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NC Cave Swallow Update



I watched the carolinabirds list last week from Gatlinburg, TN and then from
Winfield, WV to see what cool birds would show up as soon as I left the
beach.  Cave Swallows and a Varied Thrush hadn't been on any of my trip
lists lately ;-) and I was hoping they'd hang around for just a bit longer.
Seeing that the thrush hadn't been relocated yesterday, I decided to head
north to look for the swallows instead.

I checked Ocean Isle first.  From 9:00 a.m. to noon I found five swallows...
all were Tree Swallows.  I checked the west end up to the gated area and
found nothing.  I parked and walked the beach down to the inlet with no
luck.  I drove to the east end of the island and found nothing.

I then headed for Sunset Beach.  I went directly to the west end hoping that
the extremely cool temps this morning may have driven the birds a bit
further that direction.  Just before the parking area, I saw two more Tree
Swallows.  That wasn't encouraging.  However, when I parked and looked out
over the marsh, every swallow that I could positively identify was a Cave
Swallow.  The first was seen at around 12:20 p.m. and they were seen until I
left at 3:30 p.m.  At one point, twenty-one could be identified from the
parking area but additional birds could be seen well off in the distance
toward Bird Island.  I made my way to the beach and headed that direction.
No Cave Swallows were seen working the dunes as I had anticipated.  However,
some 1/2 to 3/4 mile down the beach, I could see more swallows off to the
northwest around an abandoned power line.  Eventually I found a break in the
dune line and made it through the marsh (glad the tide was out) toward this
area.  My best count here was twenty-three and additional birds could still
be seen in the direction of the parking area.  As I headed back for the
truck, birds had now begun to work the dune area.  Although I can't be
certain these were not in some cases several of the birds that were seen
earlier, there were at least a dozen birds here.  Regardless, I feel certain
 there was a minimum of forty Cave Swallows in the area.

For anyone that may need these birds for their SC lists, they were less than
1/2 mile from Little River Inlet and Waites Island, SC.  Hopefully a few
will work their way our direction.

Thanks to all that posted information on these birds.  I wasn't expecting to
get to see these guys anytime soon.

Good Birding!
Ritch Lilly
Myrtle Beach, SC
scbeachbums@hotmail.com