Hi Carolinabirders,
My family and I spent the week over Thanksgiving at Huntington
Beach State Park in South Carolina. This was our fifth week-long stay at
Huntington, and as always, I enjoyed the park's fantastic birding. I spent most
daylight hours (and a few at night as well) birding like crazy! I listed 140
species, 135 of which were at HB. A few of the more interesting experiences of
the trip were:
-Getting Soaked at the Jetty. Early one morning, I set out for
the Jetty. I didn't realize it, but with a full moon, the tide was VERY high. By
the time I reached the jetty, I had already soaked my shoes -- the waves were
crashing right against the dunes. I thought I would be OK on the jetty, though.
Seeing two fishermen, I figured it couldn't be too bad, and walked to the end.
As I went past one of the fishermen, I thought I caught the hint of a smile on
his face. At the end, I set up my scope and began searching for the incredibly
rare birds which had to be just offshore. In about 10 seconds, a huge wave
crashed over -- completely soaking me from the chest down. Before I could
retreat, another pounded me. I settled 1/3 of the way from the end, but things
still weren't great -- several inches of water washed over the jetty every
couple minutes, and my optics were soaked (the eyecups of my elites were both
brim full of water!). After a half-hour of watching, I gave up and headed for
land. The only birds I had seen were two Black Scoters.
-Return to the Jeddi. On my big day (more on that below), I
had another great trip to the jetty. About halfway there, it began to rain. The
sky didn't look dark, so I pressed on. When I reached the jetty pond, the skies
opened up. I was dressed only in a t-shirt and jeans, and was totally unprepared
for such a downpour. Cold rain was rocketed horizontally along the beach by a
driving wind. Hoping that the rain would stop, I hunkered behind a dune. After a
half-hour, the storm showed no signs of letting up, so I hiked back to the North
Parking Lot -- fighting the wind the whole time. Finally, I made it -- drenched
to the skin and shaking with cold. I later discovered that my non-waterproof
scope had adsorbed a great deal of water. It is currently fogged-up and useless.
Great.
-Big Day. Last year, I ran an all-Huntington big day and came
up with 102 species. This year (on the 26th), I did another. Because of the lack
of waterfowl, I never thought I'd break 100 again. When the storm (see above)
hit, I was sure I wouldn't make it. At the end of the day, though, I counted my
list, and it once again stood at 102!
-Birding with Phil and Sharon Turner. Mr. Turner and I birded
HBSP and several other spots in the area. On another day, they both took me to
see an exhibit of fantastic bird carvings at Brookgreen Gardens.
-Birding with Jack Peachey and Gary Phillips. We spent the
27th birding Huntington. Our good birds included Short-eared owl and CLIFF-TYPE
Swallow (more on that below).
Here is a list of the more interesting birds I saw at
Huntington:
Red-throated
Loon Outnumbered by Commons about 50 to 1.
Northern
Gannet
All plumages
Great Cormorant
AMERICAN BITTERN
Sandpiper Pond
Little Blue Heron 1
immature
REDDISH EGRET
Green
Heron
1 immature
Glossy Ibis
Black
Vulture
SNOW
GOOSE 1 Blue-phase bird flew over the
causeway on the 23rd
Wood
Duck Sandpiper
Pond
Northern
Pintail
Flyover
Northern Shoveler
Sandpiper Pond
Canvasback
One female on Sandpiper Pond
Black
Scoter
Also lots of "dark-winged" scoters way out over the ocean. Some were
undoubtedly Surf.
Cooper's Hawk
MERLIN
One female bird was hanging around all week. On several occasions, I got
stunning views from ~50 feet away. (I couldn't resist sketching this same bird
twice!)
KING
RAIL
VIRGINIA
RAIL Heard only
American Oystercatcher
Common
Snipe
Several
Purple
Sandpiper High count of 30 or
more
Short-billed
Dowitcher I saw several which
definitely looked to be Long-billed, but they never called, and I wasn't
confident IDing them by plumage alone.
Black
Skimmer
High count of ~160
Common Ground-Dove
Great Horned
Owl Heard almost every night (an
advantage of camping!)
SHORT-EARED OWL
Red-headed Woodpecker Only ONE the whole week... and I only heard it White-eyed
Vireo
Carriage Path
CLIFF(ish)
SWALLOW Two seen on the 27th with Jack
Peachey and Gary Phillips. I never saw the head on either, but Mr. Peachey says
that the one he got a good look at was an immature Cliff. Who knows, though...
could one of these birds been a Cave Swallow? I have a feeling that that was the
case... but have absolutely nothing to back up my hunch! I'm just frustrated
that we couldn't tack down the ID on both of the birds. Anyone who visits HB
should definitely be looking for these swallows. They cruised up and down the
post-dune marsh between the Jetty and the North Parking Lot.
Brown-headed
Nuthatch
Uncommon @ HB
Winter
Wren
Several
SEDGE
WREN A single
bird behind the secondary dunes a short distance north of the N Parking Lot. It
was present all week.
Golden-crowned
Kinglet Lots
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American
Pipit
Many flying over
Orange-crowned Warbler
Savannah
Sparrow
At least one very dark bird; _labradorius_ subspecies?
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed
Sparrow
NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED
SPARROW Jetty
Pond. Either _nelsoni_ or _alterus_. Has it been determined which of these
subspecies is more common in SC?
Seaside Sparrow
PURPLE
FINCH
heard-only flyover; near new entrance
PINE
SISKIN
hear-only flyover at causeway
--Ken Behrens (Age 17)
--West Mifflin, Allegheny County, SW
Pennsylvania
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