Th 23 Jan 2014 survey

Th 23 Jan 2014

All,

   I had a great crew of four help me with this past Tuesday's waterfowl/shorebird survey on Bulls Islandincluding Dan Ashworth (who also was responsible for getting us out to the island and back), Matt Johnson, Richard McCracken, and Susan Mitchell (first time helping with the survey).

   My eBird report for the day's outing is appended, below. Highlights include Northern Pintail, Redhead (nearly a hundred!), Ruddy Duck (nearly 400!), American White Pelican, Bald Eagle (a friend opines that it's never a bad day's birding when you see a Bald Eagle, and I'd have to agree with that), Sora, American Avocet, Piping Plovers (none with leg bands), and Semipalmated Plover (many hundreds). Missed were the Canvasback and the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (both seen Mon 13 Jan while conducting the mid-winter waterfowl and Bald Eaglesurvey for the USF&WS).

   The north beach had very few shorebirds (with only a pair of American Oystercatchers, a pair of Black-bellied Plovers, some Sanderlings, and a small flock of flyby Dunlins) and only a very few other gulls, terns, and scoters.  It was only a moderate high tide (forecast to be 4.72 ft) so maybe the tide wasn't high enough to really coral the shorebirds. 

   Water levels remain relatively high across the impoundments and the salinities are way down. Jack's Creek is at 14.4 ppt, Upper Summerhouse Pond is at 12.0 ppt; all other impoundments were below 1 ppt except for Moccasin Pond which has a direct connection to the ocean and remains salty at 25.3 ppt. I am very pleasantly surprised that the salinities decreased so substantially and so quickly and are apparently being well maintained now. I was convinced that it would take years of effort to remove the salt; live and learn.

   Birders have always said "Wait for the cold weather to blow in the winter waterfowl." This idea may be well tested this year given the cold weather that January has produced and that is in the forecast. Who knows what we'll see for the rest of the winter--I can hardly wait to see. Look for another email with plans for our nextsurvey.

Regards,

David

Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island, Charleston, US-SC
Jan 21, 2014 8:15 AM - 4:13 PM
Protocol: Traveling
18.25 mile(s)
Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Dan Ashworth, Matt Johnson, Richard McCracken, and Susan Mitchell. Effort: 4,15 mi and 20 min by boat plus 11.8 mi and 2 hr by vehicle plus 2.3 mi and 5 hr 10 min by foot. Weather: mostly sunny, cool, and breezy; temps 53 F to 60 F; winds SW at 5 mph with gusts to 15 mph.  <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.6.3
78 species (+2 other taxa)
Wood Duck  2
Gadwall  10
American Wigeon  4
American Black Duck  5
Mallard  1
American Black/Mottled Duck  12     Unable to make the distinction.
Blue-winged Teal  21
Northern Shoveler  52
Northern Pintail  9
Green-winged Teal  25
Redhead  97
Lesser Scaup  128
Black Scoter  6
Bufflehead  142
Hooded Merganser  99
Red-breasted Merganser  4
Ruddy Duck  383
Pied-billed Grebe  18
Horned Grebe  6
Northern Gannet  3
Double-crested Cormorant  52
Anhinga  3
American White Pelican  20
Brown Pelican  23
Great Blue Heron  3
Great Egret  36
Snowy Egret  29
Little Blue Heron  7
Tricolored Heron  27
White Ibis  232
Turkey Vulture  4
Osprey  2
Northern Harrier  1
Accipiter sp.  1
Bald Eagle  4     2 mat, 1 imm, 1 unknown age
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Clapper Rail  1
Sora  2
Common Gallinule  9
American Coot  112
American Avocet  1
American Oystercatcher  11
Grey Plover  40
Semipalmated Plover  700
Piping Plover  3     No leg bands or flags observed
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  23
Willet  33
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Ruddy Turnstone  46
Sanderling  18
Dunlin  1235
Western Sandpiper  21
Short-billed Dowitcher  6
Wilson's Snipe  2
Bonaparte's Gull  7
Ring-billed Gull  18
Herring Gull  6
Forster's Tern  14
Royal Tern  1
Mourning Dove  10
Belted Kingfisher  8
Red-headed Woodpecker  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
American Crow  3
Tree Swallow  31
House Wren  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  12
Grey Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  7
Cedar Waxwing  60
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  6
Eastern Towhee  4
Song Sparrow  5
Swamp Sparrow  4
White-throated Sparrow  7
Northern Cardinal  5
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  1
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16477379
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)