04 March 2014

Tues 4 Mar 2014 survey


Tu 4 Mar 2014

All,

   It was cold and windy on Bulls Island today, but since I was birding it was all good. Thanks to Trisha for making the boating arrangements and to Greg for hauling me out to the island and back.

   Today's waterfowl/shorebird survey yielded 48 target species, 71 species overall. My eBird checklist on the day's outing is appended below, FYI.  Misses included Clapper Rail, Spotted Sandpiper, and the recently seen Northern Pintail and Canvasback.  Hits include first for the survey (I think) Horned Grebe (HOGR) and Ring-necked Duck (RNDU). I routinely see HOGR in Bulls Bay's marshes while boating between Garris and Bulls, but I've never tallied one on the island until today (on Jack's). And not only did I tally RNDU for the first time on Bulls, I tallied them in three locations: Jack's and both Summerhouse Ponds!

   Ducks continue in pretty good numbers excepting Redheads that dropped from a count of 70 two weeks ago to 2 today. The North Beach was, again, very slow today, and even the oceanfront marsh was slower than usual. The water level in Jack's has dropped a little (4.46 down to 4.18 on the Watermark scale) leaving fairly extensive mudflats and shallows around the margins and in the grasses, while Upper Summerhouse Pond has risen a little (3.16 up to 3.36 on its scale) yet retaining fairly extensive mudflats and shallows that are attracting shorebirds (Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Common Gallinule) and good numbers of waterfowl.

   Other misses included American alligator (did I mention that it was cold today on the island?) and fox squirrel.

   Looking ahead on the tide calendar suggests that the next most-favorable tides fall on Thursday 20 Mar 2014 (high tide predicted 4.8 ft) at 10:43 AM. Other possible dates include Wed 19 Mar and Fri 21 Mar. Stay tuned for final plans.

Regards,

David


Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island, Charleston, US-SC
Mar 4, 2014 7:45 AM - 3:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
18.199 mile(s)
Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey. Effort: 4.15 mi (one way) and 45 min by boat plus 12.0 mi and 2 hr by vehicle plus 2.1 mi and 5 hr 15 min by foot. Weather: cloudy, cold, and windy; temps 32 F to 35 F; winds NNE at 10 mph with gusts to 20 mph.  <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.6.3
71 species
Gadwall  20
American Wigeon  24
American Black Duck  12
Mottled Duck  2
Blue-winged Teal  46
Northern Shoveler  22
Green-winged Teal  20
Redhead  2     Many fewer than counted on recent surveys.
Ring-necked Duck  21     First personal observation on the survey. Seen on Jack's Pond, Upper Summerhouse Pond, and Lower Summerhouse Pond.
Lesser Scaup  175
Black Scoter  25
Bufflehead  136
Hooded Merganser  49
Red-breasted Merganser  3
Ruddy Duck  76
Pied-billed Grebe  39
Horned Grebe  25
Double-crested Cormorant  23
Anhinga  2
American White Pelican  22
Brown Pelican  4
Great Blue Heron  12
Great Egret  47
Snowy Egret  7
Little Blue Heron  2
Tricolored Heron  3
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
White Ibis  18
Glossy Ibis  2
Turkey Vulture  6
Bald Eagle  1     1 imm
Common Gallinule  37
American Coot  251
American Oystercatcher  33
Grey Plover  6
Semipalmated Plover  14
Piping Plover  4
Killdeer  10
Greater Yellowlegs  56
Willet  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  6
Marbled Godwit  1
Ruddy Turnstone  9
Sanderling  16
Dunlin  955
Western Sandpiper  22
Short-billed Dowitcher  18
Wilson's Snipe  5
Ring-billed Gull  24
Herring Gull  3
Forster's Tern  52
Mourning Dove  8
Belted Kingfisher  4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  4
Eastern Phoebe  3
Purple Martin  5
Tree Swallow  230
Carolina Wren  1
Northern Mockingbird  3
Cedar Waxwing  20
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  32
Eastern Towhee  1
Chipping Sparrow  8
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  7
Northern Cardinal  23
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Boat-tailed Grackle  3
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17311701
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)


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