A good survey for ducks

It was a great day for ducks on Bulls this past Saturday for the ongoing waterfowl/shorebird survey. Chris Snook joined me for the survey and the ferry ride out on the Coastal Expeditions' Caretta ferry. CEX's Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson really wanted to join the survey effort with us, but their ferry schedule precluded their survey efforts. 

We tallied 42 species on the survey proper and 59 species on the island for the day. Our eBird checklist is appended below, FYI. First thing we did at Jack's Creek was watch five Common Goldeneye ducks fly into view then bank and splash down right in front of us. Mark up another new species for the survey! (Maybe this species was recorded before I began my efforts, but it's new for me on the island.) Other duck species were well represented as well including Gadwall, American Widgeon, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, and others. Winter resident shorebirds were well represented by the usual high numbers of Dunlin and Western Sandpiper plus a couple of Piping Plovers (neither banded or flagged). 

Jack's Creek remains mostly full of water and the dike construction appears to have temporarily halted, though the dike is tantalizing close to completion. The North Beach continues to have very few birds at all, perhaps because we have been hitting it a little too late after high tide. Meanwhile the oceanfront saltwater marsh at Jack's Creek continues to host high numbers of shorebirds. 

We also saw a few American alligators, Atlantic bottle-nose dolphin, canine tracks (hopefully a wayward dog rather than a large-footed coyote), and a few mosquitoes. 

Looking ahead at the tidal calendar and at the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) calendar, I think that I'll let the Monday 2 Jan 2017 CBC, with a 5.2 ft high tide at 10:07 AM, do double duty as the waterfowl/shorebird survey. Looking beyond that suggests the following dates to consider for our next survey:

Mon 16 Jan 2017 5.3 ft high tide forecast at 10:28 AM

Tues 17 Jan 2017 5.0 ft high tide forecast at 11:12 AM

Stay tuned for final plans.

David

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

Dec 17, 2016 10:59 AM - 2:33 PM

Protocol: Traveling

9.4 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island water/shorebird survey with Chris Snook. Effort: 7.9 mi and 0 hr 51 min by truck plus 1.5 mi and 3 hr 34 min by foot. Weather: sunny and cool; temps 42 F to 69 F; AM winds N at <= 5 mph shifting midday to S at <= 5 mph; barometer 1023 hPa dropping to 1019 hPa. Tide was forecast 5.9 ft high at 10:06 AM.

59 species

Wood Duck  3

Gadwall  87

American Wigeon  40

Mottled Duck  7

Blue-winged Teal  8

Northern Shoveler  32

Redhead  8

Ring-necked Duck  4

Lesser Scaup  20

Black Scoter  107

Bufflehead  114     A fairly accurate count.

Common Goldeneye  5     Flew and landed directly in front of us. Distinct yellow-golden eye. Male had clear white plumage circular patch between eye and bill and striking black and white body plumage.

Hooded Merganser  22

Red-breasted Merganser  1

Ruddy Duck  109     A fairly accurate count.

Pied-billed Grebe  47

Double-crested Cormorant  37

American White Pelican  26

Brown Pelican  9

Great Blue Heron  1

Great Egret  5

Snowy Egret  8

Little Blue Heron  2

Tricolored Heron  3

White Ibis  2

Turkey Vulture  5

Osprey  2

Sharp-shinned Hawk  1

Bald Eagle  1

Red-shouldered Hawk  2

Common Gallinule  18

American Coot  115

Grey Plover  8

Semipalmated Plover  59

Piping Plover  2     None was banded or flagged.

Ruddy Turnstone  4

Sanderling  20

Dunlin  790     A fairly accurate estimate.

Least Sandpiper  1

Western Sandpiper  200     A fairly accurate estimate.

Short-billed Dowitcher  9

Greater Yellowlegs  2

Willet  12

Ring-billed Gull  30

Herring Gull  3

Great Black-backed Gull  6

Forster's Tern  2

Mourning Dove  1

Belted Kingfisher  3

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  2

Peregrine Falcon  1

Eastern Phoebe  3

Blue-headed Vireo  1

Carolina Wren  1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  20

Savannah Sparrow  3

Song Sparrow  1

Boat-tailed Grackle  25

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33134528

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

Ducks arriving and Old Man Plover free of impediments

Mon 5 Dec 2016

After ferrying me out to Bulls Island Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson joined me for Saturday's waterfowl/shorebird survey. We found some returning ducks and most of the usual winter-resident shorebirds.

We tallied 37 species on the survey proper. Interesting avian sightings included many Pied-billed Grebes, an American Bittern, a Reddish Egret, many Bufflehead, a pair of American Black Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, Great Black-backed Gulls, a Bonaparte's Gull, American White Pelicans, and Red-throated Loon and Bald Eagle (seen from the ferry). Interestingly there was only one Sanderling and no teals of either persuasion.

