The Lowcountry, SC Day 2

Semipalmated Sandpiper

So another day of fantastic birding was ahead of us. I was itching to strip down and jump into the ocean, had been since we got to the coast. We still had not even seen the ocean! Today we were heading to Huntington Beach State Park, somewhere between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. I was so excited to see some really famous bird habitat and the shorebirds I never see considering my landlocked Appalachian home. We arrived early, the weather was beautiful, and the sunshine and salty breeze welcomed us and the new day.

Great Egret in flight

White Ibis

The first thing we did was walk down the causeway over the tidal marshes, which happened to be a great idea. I saw more birds than I ever have in my life. It really was life changing to see so much life and struggle in one place. The tide was going out, leaving mud flats and small pools teeming with life with hungry birds reaping the feast of the ocean. The first species we saw was a group of Semipalmated Sandpipers, cute little guys flicking around a mudflat eating insects and crustaceans. The Osprey were flying overhead, using their acute vision to look for fish. As we walked down the causeway, we noticed most of the birds were congregated around a small pool where streams ran into. I went to check it out. Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and Tricolored Herons were all easily catching fish, who had nowhere to go but into their mouths. It was awesome to watch them trace the fish through the water. I walked down a little and saw two White Ibis, beautiful white birds with long curved red bills also fishing. It was a party indeed.

Tricolored Heron

Nelson's Sharp Tailed Spa

Other cool things were going on all around us. Barn Swallows were swooping inches above the water catching insects. A Nelson's Sharptail Sparrow, was curiously getting closer and closer to us, looking for friends. A group of at least 70 Wood Storks, an endangered species were congregated in the reeds of the freshwater marsh. In front of them I could see Alligators surfacing and eyeing up the competition. All the while, a Boat Tailed Grackle sat on a post and heckled us for attention.

Wood Stork

The Wood Storks made a move. All of the sudden they flew over the road and into one of the larger trees. A few brave souls flew in to the relatively peaceful pool and started voraciosly fishing, combing their bills back and forth through the water. They are much bigger than the other wading birds and really shove their weight around. Before I knew it, there were more birds than birdwatchers and how it was intense. With 35 birds in a little pond, it's go big or go home. I was amazed at how the storks would "duel" one another for the spot to fish and clack their huge beaks together. They didn't quit until all the fish were gone. I kind of lost interest after awhile of watching and spotted a Northern Harrier, a beautiful big hawk. We also saw some more Double Crested Commorant before leaving.

Northern Harrier

We walked down another causeway out into the salt flats looking for Rails. We had just seen a King Rail cross the road as we walked to the boardwalk. I had just made a new friend, an old guy who loved birds. He was a "lister", meaning he just wanted to see as many species as possible. He had seen over 500 of the 800 North American birds. I think Miles didn't like him very much, but he gave me some recorded bird songs which was cool. One of them is the Virginia Rail, I'll share it with you.http://www.naturesongs.com/varail4.wav. Weird, huh? All around us we could hear the rails, but in the tall grass they were impossible to see. We saw another Bald Eagle(that makes three) and an American Coot at a distance. We also saw some Wilson's Plover in the mudflats.

my class!

It was time for lunch. I could feel the ocean getting closer, itching with anticipation, I climbed above the gift shop and got a view from the deck. My initials are there to prove it. All of us were ready for the beach, it was a beautiful day. The Ohioans were ready to swim, cold water or not. Before we could swim, we had to take the Okinawa death march down the beach, which wasn't bad at all, I got to walk in the water the entire time. We saw a little lone Sanderling dodging waves. Some Sea Ducks were out on the water. Osprey dove into the water with varying degrees of success, sometimes coming up with a fish. Eight Brown Pelicans in formation dive-bombed a school of fish surfaced by a pride of Dolphins. Sometimes being a fish must be rough when you're caught between a Dolphin and a Pelican. The Osprey caught on to the fun too. We rounded the cape and saw some American Golden Plover and Black Bellied Plover. In between the bay and the peach was a tidal inlet with grasses and all sorts of aquatic life. We saw more Nelson's Sparrow, some Seaside Sparrow, and some Saltmarsh Sharp Sparrow. It was amazing watching them perch on a single blade of grass.

Black Skimmer

We walked towards the shorebird breeding grounds and came across a large colony of all kinds of shorebirds. Susan cried for joy when she saw the Black Skimmers. These are really awesome birds, skimming the water surface with one half of their bill in the water and one out.Check out the video on my blog. Other birds in the colony were Royal Terns, Caspian Terns, American Oyster Catchers, and Sandwich Terns.

We finally got to swim!! All our hard work birdwatching paid off; and that concludes my scientific observations of my trip to South Carolina excluding the nighttime dramas and police interactions, the weird nature of biologists and our unique sense of humor, and the good people I met in the swamps of Honey Hill Campground. I still feel as if part of myself was left in that swamp wonderland.

Backyard