Tu 18 Aug 2015 survey: Piping Plovers and many Snowy Egrets

W 19 Aug 2015

   Wil Christenson and I had a great, damp day on Bulls Island yesterday for the ongoing waterfowl/shorebird survey. Coastal Expeditions once again graciously provided our boating transportation out and back. We arrived on the island after a brief rain shower that dampened only our clothing and gear but not our enjoyment of the day's outing. The van that we drove around the island protected us from the rest of the day's intermittent rain. And what spectacular BIG skyscapes we had all day long between rain clouds, bright cumulus clouds, and patchy sunshine!

   The shorebirds continue passing through on fall migration. We tallied 47 species on the survey proper, 63 species on the island, plus 21 species on the ferry. Our eBird checklist from the island, created and submitted by Wil who subsequently shared it with me, is appended below, FYI. We had an impressive 11 Piping Plovers resting together (3 with leg bands that will be reported to the USGS banding lab), all on the North Beach. More impressive than that sighting was the massive collection of Snowy Egrets in Jack's Creek. I focused my scope on one view and counted 138 SNEG without moving the scope; I conservatively estimated 500 SNEG all together, none apparently bothered by the ongoing dike construction. The only waterfowl were a pair of flyover duck sp. (possibly Blue-winged Teal) that were outside of the survey area proper.

   Non-avian sighting included loggerhead sea turtle, fox squirrel, American alligator, scattered butterflies, and enough mosquitoes to drive less tolerant bodies to complete distraction; I almost yielded to the temptation to apply insect repellent.

   Repair of the breached dike between Pool 3 and Jack's Creek (along Alligator Alley) has begun and ought to be complete by the end of the week, weather permitting. Great news for both our survey effort and for the numerous ferry passengers hiking around the island. And the new sand dunes along the North Beach have an impressive collection of plants, sea oats and Carolina saltwort in particular, growing well; it's great to watch these ongoing, positive, natural changes on the island.

   Looking ahead at the tidal calendar suggests the following dates to consider for our next survey:

Tues 1 Sept 2015 6.3 ft high tide forecast at 10:23 AM

Wed 2 Sept 2015 6.2 ft high tide forecast at 11:18 AM 

Thurs 3 Sept 2015 6.1 ft high tide forecast at 12:16 PM

David

Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island, Charleston, South Carolina, US

Aug 18, 2015 9:14 AM - 3:48 PM

Protocol: Traveling

12.0 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island water/shorebird survey with David McLean. Effort: 9.5 mi and 1 hr 34 min by truck plus 2.5 mi and 5 hr by foot. Weather: overcast, calm and warm; temps 77 F to 87 F; winds SE at 0 mph to 5 mph; barometer steady at 30.07 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.1 ft high at 11:21 AM;

Submitted from  BirdLog NA for Android v1.9.6

62 species (+1 other taxa)

duck sp.  2

Wood Stork  15

Double-crested Cormorant  1

Anhinga  1

Brown Pelican  89

Least Bittern  2

Great Blue Heron  3

Great Egret  67

Snowy Egret  500

Little Blue Heron  1

Tricolored Heron  24

Reddish Egret  6

Green Heron  7

Black-crowned Night-Heron  16

White Ibis  10

Glossy Ibis  2

Turkey Vulture  1

Osprey  1

Clapper Rail  1

Common Gallinule  13

Black-necked Stilt  2

American Oystercatcher  4

Grey Plover  43

Wilson's Plover  15

Semipalmated Plover  129

Piping Plover  11     Good Scope Views.  3 PIPLs were banded.  Color Combos were: Bird 1 UL Orange, LL Green, UR metal, LR split green and orange.  Bird 2 UL Metal, LL Blue, UR Orange Flag, LR Blue, Black.  Bird 3 UL orange flag, LL Yellow, Green,  UR Metal, LR Orange.

Spotted Sandpiper  3

Greater Yellowlegs  2

Willet  7

Lesser Yellowlegs  2

Whimbrel  1

Marbled Godwit  5

Ruddy Turnstone  14

Red Knot  8     Good scope views.

Sanderling  99

Least Sandpiper  2

Semipalmated Sandpiper  55

Western Sandpiper  37

Short-billed Dowitcher  24

Laughing Gull  87

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  1

Great Black-backed Gull  1

Least Tern  46

Gull-billed Tern  5

Caspian Tern  5

Black Tern  102

Common Tern  4

Forster's Tern  24

Royal Tern  56

Sandwich Tern  42

Black Skimmer  44

Mourning Dove  8

Barn Swallow  4

Carolina Wren  2

Northern Mockingbird  3

Pine Warbler  1

Seaside Sparrow  1

Northern Cardinal  5

Indigo Bunting  1

Red-winged Blackbird  4

Common Grackle  2

Boat-tailed Grackle  3

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24684880

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (/content/iss)

4 Aug 2015 Survey. Shorebird migration is well underway, and the bird of the day was...three

Tues 4 Aug 2015

   The shorebird migration was under way on Bulls Island today during our regular waterfowl/shorebird survey. Irvin PItts, who drove down from Lexington early this AM, and Nolan Schillerstrom joined me today and contributed greatly to this ongoing volunteer surrey effort. Irvin was rewarded with two (I believe) year birds for his list and Nolan added two life list species to his. Many thanks to both of them for being so generous with their time, effort, and expertise.