Of particular interest were six Piping Plovers, two of which were banded/flagged. Fortunately we found BO:X,g, aka Old Man Plover, and were able to follow up on our last sighting when he had an offending piece of vegetation stuck under some of his leg bands. See the 18 Nov 2016 blog for details and photo of the offending stick. By this Saturday BO:X,g had apparently shed the offending stick. He was, however, still favoring that L leg. He appeared to hold it off the ground some but I could still see his foot rather than having his foot fully withdrawn under his ventral feathers. He did seem to use the "sore" leg in walking but seemed to hold up that leg when standing still.

I emailed the bander, Alice Van Zoeren, with this update on BO:X,g and received this in partial reply: "Standing on one leg is a pretty typical behavior even without any injury. He does that all the time (see attached summer photo) as do all the other plovers. Sometimes one will hop on one leg for hours while feeding, preening, sleeping...and then switch legs. It will be good to keep an eye on his movement when you see him over the winter, but I'll bet the leg is fine if he's using it while walking." 

 BO:X,g, aka Old Man Plover, 15 Apr 2016 having just arrived back on his breeding grounds at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI. Photo by Alice Van Zoeren.

The other banded/flagged PIPL is also one of Alice's birds. "The other plover you saw is also from the Great Lakes. This one hatched in 2015 at Muskegon, MI. He returned to breed in 2016 in Illinois near the Wisconsin border at Illinois Beach State Park. It was an exciting expansion of nesting plovers back into historic nesting territory."

Non-avian sightings on interest on the survey included canine tracks, hordes of mosquitoes hiding in the lee of the bushes, American alligators, and Atlantic bottle nose dolphin.

Looking ahead at the tidal calendar, and Christmas Bird Count calendars, suggests the following date to consider for our next survey:

Sat 17 Dec 2016 high tide forecast 5.9 ft at 10:06 AM

David

Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island, Charleston, South Carolina, US
Dec 3, 2016 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Conducting the ongoing waterfowl/shorebird survey with David McLean and Nick Johnson. Effort: 10.2 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 2.8 mi and 2 hr 30 Min  by foot. Weather: variably sunny to cloudy, warm. temps 41 F to 60 F; winds NE 5-15 kts; barometer steady at 30.29 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.2 ft high at 10:15 AM.
52 species (+2 other taxa)

Gadwall  21
American Black Duck  2     Cold steel gray cheeck. Fairly vertical splash when taking to wing.
Mottled Duck  21
Northern Shoveler  9
Bufflehead  155     Several large floats in Jack's creek
Hooded Merganser  27
Ruddy Duck  19
duck sp.  4
Pied-billed Grebe  44
Double-crested Cormorant  34
American White Pelican  15
Brown Pelican  2
American Bittern  1
Great Blue Heron  4
Great Egret  11
Snowy Egret  43
Little Blue Heron  13
Tricolored Heron  7
Reddish Egret  1
White Ibis  12
Turkey Vulture  8
Osprey  2
Northern Harrier  2
Cooper's Hawk  1
Accipiter sp.  1
Bald Eagle  1
Clapper Rail  1
Common Gallinule  53     Many large groups
American Coot  132
Grey Plover  6
Semipalmated Plover  118
Piping Plover  6     Two were banded: 1) BO:X,g aka Old Man Plover, and 2) Orange flag, Yellow over light blue:X, Green. In an email from the bander, Alice Van Zoeren, "The other [second] plover you saw is also from the Great Lakes. This one hatched in 2015 at Muskegon, MI. He returned to breed in 2016 in Illinois near the Wisconsin border at Illinois Beach State Park. It was an exciting expansion of nesting plovers back into historic nesting territory."
Sanderling  1
Dunlin  825     Large group in the ocean front marsh
Western Sandpiper  102     Large group in the ocean front marsh
Short-billed Dowitcher  25
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Willet  9
Bonaparte's Gull  1
Laughing Gull  3
Ring-billed Gull  3
Herring Gull  5
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Forster's Tern  1
Belted Kingfisher  4
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  5
Eastern Phoebe  2
Tree Swallow  7
Marsh Wren  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Swamp Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  8
Boat-tailed Grackle  24

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32893479

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

Ducks arriving, quite North Beach, and Old Man Plover in some distress

Fri 18 Nov 2016

Kent Bedenbaugh drove down from Columbia to help with today's waterfowl/shorebird survey on Bulls Island. I was grateful that he made such a long drive to share his birding experiences. Coastal Expeditions' Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson gave us their usual sterling ferry ride out to Bulls and back, and our fellow ferry passengers were all very gracious in allowing us to slowly motor by the private docks just north of Garris Landing to spot the shorebirds, gulls, and terns hanging out there. Thanks to all of the above folks for helping to make today into a great day's birding outing.

