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Huntington Beach S.P.




Hi Carolinabirders,
	Yesterday, Oct. 17, Charlie Heacock and I birded at Huntington Beach S.P.
covering the jetty pond and jetty.  We also walked back to the north
parking lot behind the secondary dune line, being careful to walk around
the dunes and not over or on them. We finished up on the carriage path and
had just a glimpse of the causeway area.  Some things to note-I spoke to
Steve Roff the naturalist at the park and they are working hard to bring
the water down in Mullet Pond, so that it is suitable for wintering
waterfowl.  We saw no waterfowl today and note that Blue-winged Teal at
least is overdue.  The waterlevel in Mullet Pond is coming down but is
still too high at least for dabblers.  Construction is under way for the
new nature center alongside the Long Marsh Boardwalk (crabbers dock), with
the land cleared and spots marked for the pilings.  I suspect it may be
completed by late Spring or Summer of 2001. Coming back from the jetty we
reached a patch of myrtle with three groundsel trees in bloom.  These trees
were covered with butterflies-Hundreds of Long-tailed Skippers, at least 8
Monarchs, some Gulf Fritillaries and so many bees that both Charlie and I
kept a respectable distance.
	And the birding was outstanding.  The best of the 49 species reported are
in caps.
Pied-billed Grebe-1
Brown Pelican-37
Double-crested Cormorant-43 one v shaped skein of 40 birds 
Great Blue Heron-2
Great Egret-2
Snowy Egret-2
Tricolored Heron-1
White Ibis-22 one group behind the secondary dunes all adults except one imm.
Wood Stork-4 seen by Charlie before I arrived
Osprey-4
N. Harrier-1
Black-bellied Plover-33
Semipalmated Plover-41
Piping Plover-7
Am. Oystercatcher-25
Willet-3
Ruddy Turnstone-9
Sanderling-13
Western Sandpiper-76
Least Sandpiper-14
Dunlin-60
Short-billed Dowitcher-360
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER-2 juveniles, id'd by tertials outlined in gold with
no interior markings, chevrons along flanks to tail, darker back. These two
were the only bright plumaged dowitchers at the jetty pond.
Laughing Gull-3
Ring-billed Gull-2
Herring Gull-1
Caspian Tern-2
Royal Tern-4
Least Tern-2 seen flying away and id'd confirmed by call
N. Flicker-1
Tree Swallow-numerous
Blue Jay-4
Carolina Chickadee-2
Carolina Wren-1
Gray Catbird-1
N. Mockingbird-3
Brown Thrasher-1 heard only
Loggerhead Shrike-1 in the North Parking lot area
VIREO SP.-1 Well seen by both Charlie and I and did not fit the description
of any N.A. vireo.  I discussed the bird with Pete Worthington and both he
and I couldn't put an A.B.A. area handle on the bird. I sent a description
to Will Post and he said he is going to shop the description around to
vireo experts.  
Yellow-rumped Warbler-4 THEY ARE BACK!
Palm Warbler-8
Common Yellowthroat-4
N. Cardinal-2 low
DICKCISSEL-1	Heard this sharp tick-tick on the carriage path and spished
bringing the bird low into a bush and then on the ground.  Looked very much
like the bird at the Turner's feeder last summer except the yellow of the
breast was bighter and more apparent. This appears to be a new bird for the
park. 
Savannah Sparrow-8
SALTMARSH SHARP-TAILED SPARROW-3
NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW-2
Seaside Sparrow-18 All the maritime sparrows were easy to get because the
higher then normal tide brought them out of the interior of the marsh to
the edge of their habitat.  The southwest corner of the jetty pond was
where many of these sparrows were seen. The Sharp-taileds seemed to be in
the wrack at the edge of the saltmarsh.
Red-winged Blackbird-6
E. Meadowlark-1
AM GOLDFINCH-1 a bright yellow male. A bit early for the coast?

EXCELLENT birding, good company
Jack







Jack Peachey
Conway, SC