   Coastal Expeditions, specifically Captain Richard Stuhr and First Mate Nick Johnson, graciously provided our boating transportation out to Bulls and back. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had about 30 customers show up on a Tuesday morning in early August just after overnight showers had barely left the area. Fortunately the weather was terrific for us; skies were bright overcast (shading us from a strong August sun) with just a little direct sun breaking through after lunch, but the wind was a gentle land breeze that allowed the mosquitoes and deer flies to really swarm. Rainfall over the previous 2 days totaled approximately 1.5 inches leaving most of the island damp.

   We tallied 22 shorebird species today and 0, yes…zero, waterfowl. We had 51 target species on the survey proper, 66 species on the island, and 70 species for the ferry ride and the island combined. Adding Irvin's checklist for Garris Landing brings our total for the day up to 78. Not too bad for early August. This may have been the first time that we've not recorded even one duck on the survey, but that was OK because the diversity of shorebirds completely distracted us from that fact. 

   The "bird of the day" was a Pectoral Sandpiper on the edge of Jack's that posed for Irvin's camera; after walking out into Jack's Creek we very quickly tallied 7 additional Pectoral Sandpipers! I was really enjoying seeing so many "birds of the day" until we nearly immediately tallied a new "bird of the day," 3 Stilt Sandpipers. But that was again almost immediately replaced by yet another "bird of the day," a first record for the survey (I think) and a first eBird record for Bulls Island: Wilson's Phalarope! Actually 2 WIPH swimming in the shallow water together! I guess this was a "three birds of the day" kind of day.

   Other notable shorebird species tallied today included Piping Plover, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Red Knot, and all three peep sandpipers (Western, Semipalmated, and Least). It was a good day for shorebird species on the island. Other notable target species included Great Back-backed Gull and Roseate Spoonbill (the first I've seen on Bulls since February). The "trash bird" of the day must have been Black Tern (76) as we seemed to see them everywhere either resting on the sand or soaring on wing. 

   Interesting non-target species included Red-shouldered Hawk, Mississippi Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, and Yellow Warbler. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended below.

   Avian misses included Mottled Duck, Black-bellied Whistling Duck (strange how a species that had never been recorded on Bulls prior to May 2014 has now become a "missed" species), Purple Gallinule (very recently reported to CEX's Nick who reported it to me), and Reddish Egret. 

   Non-avian sightings included Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (including one that fully breached in the ocean immediately beyond the breakers!) and numerous butterflies and dragonflies. We missed seeing fox squirrels.

   Looking ahead at the tidal calendar suggests the following dates to consider for our next survey:

Mon 17 Aug 2015 5.0 ft high tide forecast at 10:17 AM

Tues 18 Aug 2015 5.0 ft high tide forecast at 10:55 AM

Wed 19 Aug 2015 4.9 ft high tide forecast at 11:34 AM

Th 20 Aug 2015 4.9 ft high tide forecast at12:14 PM

Looking forward to continued fall migration!

David

Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island, Charleston, South Carolina, US

Aug 4, 2015 9:45 AM - 3:35 PM

Protocol: Traveling

13.4 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Irvin Pitts and Nolan Schillerstrom. Effort: 10.4 mi and 1 hr 30 min by truck plus 3.0 mi and 4 hr 20 min by foot. Weather: recent rains, bright overcast, land breeze, warm, and humid; sun peaked out a few times after lunch; temps 78 F to 86 F; winds W to NW at 5 mph to 10 mph shifting to mostly S winds about 3 PM; barometer rising to 29.95 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.7 ft high at 11:38 AM.  <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.6.3

65 species (+1 other taxa)

Wood Stork  7

Double-crested Cormorant  9

Anhinga  2

Brown Pelican  91

Least Bittern  1

Great Blue Heron  4

Great Egret  9

Snowy Egret  70

Little Blue Heron  1

Tricolored Heron  10

Green Heron  10

Black-crowned Night-Heron  8

White Ibis  14

Glossy Ibis  23

Roseate Spoonbill  1

Swallow-tailed Kite  1

Mississippi Kite  3

Red-shouldered Hawk  1

Common Gallinule  12

Black-necked Stilt  8

American Oystercatcher  3

Grey Plover  47

Wilson's Plover  4

Semipalmated Plover  103     A fairly accurate count.

Piping Plover  7     None appeared to have either leg bands or leg flags.

Killdeer  8

Spotted Sandpiper  12     A fairly accurate count. Some showing spots, some not.

Greater Yellowlegs  5

Willet  106     A fairly accurate count.

Lesser Yellowlegs  10

Whimbrel  6     An accurate count.

Marbled Godwit  3

Ruddy Turnstone  39     A fairly accurate count.

Red Knot  70     Most still showing red breeding plumage.

Stilt Sandpiper  3

Sanderling  81     Most still showing breeding plumage.

Least Sandpiper  1

Pectoral Sandpiper  8

Semipalmated Sandpiper  60

Western Sandpiper  9

peep sp.  392     Most likely Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Short-billed Dowitcher  53

Wilson's Phalarope  2     Scope view in good light; observed swimming in shallow water; quickly and confidently identified as a phalarope; long-necked and rather erect posture, residual rusty red on neck. Other 2 phalarope species eliminated.

Laughing Gull  62

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  1

Great Black-backed Gull  1

Least Tern  45     A fairly accurate count.

Gull-billed Tern  3

Black Tern  76

Forster's Tern  6     A fairly accurate count.

Royal Tern  129

Sandwich Tern  15

Black Skimmer  54

Mourning Dove  5

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2

Belted Kingfisher  2

Red-bellied Woodpecker  3

Great Crested Flycatcher  1

Marsh Wren  1

Carolina Wren  1

Northern Mockingbird  3

Yellow Warbler  1

Northern Cardinal  4

Painted Bunting  2

Red-winged Blackbird  20

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24501064

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (/content/iss)