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TRIP REPORT - MYRTLE BEACH, SC AREA - MAY 29, 30




Forwarded from Birdchat...

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date:    Fri, 9 Jun 2000 06:24:00 -0700
From:    Joseph Morlan <jmorlan@CCSF.CC.CA.US>
Subject: (fwd) TRIP REPORT - MYRTLE BEACH, SC AREA - MAY 29, 30

On Thu, 8 Jun 2000 21:40:44 +0100 , RFischer@fjicl.com wrote:

TRIP REPORT - MYRTLE BEACH, SC AREA - MAY 29, 30

by Robbie Fischer

While attending a family reunion in Surfside Beach, SC, Joe Morlan and
I were able to steal some time for birding.  It's a treat for
California birders to reacquaint ourselves with the breeding birds on
the Carolina coast.  We chose Memorial Day morning to check out
Huntington Beach State Park.  We parked at the end of the causeway and
were greeted by a pair of Painted Buntings on the ground.  The male
was displaying by walking flattened to the ground with wings extended,
tail spread and rump twitching invitingly, behavior I've observed more
often in female birds of various species.  Joe checked the literature
and found that, according to Bent, this courtship behavior is
characteristic of male Painted Buntings.

The woods and fields nearby provided great looks at Orchard Orioles,
Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, singing Indigo Buntings,
Yellow-breasted Chat and Yellow-billed Cuckoos (including one we found
dead of unknown cause on the old causeway).  Brown Thrashers and
White-eyed Vireos were abundant.  The marshes had both Clapper and a
very close King Rail along with the herons and egrets.  Chimney
Swifts, Purple Martins, Eastern Kingbirds and Bank Swallows helped to
keep the insects at bay.

Many of the shorebirds had flown north but we did find Willet,
Black-necked Stilt, Whimbrel and Spotted Sandpiper along with a few
Sanderlings, Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers, all in
alternate plumage.  Late in the morning we walked a short way along
North Beach and were surprised to find a Black Tern fishing in the
tide pools with Least Terns.

On Tuesday Joe and I visited Brookgreen Gardens in the afternoon.
Here there is extensive live oak habitat with some pines and
ornamental plantings.  The back of the property has a tidal creek and
former rice fields.  Northern Parulas were the most abundant warbler,
with the occasional Pine Warbler singing from the treetops.
Brown-headed Nuthatches, Tufted Titmouse, Gray Catbirds and Fish Crows
are exciting when most of your birding is done in California.  I found
an Eastern Wood-Pewee sitting on a nest about thirty feet up in a
tree.  Joe located a Carolina Wren nest under a fallen log in the
pines.   Singing Orchard Orioles entertained near a pond.

We walked the perimeter of the marsh and saw a Least Bittern and a
family of Green Herons.  Eastern Bluebirds hawked insects along with
the Great-crested Flycatchers.  Even in this public park with families
strolling amidst the sculptures, Yellow-billed Cuckoos called.  It was
time to leave.  A family dinner awaited but we'll be back.




--
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044: mailto:jmorlan@ccsf.cc.ca.us
Fall Birding Classes begin Sept 5: http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee: http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/

------- End of forwarded message -------

-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                w 919-660-7423
cwcook@duke.edu                       h 919-967-5446
Duke University Botany Dept., Durham, North Carolina
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook