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SC May Big Days, 2000



Hi CarolinaBirders,

On Monday, 1 May Dennis Forsythe and I ran our annual South Carolina Big
Day.  We used a new route and had high hopes of breaking the all time record
of 179 or at least the May record of 177.  Alas, it was not meant to be.
Unlike Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday last Monday had almost no
passerine migration moving through the South Carolina Piedmont, so we found
ourselves on US 17 zipping from Charleston towards Bear Island late in the
day with a count of 155 species, needing a whopping big 25 more at Bear
Island in less than two hours of light to break the record.  We got 16 more,
giving us a respectable finish of 171, but far fewer than a record.

I spent the night in Charleston at Dennis and Donna's house, and birded the
ACE Basin the next day, easily picking up 7 species which we had not seen on
the Big Day (Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Swallow-tailed Kite, White
Ibis, Wood Stork, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Swamp Sparrow).  Of course
these would have been enough to break May record, but it was not to be.

I was so annoyed at missing migrants in the Piedmont that I toyed with do it
again.  Encouraged by my wife Caroline I quickly organized another run over
the same route on Saturday, this time with Dennis Forsythe and Mark Dolan.
This time we had a good migration in the Piedmont, but missed too much on
the coast, and came up with 176, just four shy of the record.

Highlights of the two days (i.e. Monday, 1 May 2000 and Saturday, 6 May
2000):

Northern Gannet -- seen both days at Sullivan's Island; a tough bird in May
American Bittern -- heard calling both days in the same marsh at Bear
Island.  Are they breeding there?  I think this was a new species for our SC
April/May Big Days, which I have been running since 1986.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -- heard both days at about 2:00 AM at Lake
Oliphant in Chester County, where they breed.  You need to get this species
at night on a Big Day.  No time to hunt one down in daylight.
Lesser Scaup -- a flock seen in the ocean off Sullivan's Island on Monday
only.
Red-breasted Merganser -- a few at Pitt Street on Monday only.
Northern Harrier -- one near Heathwood Hall School in Richland County on
Monday only
Black Rail -- one calling at Bear Island on Saturday.
Virginia Rail -- one calling at a marsh in Cayse, Lexington County near
midnight on Monday only
Wilson's Plover -- one at Moore's Landing on Saturday.  A tough bird on our
route.
Red Knot -- many at the Isle of Palms on Saturday
White-rumped Sandpiper -- one at Bear Island both days (the same bird?)
American Woodcock -- one near Landrum in Spartanburg County on Monday, and
one in Kings Mountain Parks, York County on Saturday.
Bonaparte's Gull -- one at Bear Island on Saturday
Gull-billed Tern -- one at Copahee Sound on Monday, and one at Moore's
Landing on Saturday
Common Ground-Dove -- one at a residential area in eastern Charleston County
both days
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- one in northern Spartanburg County on Saturday.
This is only the second time since 1986 that we have recorded this species
on our April/May Big Day.
Sedge Wren -- one at Bear Island on Monday only
Gray-cheeked Thrush -- several noctural migrants at Kings Mountain Parks,
York County, on Saturday only.
Tennessee Warbler -- one at Landrum on Saturday
Canada Warbler -- one in northern Spartanburg County on Saturday

We had only 18 species of warbler on Monday, but found 23 on Saturday.

Highlights of the route (basically the same both days; about 668 miles
long):

The route begins in Lexington County at midnight, listening for rails at a
marsh along the new 12th Street Extension (where we heard Virginia Rail
Monday only).  Then we get on I-77 and drive north to the Barn Owl area of
northern Chester County (no luck either day), and then stop by Lake Oliphant
(where we heard Yellow-crowned Night-Herons both days).  Then we go north to
the Kings Mountains State and National Parks in York County, to listen for
thrushes (Veery and Swainson's Thrush both days; Gray-cheeked Thrush on
Saturday).  Then we drive over to northern Spartanburg County near the North
Pacolet River for more nocturnal listening).

By 5:30 AM we arrive at the Blue Wall Preserve near Landrum, SC and Tryon,
NC, but in Greenville County, SC.  We hike about 1.5 miles up the mountain
in the dark, getting Eastern Screech-Owl along the way.  We want to be high
enough at dawn (about 1600 feet elevation) to get Black-throated Green and
Worm-eating Warblers on territory.  At dawn we hike down the mountain,
birding as we go.  On Saturday we got the following warblers at the Blue
Wall Preserve:  Northern Parula, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue
Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler,
Prairie Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American
Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, Swainson's Warbler, Ovenbird, Louisiana
Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, and
Yellow-breasted Chat.

From the Blue Wall we skirt Lake Lanier and then go to Landrum, where we get
House Wren in a residential neighborhood.  Then it's on to the North Pacolet
River horse farms (Carolands Farms, Fairview Farms) for Yellow Warbler,
Grasshopper Sparrow, and more.  Then we go down to Lake Bowen for the Cliff
Swallows and get on I-26.

We make one side trip along I-26 in the Piedmont -- we get off at the Jalapa
exit and bird in the Sumter National Forest for a few minutes, hoping for a
Wild Turkey (no luck either day).  Then it's on to the Columbia area, where
we check out Saluda Shoals Park and Granby Park before heading to the
Columbia sewage ponds for shorebirds.  We go around the Heathwood Hall --
strawberry fields loop for Bobolink and Mississippi Kite, and then get on
I-77 to I-26.

We make a quick stop at the Orangeburg sod farms (for Horned Lark) and the
Bowman area (for Red-headed Woodpecker). Then it's on to the coast.

Our first coastal stop is the I'on Swamp in Francis Marion National Forest
(for Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman's Sparrow), then on to Moore's
Landing, Copahee Sound Access, the Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, and
Pitt Street.  From Pitt Street we go directly to Bear Island WMA until
sunset, then return to Charleston to finish the day.

This is an extremely long but very productive route.  We hope to run it
again in 2001.  When we finally have a good day in the Piedmont and on the
coast on the same day we will break the 179 record.

Robin Carter
803-782-8820
rcarter@sc.rr.com