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West Columbia and Cayse Riverwalks



Hi C-Birders,

Today I visited the new West Columbia and Cayse Riverwalks for the first
time. About two miles of these connecting trails along the Congaree River
are finished. The official opening of the trail will be this Wednesday, 30
October 2002, at 10:00 AM. See the River Alliance website
(www.riveralliance.org) for details and photos.

Since the parking lot at the west end of the Gervais Street bridge will not
open until Wednesday I parked at the State Museum parking lot and walked
across the Congaree on the Gervais Street bridge, a great way to observe a
Carolina river at the fall line. I entered the trail at the Gervais Street
Bridge (currently the northern terminus of this trail) and walked south,
first on the West Columbia Riverwalk and then on the Cayse Riverwalk, a
continuation of the same trail.

The trail almost seems to have been constructed as a birders'  trail. It
leads through a nice variety of habitats along the river and nearby. I
predict this will become a favorite local spot to look for migrants, though
the breeding and wintering birdlife will not be too impressive, due to the
small area of the park in relation to the breeding or wintering habitat
requirements of many bird species.

The first part of the trail, from the Gervais Street Bridge to the Blossom
Street bridge, runs through an open, fairly developed part of West Columbia.
There is a lot of edge, for sparrows and such. There are great views of the
river and of downtown Columbia, which is within walking distance of this
trail. The part of the trail south of the Blossom Street bridge goes through
a nice floodplain forest. This area is far from pristine, as you can see
from the prevalence of non-native plants, such as kudzu, privet, and English
ivy. Nevertheless there are some impressive trees. The trail crosses a
number of small creeks using bridges. The entire trail is paved, suitable
for bikes or wheelchairs. This means that birders will be able to bird an
hour before work during spring migration without getting their shoes muddy.
If you are in downtown Columbia on business and only a couple of free hours
to go birding, this is the place to go.

The last quarter mile of the trail, where is comes up from the Congaree
River to end at State Street in downtown Cayse, is rather urban. It follows
a railroad track on the edge of an industrial area. Here you will find more
habitat for hawks and sparrows. This part looks like a good place for
breeding Painted Buntings. We shall see.

Here is my bird list. Probably the best birds were the two Orange-crowned
Warblers, which were in two different spots. If you do any birding along
this trail, please send me your day list. I am developing a checklist for
public areas along the three rivers in the Columbia metropolitan area.

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
House Sparrow

Robin Carter
Columbia, SC
rcarter@sc.rr.com