Kind of a mixed bag today: we tallied 38 species on the survey proper, 62 species on the island, and 66 species on the day. Our eBird checklist from Bulls is appended below, FYI. The best shorebirds of the day were 3 Piping Plovers; one was BO:X,g (a.k.a., Old Man Plover), one was "KK" (a black flag with white lettering), and one was unbanded. We've seen both BO:X,g and KK several times over successive winters. Read more about BO:X,g in my previous blog from 3 Nov 2016. 

Unfortunately Old Man Plover appeared to be in some distress today from a piece of vegetation stuck in one or more of his leg bands. I have contacted the bander and reported his condition; they are forwarding the information to colleagues who may be able to help. See a fuzzy digiscope iPhone photo below showing BO:X,g struggling with this particular encumbrance.

Waterfowl have begun to return to Bulls including Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, and an unexpected Long-tailed Duck. We also had Red-breasted Merganser from the ferry. Also somewhat unexpected were Bonaparte's Gulls in Jack's Creek and a particularly high count of Pied-billed Grebes. 

I had high expectations for the gathering of shorebirds, gulls, and terns on the North Beach given the fairly high tide today, but we saw only a very few Sanderlings and the three Piping Plovers on the North Beach proper. We used to see huge mixed flocks on that point, but there have consistently been fewer birds there over recent couple of years. The Bird Key Bulls Bay (the sandbar off the North Beach back in Bulls Bay) did have numerous birds to count including an American White Pelican.

Non-avian wildlife sightings today included Atlantic bottle-nose dolphin "chasing" shrimp boats swimming directly above their lowered nets, fox squirrel, American alligators sunning, and fairly fresh dog tracks on the north beach (honest dog, not coyote, fox, or wolf, at least best I could tell). 

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

Sat 3 Dec 2016 5.3 ft high tide at 9:48 AM

Sun 4 Dec 2016 5.3 ft high tide at 10:27 AM

Mon 5 Dec 2016 5.2 ft high tide at 11:13 AM

David

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

Nov 18, 2016 9:50 AM - 3:46 PM

Protocol: Traveling

13.0 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing waterfowl/shorebird survey with Kent Bedenbaugh. Effort:  11.2 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 2.75 mi and 3 hr 55 min by foot. Weather: sunny and warm; temps 51 F to 71 F; winds very light, mostly a land breeze. Tide was forecast 6.2 ft high at 10:29 AM.

60 species (+2 other taxa)

Mottled Duck  2

Blue-winged Teal  5

Lesser Scaup  30

Long-tailed Duck  1     Scope view. Diving duck, mostly white/light head plumage but dark plumage patch below ear.

Bufflehead  35     Estimate.

Hooded Merganser  2

Ruddy Duck  10

Pied-billed Grebe  70     A fairly accurate count.

Double-crested Cormorant  204

American White Pelican  1

Brown Pelican  28

Great Blue Heron  3

Great Egret  13

Snowy Egret  44

Little Blue Heron  10

Tricolored Heron  10

Reddish Egret  1

Black-crowned Night-Heron  4

White Ibis  16

Black Vulture  3

Turkey Vulture  3

Osprey  2

Northern Harrier  1     1 female

hawk sp.  3

Clapper Rail  2

Common Gallinule  11

American Coot  25

Grey Plover  5

Semipalmated Plover  70

Piping Plover  3     One was banded BO:X,g and also known as "Old Man Plover." One had a black flag with white lettering "KK." Third was unbanded.

Ruddy Turnstone  9

Sanderling  32

Dunlin  855     A fairly accurate count.

Least Sandpiper  11

Western Sandpiper  81

Short-billed Dowitcher  77

Spotted Sandpiper  1

Greater Yellowlegs  1

Willet  22

Bonaparte's Gull  9

Laughing Gull  3

Ring-billed Gull  7

Forster's Tern  35

Royal Tern  5

Mourning Dove  1

Belted Kingfisher  4

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Eastern Phoebe  5

Tree Swallow  100

Carolina Chickadee  2

Hermit Thrush  1

American Robin  30

Grey Catbird  1

Northern Mockingbird  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  6

Nelson's/Saltmarsh Sparrow (Sharp-tailed Sparrow)  1

Seaside Sparrow  5

Savannah Sparrow  1

Swamp Sparrow  1

Northern Cardinal  2

Red-winged Blackbird  10

Boat-tailed Grackle  55

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32612912

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

Hurricane Matthew, last survey unblogged, island cleanup, and now Old Man Plover is back on Bulls

Fri 4 Nov 2016

It had been a month since I'd surveyed Bulls Island yesterday. I recall becoming so distracted with Hurricane Matthew rhetoric that boiled over while we were conducting our last survey on 4 Oct that I recorded our survey data, submitted the eBird checklists, then never got around to writing a blog post.  

