South Carolina Birding

Huntington Beach State Park

     We've made our annual trip down to Myrtle Beach to spend a couple of weeks birding and golfing with our friends from the New York "north country".  Each year, we join around a dozen folks....some who love to play golf, some who love to bird, some who love the beach and some who just love this part of the country.  Sharon and I usually come down a few days early and get some serious birding in at Huntington Beach State Park, one of the finest refuges in the state.  We found things much as we had hoped for with the reported Roseate spoonbill and Wood storks still on site.

Wood stork

Roseate spoonbill

       We also found a good number of waders and shore birds which took advantage of the extensive mud flats exposed during this new moon low tide.  Never saw the tide this low in Huntington Beach and we certainly had great numbers and varieties of the birds.....Baird's, Black-bellied and Golden plovers, Sem-palmated sandpipers and plovers, Spotted sandpipers, Dunlins, Dowitchers, Least and Western sandpipers, and more.   We were somewhat surprised to find a good-sized flock of avocets working in concert to scour the floor of the shallow fresh water impoundment.

     Plenty of herons (Great blue, Great egret, Tri-colored, and Snowy) as well as many Clapper rails which were heard, but only one seen.

Snowy egret

      We added a year-bird while visiting Brookgreen Gardens which are located across Route 17 from Huntington Beach.  Part of the gardens is a small but well maintained zoo.  As we were walking through the gardens, a fellow birder told us that he had come across a Barred owl tucked away in the forest near the Alligator pen.  We've often had good luck birding in zoos and today was no exception.  When we arrived at the gators, Sharon located the owl as described.  Nice opportunity to find the bird!

Barred owl

     Regarding songbirds, we found that the male Painted buntings had headed south, but there were still a few females around.  A beautiful Yellow-throated vireo as well as Yellow-rumped, Black and white, Northern parulas, Palm and other warblers were present but somewhat tough to find.   One of our most memorable sightings was late in the day while we were watching at least 200 dunlin all busily probing the mudflats.  Suddenly, they vacated the area with explosive activity.  We figured something had triggered this sudden movement and sure enough, a Peregrine falcon came soaring through the area about 3 feet above the water.  Not sure how he made out regarding his attempts to find an early dinner, but he certainly was making a gallant effort at doing so.  We still have a few more days here along the shore and we will add to our list for sure.  Great friends, great weather, great golf courses with a concern for keeping it "green", and great birds.  What more can we ask for?