spotted a Dowitcher in that group too. A large group of black skimmers took off from the beach, and we followed their arcing flight until they landed on a sandbar off the beach. They had plenty of company out there including pelicans and plenty of shorebirds. We set up multiple spotting scopes to view these birds, before finishing our journey to the end of the beach, where we saw a piping plover with multiple leg bands, our 'Daymaker' shorebird. Peggy Lucas informed the group that these bird bands came from the Great Lakes region, and that this bird had already made a successful migration.

Birders at Hunting Island State Park on Sept. 23

On our return stroll back down the beach we saw a couple of mature bald eagles in flight, and an osprey. The wind had been howling on the southern spit next to Johnson's Creek, across from Harbor Island, and now we had a respite, though we all got wind burn to go with our fresh sun. After grabbing lunch at the Shrimp Shack, I continued birding down at the Environmental Center which was celebrating its Grand Reopening after renovations. I saw wading birds like great blue heron, egret and tri-colored heron there, plus a busy Kingfisher. Others were enjoying fishing off of the refurbished pier, and I wished I had time to wet a line too. As I left Hunting Island, several large groups of Wood Storks were observed in the woodland ponds alongside the road.