That 4 Oct survey was fairly slow with only 32 species recorded on the survey proper. Best species were Piping Plover (no apparent leg bands or flags), Reddish Egret, and Great Black-backed Gull. Mary Kennerty and Pat Campbell joined me for that survey. That eBird checklist is available at: 

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31993082

My original plans were to survey on 18 Oct; instead I helped with an island clean up effort on that same date. Between refuge employees and volunteers we had almost 20 people clearing trails from limb fall and picking up literally truckloads of litter off of the beachfront. Between the storm surge and following king tides, many trash items including plastic and glass bottles, styrofoam, shoes, and light bulbs had accumulated beachfront on Bulls. It was a good beginning effort to clean up the island but much more needs to be done as so much trash has now been washed well up into the vegetation as the beachfront continues to erode into the forest. 

We returned to surveying yesterday with Scott Davis and Richard Stuhr joining me. Coastal Expeditions' Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson may have never turned off their ferry engines between regular ferry services, beach drops, and chartered groups coming and going to Bulls, yet they were invariantly gracious and accommodating to haul us out and back. I also met a couple of Irish brothers, one living in the U.S. now, who also took the ferry out to Bulls. I always enjoy birding with folks from off who will naturally find great pleasure in so many of our everyday species. I wish I could recall their names, especially since they knew of me through this blog, but I was negligent in not writing down their names. I'm glad that they finally saw a Belted Kingfisher upon returning to Garris Landing and hope that they enjoyed their day birding on Bulls. 

The birding was pretty slow with relatively few ducks and relatively few shorebird species; strangely we saw no identifiable gull or tern species on the island. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended, below, FYI. Maybe with ferry passengers being dropped off on the North Beach many of the expected shorebirds, gulls, and terns there may have been flushed prior to our arrival. Also, we had just scanned at distance a large mixed flock of shorebirds in the oceanfront marsh at Jack's Creek when they flushed, teased us by flying about at distance, then disappeared. We think that an unidentified falcon (Peregrine Falcon or perhaps a Merlin) may have flushed this flock. And Jack's Creek has enough water to completely cover the long-exposed mudflats that had attracted so many shorebirds.  

We tallied 27 species on the survey proper, 54 species on the island, and 62 species on the day. The best birds of the day were Reddish Egrets, American White Pelicans (first I've seen in many months), and a very special Piping Plover. "Old Man Plover" has returned to the North Beach. He hatched in 2002 at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI and began breeding there in 2005, which is when he received his current band combination. We've seen him on 30 Oct 2015, 31 Dec 2015, 12 Feb 2016, and 12 Mar 2016. It was actually Mary Catherine Martin (SCDNR) who first spotted Old Man Plover yesterday; MC was doing her Bulls Bay shorebird survey while we were doing our Bulls Island survey--we fortuitously met up on the North Beach as we've done a few times before. Scott Davis has graciously shared a couple of his photos and I received the following email from the bander:

David,
This is such good news!!!! I've been waiting to hear if he made it south. He had a bit of a rough summer. The "ladies" kept passing him by. He finally attracted a first-year captive-reared female, rather late in the season and they managed to fledge all three chicks that hatched. He gets the credit. His mate spent the first few days after hatching chasing her own chicks and attacking them. First-time parents sometimes take a while to figure things out. He's a champion dad.
Thanks for the update. You just made my day.
Alice

You may also read earlier posts and see other pictures of Old Man Plover in the following blog posts:

http://birdingbulls.blogspot.com/2015/11/tues-17-nov-2015-survey-lowcountry-snow.html

http://birdingbulls.blogspot.com/2016/02/report-from-our-2-day-overnight-survey.html

http://birdingbulls.blogspot.com/2016/03/mon-14-mar-2016-it-had-been-month-since.html

We had to deal with hordes of mosquitos and biting flies that were our constant companions through the whole day. I don't recall the bugs ever being worse in 4 (almost 5) years of surveys now. There were only 7.0 inches of rain recorded on the island for Hurricane Matthew, a significant under-measurement as, I believe, their rain gauge doesn't hold any more than that; I strongly suspect that more than 7 inches fell (I had 9.33 inches in my personal rain gauge downtown from that weather event). But even though there has been no rain since 8 Oct the island still has standing water that mosquitos must find inviting. The very light winds from the West, i.e., a land breeze, really didn't help with the bugs either.

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

Th 17 Nov 2016 6.5 ft high tide forecast at 9:33 AM
F 18 Nov 2016 6.2 ft high tide forecast at 10:29 AM
Sat 19 Nov 2016 5.9 ft high tide forecast at 11:25 AM

David

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

Nov 3, 2016 9:36 AM - 2:29 PM

Protocol: Traveling

12.8 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Scott Davis and Richard Stuhr. This was our first survey since Hurricane Matthew blew through 7 to 8 Oct 2016. Effort: 10.3 mi and 1 hr 30 min by truck plus 2.5 mi and 3 hr 45 min by foot. Weather: sunny, warm, and very light breezes; temps 67 F to 79 F; W winds <= 5 mph; barometer 30.24 in Hg falling to 30.14 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.5 ft high at 10:37 AM. Salt water likely intruded into Jack's Creek when the dike failed at the trunk at the Old Fort. Almost all, maybe all, of the exposed mud flats in Jack's Creek are now flooded with standing water, but it is not full to the brim. Some oceanfront dunes were over washed and thus flattened, but the island fared fairly well through the storm otherwise.

54 species

Wood Duck  3

Mottled Duck  35

Black Scoter  80

Pied-billed Grebe  25

Double-crested Cormorant  16

American White Pelican  14

Brown Pelican  84

American Bittern  1

Great Blue Heron  3

Great Egret  2

Snowy Egret  8

Little Blue Heron  8

Tricolored Heron  7

Reddish Egret  2     Oceanfront marsh at Jack's, in their usual location.

Black-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  3

Turkey Vulture  11

Osprey  2

Northern Harrier  1

Red-shouldered Hawk  3

Clapper Rail  6

Common Gallinule  15

Grey Plover  4

Semipalmated Plover  920     Estimate as a very large brace of these plovers flushed immediately before we scoped to ID species and counted. May have been flushed by an unidentified falcon, maybe Peregrine Falcon or Merlin.

Piping Plover  2     One was banded: BO:X,g (a.k.a. Old Man Plover). He hatched in 2002 at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI and began breeding there in 2005, which is when he received his current band combination.

Sanderling  19

Dunlin  405     Estimated.

Least Sandpiper  29

Western Sandpiper  417     Estimated , most in one bind.

Spotted Sandpiper  1

Greater Yellowlegs  3

Willet  15

Belted Kingfisher  3

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  3

Eastern Phoebe  6

Blue Jay  2

Tree Swallow  20

House Wren  1

Carolina Wren  1

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher  1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3

Grey Catbird  2

Northern Mockingbird  2

Common Yellowthroat  2

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  5

White-throated Sparrow  1

Song Sparrow  1

Swamp Sparrow  1

Northern Cardinal  1

Painted Bunting  2

Red-winged Blackbird  3

Boat-tailed Grackle  42

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32371830

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

Zugunrhuefest and regular survey finds Reddish Egrets, many ducks, and some "common" birds of the day

Tues 20 Sept 2016

The Zugunruhefest Birding Festival, the migratory birding festival sponsored by The Center for Birds of Prey, was last weekend. By invitation from Captain Chris Crolley of Coastal Expeditions (CEX) I birded Bulls Bay and Bulls Island to help co-lead a birding trip for Zugunruhefest. If you really want to experience the best birding in Cape Romain go on a birding-specific outing with CEX and Captain Chris. We chased down Clapper Rails, Seaside Sparrows, American Oystercatchers, night herons, and many different shorebirds by boating right up to shorebird-festooned private docks, shell rakes peppered with oystercatchers, Spartina grasses hiding rails, sparrows, and herons, and slowly drifting through high tide creeks normally too shallow to motor through. We took our time getting to Bulls and then Captain Chris dropped several of us off on the North Beach for a one-way walk back to the dock. This is a great way to bird Bulls on foot because you get to the best birding locations without having to walk both out and back.

And then I got back out to Bulls today for our regular survey. CEX's Captain Wil Christenson and Pat Campbell joined me for today's survey. A summary eBird checklist covering the 70 species from both the Zugunruhefest and today's regular survey is appended below, FYI. Though the tide was particularly high this morning the birding was somewhat slower than usual with just 34 species on the survey proper, 53 species on the island, and 57 species on the day. On Friday's Zugunruhefest ferry ride we tallied 34 species compared to today's regular ferry ride with 25 species showing the value of specific birding efforts between docks compared to a regular ferry ride. If you want the best birding in Cape Romain go birding with CEX, but I've already said that.

Avian species of note included a family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (2 parents plus 9 duckling juveniles), many Mallards, many Mottled Ducks, many Blue-winged Teal, many Brown Pelicans, many Reddish Egrets, many American Oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, Marbled Gowit, Red Knot, Great Black-backed Gull, Merlin, Seaside Sparrow, and Orchard Oriole. The best birds on today's survey were paradoxically common species, specifically Common Tern and Common Ground-Dove. 

Non-avian wildlife included estuarine and oceanic pods of Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins (including a very young one), numerous butterflies (particularly Gulf fritillaries), a brief look at what we concluded was a coyote (larger than a bobcat, distinctly long and bushy tail), American alligators (no surprises there), and enough mosquitoes today to drive one to distraction. 

On the ferry ride back to Garris today a couple from Wisconsin spending the first day of their Lowcountry vacation on Bulls Island asked why Night Herons (Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned) were named "night." I had to research this and discovered that night herons are primarily known to be active, specifically feeding, at night. I've rarely had trouble finding them in daylight, but now I think I'll have to go out looking for them some evening.

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

Tues 4 Oct 2016 5.5 ft high tide forecast at 10:33 AM

Wed 5 Oct 2016 5.4 ft high tide forecast at 11:10 AM

Thurs 6 Oct 2016 5.3 ft high tide forecast at 11:50 AM

David

eBird Checklist Summary for: Sep 16, 2016, 07:00 to Sep 20, 2016, 17:09

Number of Checklists: 4

Number of Taxa: 70

Checklists included in this summary:

(1): Bull's Island Ferry

Date: Sep 16, 2016, 07:47

(2): Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island

Date: Sep 16, 2016, 10:25

(3): Bull's Island Ferry

Date: Sep 20, 2016, 08:51

(4): Cape Romain NWR--Bulls Island

Date: Sep 20, 2016, 09:38

12 Black-bellied Whistling-Duck -- (2),(4)

10 Mallard -- (2)

211 Mottled Duck -- (2),(4)

74 Blue-winged Teal -- (2),(4)

10 Pied-billed Grebe -- (4)

4 Wood Stork -- (1),(3),(4)

11 Double-crested Cormorant -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

1 Anhinga -- (4)

191 Brown Pelican -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

10 Great Blue Heron -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

47 Great Egret -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

39 Snowy Egret -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

3 Little Blue Heron -- (2),(3),(4)

12 Tricolored Heron -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

13 Reddish Egret -- (2),(4)

9 Green Heron -- (1),(4)

1 Black-crowned Night-Heron -- (1)

3 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -- (1),(3),(4)

9 White Ibis -- (1),(3),(4)

15 Turkey Vulture -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

11 Osprey -- (1),(2),(4)

1 Cooper's Hawk -- (2)

1 Bald Eagle -- (4)

3 Red-shouldered Hawk -- (2),(4)

16 Clapper Rail -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

53 Common Gallinule -- (2),(4)

117 American Oystercatcher -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

37 Black-bellied Plover -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

99 Semipalmated Plover -- (1),(2),(4)

3 Piping Plover -- (2)

12 Marbled Godwit -- (1),(3)

17 Ruddy Turnstone -- (1),(2),(4)

3 Red Knot -- (2)

70 Sanderling -- (2),(4)

1 Least Sandpiper -- (4)

20 Semipalmated Sandpiper -- (1)

418 Short-billed Dowitcher -- (1),(3)

7 Spotted Sandpiper -- (1),(3),(4)

6 Greater Yellowlegs -- (4)

122 Willet -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

2 Lesser Yellowlegs -- (1)

359 Laughing Gull -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

1 Herring Gull -- (4)

3 Great Black-backed Gull -- (2),(4)

13 Caspian Tern -- (2),(4)

1 Common Tern -- (4)

12 Forster's Tern -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

694 Royal Tern -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

53 Sandwich Tern -- (1),(2),(4)

149 Black Skimmer -- (2),(4)

1 Common Ground-Dove -- (4)

1 Mourning Dove -- (2)

1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird -- (4)

6 Belted Kingfisher -- (2),(4)

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker -- (2)

1 Merlin -- (3)

8 Eastern Kingbird -- (2),(4)

1 Blue Jay -- (2)

6 Barn Swallow -- (1),(2)

1 Carolina Wren -- (2)

8 Northern Mockingbird -- (1),(2),(4)

3 Common Yellowthroat -- (1),(2),(4)

1 American Redstart -- (4)

1 Yellow-throated Warbler -- (4)

1 Prairie Warbler -- (2)

10 Seaside Sparrow -- (1),(3),(4)

8 Northern Cardinal -- (2),(4)

32 Red-winged Blackbird -- (1),(2),(3)

27 Boat-tailed Grackle -- (1),(2),(3),(4)

1 Orchard Oriole -- (4)

This trip summary was created using the eBird app for iPhone and iPad.

