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weekend at the beach
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: weekend at the beach
- From: "Leah Campbell" <faeriemaiden@hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:33:27 -0400
- Delivered-to: pardo@metalab.unc.edu
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Dear C-Birders,
I spent the weekend at DeBordieu Beach, and as always, tried to squeeze in
as much birding as possible. My most exciting find was actually at
Huntington Beach State Park. We had walked to the end of the boardwalk over
the marsh and stood for a moment, enjoying the light breezes. Suddenly, out
of the reeds popped a willet-sized brown bird -- a rail! A look through
binoculars revealed a young'un, dull gray-brown overall with scattered
pinfeathers. (Based on size and coloring, I later decided this was an
immature clapper rail.) Then, as quickly as it appeared, the "bird with the
bunny butt" (my boyfriend's words) vanished into the marsh grass.
Later that afternoon we decided to walk from DeBordieu Beach to the North
Inlet, about two-and-a-half miles south. We saw lots of brown pelicans
patrolling the shores; one formation had 36 individuals! Every few minutes
or so royal terns would fly over (heading south) crying constantly. Ones
with a catch in their beaks cried loudest, as if to say, "I've got dinner!"
The view across the inlet was spectacular -- pristine coastal habitat of the
Hobcaw/Baruch wildlife refuge.
Sunday we returned to the beach at lowtide. Mixed flocks of gulls, terns,
and sandpipers lined the water's edge. I still have a lot to learn about
sea birds, but here is my list:
sanderling (saw lots of these little wave-dodgers)
willet
royal tern (feeding young)
sandwich tern (feeding young)
laughing gull (many)
herring (or?) ring-billed gull (a few)
ruddy turnstone (several)
pelican
eastern towhee (singing in the woods beyond the dunes)
(It is quite possible that a common or least tern was mixed in, but I can't
be certain.)
Great weather and good birding,
Leah
Leah Campbell
Cornwell, SC
faeriemaiden@hotmail.com
"In order to see birds, it is necessary to become a part of the silence."
Robert Lynd
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