[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

HBSP



Huntington Beach State Park (HBSP) / Brookgreen Gardens (BG) S. C. 
10/27-10/29

I spent the weeknd at HBSPpartly to work partly to relax.  While there, I
couldn't help but notice some birds.

Jack Peachey and Gary Phillips have this area pretty much covered, but I
thought it interesting to perhaps compare what different birders see at
different times of the day under slightly different circumstances. Bear
withe me, if you will.

 Idid not walk any of the trails through the woods or bird the west side of
the park.  I did walk halfway down the Carriage Path as far as the back of
Mullet Pond on Saturday morning.  I did not walk the beach to the jetty.  I
spent only 2-3 hours at BG, some of that looking squirels, some at
butterflies.

Friday, the usual egrets, herons, gulls, cormorants, shorebirds, etc., along
the causeway.

Saturday morning I was up early, severe clear, with not a cloud.  At 6:30
EST, as I watched the big red-ball sun rise up behind the sea oats, I
noticed several small birds angle steeply down and in from the ocean and
duck into the myrtle, groundsel, and small cedars to either side of me.  I
was just inside the dunes near the main parking lot.

Several more birds, warblers, dropped in.   I began to see a steady stream
of birds angle in  from the beach.

I moved to the east end of the causeway, in the open grass area next to the
road where the boardwalk leads out into Mullet Pond.  From this vantage
point I could see a stream of warblers moving south along the tree line,
some dropping in around me into the myrtle, oaks,  and groundsel, most
continuing in a southerly direction.

I made four 1 minute counts of the birds passing over me.

times are EST

7:00AM - 87 per min.
7:15 AM - 211 per min.
7:30AM - 137 per min.
7:45AM - 23 per min.

The vast majority of the birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Out of ten
birds I saw in the brush around me, 7 were rumps, the rest were R-C
Kinglets.  I also saw a Solitary Vireo, and there were several Catbirds
about.  I saw no Golden-crowned Kinglets.

In the period between sunrise and 8:00AM  I saw 21 Northern Flickers.  I
also saw  Red-winged Blackbirds in groups of 5-30 and more.

Some of the warblers/kinglets that dropped in, kept moving south after a
brief rest.  Obviously some of the birds stayed, as evidenced by what was
seen later in the day, but many others kept moving rapidly through the trees
in a southerly direction.

By 9:30 EST I was on my way to BG.  I was there mainly to chase the Fox
Squirels with my camera, but picked up a few more birds as well.  They are
indicated below as (BG).

Around 2AM Sunday morning the winds became stronger, colder, and more
northerly.  Sunday's sunrise with pink&yellow-bottomed cumulus clouds
blowing offshore made me think birds - sparrows.  I went to the causeway
anyway.  The first ducks of the weekend (for me) came in.  As mentioned in a
previous email from Jack Peachy, the water level in Mullet Pond is high
(lower now than before, judging by the water line visible around the pond).
I watched a flock of 20 some Green-winged Teal fly around for 30 minutes
looking for a spot to settle.  They came in twice but were up in  minutes
each time.

A quick walk through the grass next to Atalaya for a sparrow (Savanah is all
I saw) and back to the car.  I thought I heard a junco but can't be sure, so
I didn't list it.  I was gone by 9:30AM.

I did not list numbers of individual bird species seen.

Pied-billed Grebe
Brown Pelican
D-c Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Green-backed Heron
White Ibis
Wood Stork
Green-winged Teal (Sunday)
American Black Duck
Blue-winged Teal  (Sunday)
Ring-necked Duck  (Sunday)
Bufflehead (Sunday)
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
N. Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
Clapper Rail
Black-bellied Plover
Semi-palmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Common Snipe (fly-by, Sunday)
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowticher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (BG)
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker (BG)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (BG)
N. Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker (BG)
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Blue Jay
Am. Crow
C. Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse (BG)
White-Breasted Nuthatch (BG)
Brown-headed Nuthatch (BG)
C. Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet (heard only)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
N. Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
European Starling
Solitary Vireo (HBSP & BG)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Am. Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
N. Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
E. Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle



--
Greg Dodge
Durham, NC
http://www.brownbagproductions.com