See eBird for more information.

A record number of Reddish Egrets and a good look at a Common Ground-Dove

Fri 9 Sept 2016

   I had great help from Chris Snook and Jeff Kline on Tuesday's waterfowl/shorebird survey on Bulls Island. T.S. Hermine blew through the area late last week  leaving the island littered with leaves and twigs and with a resculpted dune line beachfront at Jack's Creek (see my blog from Sat 3 Sept 2016 for a more detailed report). Tuesday dawned cool (temperature along Bulls Island Road leading to Garris Landing was 59 °F) and sunny. Coastal Expeditions' Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson graciously got us out to the island and back. Coastal Expeditions continues to provide superlative ferry service in support of the ongoing survey efforts. I am grateful for their service and dedication.

   We tallied 30 species on the ferry ride, 46 species on the survey proper, and 62 species on the island. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended below, FYI. Notable sightings included high numbers of Mottled Ducks, Brown Pelicans, Reddish Egret, Great Black-backed Gulls, and Caspian Terns. Other good sightings included Mallard, Piping Plover (banded), Marbled Godwit, Common Ground-Dove, and Yellow Warbler. 

   The Piping Plover was banded with plastic, colored bands above each ankle, nothing below either ankle, and no apparent metal band. We studied this one bird carefully and discussed the apparent discrepancies from expected banding practises, especially the apparent lack of a metal band. Hopefully I'll have something to report back once I hear from some of the Piping Plover banding folks. We also got very good, brief views of the Common Ground-Dove that we flushed from the dune line along the North Beach. And our count of 10 Reddish Egrets, all in the oceanfront saltwater marsh at Jack's Creek, sets a new (for me) record number of those birds seen on Bulls on one day. 

   Non-avian sightings of interest included Atlantic bottle-nose dolphin, fox squirrel, and Monarch and Gulf fritillary butterflies. 

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

Mon 19 Sept 2016 6.4 ft high tide forecast at 10:14 AM

Tues 20 Sept 2016 6.4 ft high tide forecast at 11:08 AM

Wed 21 Sept 2016 6.2 ft high tide forecast at 12:06 PM

David

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

Sep 6, 2016 9:58 AM - 3:20 PM

Protocol: Traveling

12.6 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Chris Snook and Jeff Kline. Effort: 9.8 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 2.75 mi and 4 hr 05 min by foot. Weather: sunny, clear, and warm; temps 71 °F to 86 °F; winds W at 5 mph; barometer steady at 30.23 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.2 ft high at 11:51 AM.  <br />Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.6 Build 75

62 species

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  9

Mallard  2

Mottled Duck  59     A fairly accurate count.

Blue-winged Teal  5

Pied-billed Grebe  2

Wood Stork  6

Double-crested Cormorant  1

Anhinga  1

Brown Pelican  152     A fairly accurate count.

Least Bittern  1

Great Blue Heron  6

Great Egret  13

Snowy Egret  23

Little Blue Heron  2

Tricolored Heron  8

Reddish Egret  10     An accurate count.

Green Heron  3

Black-crowned Night-Heron  2

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1

White Ibis  16

Glossy Ibis  9

Turkey Vulture  3

Osprey  4

Cooper's Hawk  1

Common Gallinule  16

American Oystercatcher  2

Grey Plover  36

Semipalmated Plover  122     A fairly accurate count.

Piping Plover  1     Banded: Blue over light blue UL; Green over yellow UR. No bands or flags at all below ankles. No metal band observed.

Marbled Godwit  2

Ruddy Turnstone  9

Red Knot  2

Sanderling  72     A fairly accurate count.

Least Sandpiper  2

Semipalmated Sandpiper  125     A fairly accurate count.

Western Sandpiper  62

Short-billed Dowitcher  16

Spotted Sandpiper  8

Willet  5

Lesser Yellowlegs  3

Laughing Gull  7

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  2

Great Black-backed Gull  2

Least Tern  7

Caspian Tern  9

Black Tern  4

Royal Tern  50

Sandwich Tern  6

Black Skimmer  104     A fairly accurate count.

