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Unofficial "Big Day"



Although I am not an ABA member and have never taken the time to check out
their official "Big Day" rules, I thought it would be fun to see just how
many bird species could be located along the Grand Strand on a nice
mid-March day.  I planned my stops over the weekend and worked toward a
personal goal of 100 species.  I left the house around 5:00 a.m. yesterday
and crawled back in at 11:30 last night.

I don't think this is something I would want to do often.  I missed being
able to take the time to really enjoy the birds.  I would often catch myself
admiring their beauty and laughing at their antics.  Then I'd realize I was
"wasting time" and have to hurry off.  Nevertheless, the personal challenge
was fun.

Obviously, a good portion of the day was spent at Huntington Beach State
Park.  I checked most areas there including the jetty, the jetty pool,
Sandpiper Pond and trail, the Saltmarsh Boardwalk, the causeway, Kerrigan
Trail and the carriage path.  I also checked various locations in Murrell's
Inlet and Garden City as well as New Road and Hardwick Road in the Conway
area.  I did check feeders both at my home and at the home of Phil and
Sharon Turner throughout the course of the day.  And I certainly couldn't
resist some of the other "birding hotspots" in the area such as the Surfside
Beach Wal-Mart and the Myrtle Beach and Conway sewage treatment plants.

I did miss some birds that I felt I really should have found in our area.
Ones that come quickly to mind are Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit
Thrush, Wild Turkey and Red-tailed Hawk.  The two that I think are the most
comical misses would have to be the American Goldfinch and the Downy
Woodpecker!  (That tells me I should have slept in and then had a leisurely
breakfast by the window in front of our feeders.  Oh well, live and learn.)

My final list was as follows:

1. Red-winged Blackbird
2. Eastern Bluebird
3. Bufflehead
4. Northern Cardinal
5. Gray Catbird
6. Carolina Chickadee
7. American Coot
8. Double-crested Cormorant
9. Brown-headed Cowbird
10. American Crow
11. Fish Crow
12. Eurasian Collared Dove
13. Mourning Dove
14. Rock Dove
15. Short-billed Dowitcher
16. Ring-necked Duck
17. Wood Duck
18. Dunlin
19. Bald Eagle
20. Great Egret
21. Snowy Egret
22. House Finch
23. Northern Flicker
24. Gadwall
25. Northern Gannet
26. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
27. Canada Goose
28. Boat-tailed Grackle
29. Common Grackle
30. Horned Grebe
31. Pied-billed Grebe
32. Bonaparte's Gull
33. Herring Gull
34. Laughing Gull
35. Ring-billed Gull
36. Northern Harrier
37. Red-shouldered Hawk
38. Sharp-shinned Hawk
39. Great Blue Heron
40. Tricolored Heron
41. White Ibis
42. Blue Jay
43. Dark-eyed Junco
44. American Kestrel
45. Killdeer
46. Belted Kingfisher
47. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
48. Horned Lark
49. Common Loon
50. Red-throated Loon
51. Mallard
52. Eastern Meadowlark
53. Hooded Merganser
54. Red-breasted Merganser
55. Northern Mockingbird
56. Common Moorhen
57. Black-crowned Night-Heron
58. Brown-headed Nuthatch
59. Osprey
60. Barred Owl
61. Eastern Screech Owl
62. American Oystercatcher
63. Brown Pelican
64. American Pipit
65. Black-bellied Plover
66. Piping Plover
67. Semipalmated Plover
68. Clapper Rail
69. American Robin
70. Sanderling
71. Least Sandpiper
72. Purple Sandpiper
73. Lesser Scaup
74. Northern Shoveler
75. Pine Siskin
76. Common Snipe
77. Chipping Sparrow
78. Field Sparrow
79. House Sparrow
80. Savannah Sparrow
81. Seaside Sparrow
82. Song Sparrow
83. Swamp Sparrow
84. Vesper Sparrow
85. White-throated Sparrow
86. European Starling
87. Mute Swan
88. Green-winged Teal
89. Forster's Tern
90. Brown Thrasher
91. Tufted Titmouse
92. Eastern Towhee
93. Ruddy Turnstone
94. White-eyed Vireo
95. Black Vulture
96. Turkey Vulture
97. Palm Warbler
98. Pine Warbler
99. Yellow-rumped Warbler
100. Cedar Waxwing
101. American Wigeon
102. Willet
103. Hairy Woodpecker
104. Pileated Woodpecker
105. Red-bellied Woodpecker
106. Red-headed Woodpecker
107. Carolina Wren
108. Greater Yellowlegs
109. Lesser Yellowlegs

I was extremely glad to reach my goal.  I am especially grateful to Phil and
Sharon Turner.  As I checked their feeders, they provided me with a
delicious home-cooked meal.  (Now if my wife could cook like Phil..... well,
maybe I shouldn't go there.  Only joking Cindy.)  I greatly appreciate Gary
Phillips volunteering to accompany me as I headed out in the middle of the
night to chase any owls that might be hanging around Sam Worth WMA and other
locations in the vicinity.  Steve and Barbara Thomas were especially helpful
as well with their recently posted sightings of several good birds in their
neighborhood.  And finally, Cindy, thanks for not leaving me a honey-do list
for the day.  You're so very patient with me and my birding.