2023 Hunting Island Shorebirds - Wings Over Beaufort Festival

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. 

Patch and T-Shirt Design

To view past blog entries on shorebirds click on 2023 Hunting Island - 2023 Sea Islands Festival - 2022 Harbor Island Shorebird Walk- 2020 Shorebird Protection on Botany Bay WMA - 2021 World Shorebird Day-  2018 Shorebirds Talk at Seabrook Island Birders -  2017 Shorebird Symposium by Kiawah Conservancy - 2016 Spring Shorebird Synergy - 2016 The Narrow Edge Book Review - 2015 Manomet Workshop at Yawkey Preserve - 2015 World Shorebird Day - 2014 Moon Bird Book Review - 2014 / Inaugural World Shorebird Day

To view 2023 Birding Trips click on  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 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  

To view Field Trips from 2021 click on  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

2023 Webb Wildlife Center - Fall Birding

Black and White Warbler on Sept. 22

After a morning walk looking for wildflowers at the Webb Wildlife Center, about half of our group of Master Naturalists from Spring Island headed for home. But those who packed a brown bag lunch were game to go birding in the Savannah River Swamp at the end of Webb Road behind Bluff Lake, an oxbow off the Savannah River. Mature cypress and tupelo make this bottomland a magnet for both wading birds and migratory warblers. Our first sighting was an egret in a pool of water standing like a statue and not visibly disturbed bu our presence, then we could make out three Ibis heading away from us looking through the swamp. The ground was stern with forest debris that signaled the Savannah River had recently been in flood stage after T.S. Idalia, but they ground was solid enough for our hikers.

S-neck Egret

At first the migrants were hidden to us, and then they started appearing by telltale sounds or by birds flitting high in the tree canopy. Just then a Black and White warbler came into to clear view for me, making an ID easy even though this is a bird that has not been viewed in the Lowcountry all summer. Most everyone got to see this bird as he caromed from tree to tree and foraged 'upside down' like a nuthatch does. A least flycatcher was spotted next, along with several woodland regulars like Carolina wine and Tufted titmouse. A Northern waterthrush was seen moving along the water's edge in a flooded bottom, with its tail-pumping action in full view to help with ID. Did you know the Northern waterthrush is a warbler?! Now you KNOW!! 

Northern waterthrush 

To view 2023 Birding Trips click on Wings Over Beaufort - Hunting Island - 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 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  

To view Field Trips from 2023 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

2023 Webb Center - Wildflower Walk With Master Naturalists

Passion Flower

The Fall calendar month of September is usually a good time to look for wildflowers, and the Spring Island Master Naturalist group chose the Webb Wildlife Center WMA as a prime location. The Webb Center is under management which includes regular prescribed fire, and regular fire is what the Southeastern forests evolved with. Juliana Smith from Spring Island led the intrepid group of Master Naturalists into the piney woods to look for and locate wildflowers. Asters are the number one wildflower family found, and the second is the orchid family. To the layman a sea of yellow flowers graces roadsides and fallow fields, which are all attractors for pollinators, but among that yellow plethora of petals are some other fine flowers with colorful names. Rattlesnake Master, Passion Flower, Lobelia, Cone Flower, and many more. The shape of the flower itself might lend itself to attract a certain kind of pollinator including bees, beetles, birds, butterflies, moths and even the wind! We were armed with two handouts to decipher the wildflower equation, but it is complicated because these flowers employ tactics including color, nectar guides, odor and petal shape. Within the confines of the morning hours on Sept. 22 we made several stops and enjoyed viewing the entire landscape that is home to these precious natural resources.

Bog Cheeto (Not real name!)

To view past Field Notes and Photos click on January 2021 -  July 2020 -  June 2020 -  March 2020 - June 2019 - July 2018 - February 2018 -  December 2017 - September 2017 - January 2017- December 2016 - June 2016 - February 2016- December 2015 - October 2015 - September 2015 - August 2015 - July 2015 - June 2015 - February 2105 - October 2014 -  September 2014 - August 2014 - June 2014 - March 2012 - February 2012 - October 2011 - September 2011 

Master Naturalists at Webb Center

 

2023 Early Birds of September / Hunting Seasons

 September gives the wingshooting sportsman a variety of opportunities to choose from.

To view past blog entries from Trilogy Outdoors click on 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

Published in the September Issue of Trilogy Outdoors (Click on Pic for Larger Image)

2023 Hunting Island State Park - Fall Shorebirds

Shorebirds circle the North Spit of Hunting Island State Park on Sept. 1

A group of birding enthusiasts from the Statewide Master Naturalist alumni gathered on Friday, September 1 to look for shorebirds on the northern tip of this barrier island, at the inlet by Harbor Island. This trip had to be postponed by one day due to Tropical Storm Idalia hitting the area on Wednesday, causing the State Park to be closed for clean-up on Thursday. A few folks could not manage the date change, but our core group was on time at 8 a.m. and ready to walk a mile or so down the beach, for a training session on Shorebird ID, with World Shorebird Day designated as September 6!

