South Carolina

It's our last day in South Carolina and we are busy packing for the trip back to NY. We had another great day of birding south of our location. Our main destination was Pawley's Island and although we were told by the local owner of an Audubon shop there that there was really no good birding on the island, we found otherwise. A pod of dolphin had driven a school of mullet into a shallow cove just west of the north causeway and we were treated to a group of 6 ospreys and a Belted kingfisher working the surface of those waters. Hopefully the dolphins fared better than the ospreys, because after repeated dives by the fish-hawks, the apparent take of fish was less than dismal. The show was certainly worth the time and effort to get to the island, however, and we enjoyed witnessing the birds' athletic agility. Plenty of great egrets, snowies, tricolors, and a fine green heron were all visible with no need for the scope. Tomorrow, its back on the road with stops planned for the East Shore of Virginia NWR, Cape May, and Brigantine. Good birding to all.

South Carolina

We've been in South Carolina for a week now and have discovered some wonderful new birding sites. The first we explored, Huntington Beach State Park, is located in Murrell's Inlet, about 30 miles south of North Myrtle Beach. The tide was heading out and we patiently awaited low tide and for the exposure of the mud flats. As the flats emerged from beneath the bay's waters, they came alive with the sounds of Clapper (see image above) and Virginia rails. Shore birds such as Willets and Yellowlegs came in to sample the buffet as close to a hundred Wood storks watched from the surrounding trees. Back at the Visitors' Center, the feeder was playing host to several pairs of Painted buntings (right above), a "year bird" for us. Later, we travelled across Route 17 to the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens. A close encounter with a Red-shouldered hawk, Brown thrashers, Yellow warblers, Pine and Palm warblers among others made our day complete. We'll head back down this week, so "stay tuned" for more new birds from the southlands.