Shorebirds occupy a small green island as the tide and wind drives water on the beach

Master Naturalists at Work

Our guide Andy Jones had scouted the area a week before, saying that unless the birds moved away due to Idalia, we should see multiple species of shorebirds. Well it did not take long for us to start finding them, partly because a robust wind had the tide well up on the beach and the birds (and us) only had so much beach to work with. Keeping our distance by using binoculars and spotting scopes we began identifying birds, and we had two Shorebird Stewards from Audubon S.C. there to provide background information, like recent migration movements and leg banding data.

We saw over 2000 individual birds and recorded 32 different species on this day. We saw an American oystercatcher with a red leg band on each leg, and were told a red band means it was tagged in Georgia. A solitary lesser black-backed gull was in this flock, and it stood out mainly by its height. Roughly 15 white pelicans were spotted on a sandbar offshore, and these were the first sightings (this summer) of a species that migrates to S.C. for the winter. Other shorebird sightings included black-bellied plover, semi-palmated plover, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Short-billed Dowitcher and Greater Yellowlegs.

To view past blog entries on Shorebirds click on 2023 Sea Islands Festival - 2022 Harbor Island Shorebird Walk- 2020 Shorebird Protection on Botany Bay WMA - 2021 World Shorebird Day -  2018 Shorebirds Talk at Seabrook Island Birders -  2017 Shorebird Symposium by Kiawah Conservancy - 2016 Spring Shorebird Synergy - 2016 The Narrow Edge Book Review - 2015 Manomet Workshop at Yawkey Preserve - 2015 World Shorebird Day - 2014 Moon Bird Book Review - 2014 / Inaugural World Shorebird Day

To view past blog entries from Hunting Island State Park click on 2022 Turtle Patrol - 2021 Lighthouse / Beach - 2021 Wildlife Sightings - 2017 Reopens after Matthew

To view 2023 Birding Trips click on  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 on S.C. State Parks click on Givhans Ferry - Cheraw - Barnwell - Hickory Knob - Huntington Beach - Hampton Plantation - Edisto Beach 

2023 Edisto Belles Beach Walk - Post Idalia

Walkers heading down the Pink Trail

The annual Beach Walk to Beat Breast Cancer was a big success on Saturday, Sept. 2 despite a couple of glitches. The Edisto Belles organization raises money during this walk by having teams of walkers get sponsors. Tropical Storm Idalia rolled up the East Coast and visited Edisto Beach on the Wednesday before the walk, and certainly caused some beach erosion. The Wyndham Cabana on front beach is normally the Start / Finish Line for the Beach Walk, but it was damaged during the storm and could not be accessed. So the event was moved to 603 Palmetto Blvd. so that folks could gather together to register and to put on any pink accessories that the Belles provide. Also, a raffle is held from community donations.

2023 Crowd at Starting Line at 603 Palmetto Blvd.

At approximately 9 a.m. the walkers took Beach Access 6 to the front beach and followed a path laid out in pink. Pink signs, Pink flamingos, Pink necklaces, and even Pink bras lined the beach. The morning high tide was WAY up due to the influences fo Idalia and a full moon, so the beach was narrow, but the walkers got down and back the course with no issues. Sunny and hot weather in 2022, gave way to a much more temperate day in 2023 thanks to the backside breezes from Idalia. Leah Harrington was the 2023 Survivor Honoree for the Belles Beachwalk. 

To view past blog entries from Edisto Belles click on 2022 - 2021

2023 Birding Journal Observations - July / August

Red-Headed Woodpecker with mouth open August 14

The temperatures in July and August were very even, and very Hot! Backyard birding did not really suffer, but there was very little change on species coming and going. Most of the Lowcountry enjoyed spotty rain showers both months, but for me two tropical style downpours in late August signaled a change in the atmosphere heading into tropical weather season. The first deluge was 5.5-inches and the second was 4.6-inches (courtesy of T.S. Idalia). The first rain smoked right into the ground, and the second mostly ran off, so the drought-busting rains of Fall have begun their annual dance. 

Killdeer with mouth open on Aug. 12

With the hot temps, I noticed plenty of birds with their mouths open, moving air through their gullet in order to cool down, similar to a dog panting. I have witnessed this behavior in the past for sure, but the string of hot days in July and August made this tactic more commonplace, especially when being in the shade was not an option for the bird. Shorebirds, wading birds, and songbirds all practice this habit.

It is worth noting that while birding at Botany Bay WMA on Aug. 11 we spotted a female American redstart, which is a Fall migrant. It seems a bit early, but by Sept. 1 a good many migratory species were on the move. And the painted buntings I enjoyed all summer made their move South at the end of August, and they will be missed.

To view the latest Birding Journal Observations click on May / June 2023

To view past Birding Journal Observations for July / August click on 2022 -  2021-  2018- 2017- 2016 - 2015- 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2009  

Green Heron with mouth open on August 11

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