Common Ground-Dove  1     Flushed from the dunes at North Beach. Small dove; short, stubby tail; rounded wings.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1

Belted Kingfisher  6

American Kestrel  1

Eastern Kingbird  5

Barn Swallow  12

Northern Mockingbird  2

Common Yellowthroat  1

Yellow Warbler  2

Pine Warbler  1

Northern Cardinal  1

Red-winged Blackbird  6

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31493415

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

T.S. Hermine Report

Sun 4 Sept 2016

   Tropical Storm Hermine passed over S.C. last Thursday and Friday. Saturday dawned with clear skies, calm seas, and pleasant temperatures. In other words, it was a terrific day to check out the island for possible storm damage and possible storm birds. And I wasn't the only one wanting to get out to the island on a holiday weekend Saturday as the Coastal Expeditions (CEX) 9:00 AM ferry was filled nearly to capacity; as a matter of fact  CEX hauled out so many people they needed to add an extra 5:00 PM departure just to get everyone off of the island. CEX's Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson joined me for the morning's survey before their midday ferry service.

   The passing tropical weather system dropped 4.30 in of rain on Bulls Island and littered the island with leaves, twigs with leaves, occasional small branches, and plenty of palmetto fronds. With only occasional blockages from fallen branches, all easily cleared, the roads and dikes survived fully intact. There was electrical power at the Dominick House, but I don't know if there had been any service disruptions. The North Beach, front beach at Beach Road, and Price's Inlet beaches all appeared essentially unaffected by the event. However Boneyard Beach appeared to suffer additional erosion into the forest, not severe but noticeable; the beach affronting Jack's Creek appeared to suffer wave washers that further flattened the few dunes that used to be there and largely filling in the two inlets draining the oceanfront saltwater marshes bordering the dike at Jack's Creek. Each of those two inlets was reduced to a trickle drainage. The large metal objects that have long littered the Boneyard Beach at the end of the road near New Pond were completely covered with sand and thus not visible.

   The rainfall was sufficient to significantly expand the minuscule area of water that had been in Jack's Creek. Most of the expansive mudflats were covered with water, admittedly very shallow water but covered nonetheless. Shelling was better than usual but not spectacular; sizable cockle shells were, as typical, the primary shells that the storm washed up.

   Oh, and about the birds…. We didn't see any specific storm birds (oceanic species that often fly within the calm storm eye thus being carried ashore before being dropped to the ground). The storm eye, very intact at landfall on the Florida panhandle, had long since vanished. Check out the story from the Washington Post at: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/09/02/thousands-of-birds-got-trapped-in-hurricane-hermines-eye-really/

   We did see other species of particular interest, at least to us. We three had been looking all year for Roseate Spoonbills; Nick was the first to spot a pink pair flying over Jack's. Also in Jack's we saw Blue-winged Teal, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Cooper's Hawk. In the oceanfront marsh at Jack's we found Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Black-bellied Plover, Reddish Egret, Caspian Tern, Black Tern, Prairie Warbler, and Bald Eagle. The bird of the day I got at my usual lunch spot on the beach after dropping off Wil and Nick; while eating lunch I dropped my sandwich to grab my bins as a pair of Long-billed Curlews flew by over the breakers. Our eBird checklist is at:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31406771

   I'm looking forward to Tuesday's survey.

David

Great birding for late August

Wed 24 Aug 2016

   Irvin Pitts and Nolan Schillerstrom joined me for Monday's waterfowl/shorebird survey on Bulls Island. Irvin, as he often does, arrived early at Garris Landing and began finding Painted Buntings, Yellow Warblers, Prairie Warblers, Summer Tanagers, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Northern Waterthrush among others. All that before we got into the F&WS boat for our ride over to Bulls!

   Between that great start at Garris Landing (47 species), the boat ride over (25 species), the survey proper (44 species), and the whole island (65 species), we tallied 87 species on the day. That made for a terrific August day's birding. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended below, FYI.

   Notable spices included Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (specifically including 7 juveniles…evidence that the species is breeding on the island), Piping Plover (interestingly seen on the mud/sand flats in Jack's Creek and not on the beaches proper), Stilt Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Prairie Warbler, and the largest kettle of Barn Swallows that I've likely ever seen (very conservatively estimated at 200 flying all over the Spartina alterniflora marsh immediately behind the island). We each added to personal lists whether year, county, or life lists. With this great mix of summer resident species and fall migrants (both shorebird and passerine), the birding was good.

   The next survey has been scheduled for Tuesday 6 Sept 2016; all seats for that survey are taken.

David

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

Aug 22, 2016 9:56 AM - 4:20 PM

Protocol: Traveling

13.0 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Irvin Pitts and Nolan Schillerstrom. Effort: 9.8 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 3.2 mi (estimated as pedometer needed fresh battery) and 4 hr 30 min by foot. Weather: clear, sunny, warm, and humid; temps 83 F to 88 F; AM winds N at steady 5 mph to 8 mph, PM winds E at steady 10 mph to 12 mph; barometer 30.07 in Hg rising to 30.09 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.8 ft high at 11:26 AM.  <br />Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.6 Build 75

65 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  14     7 mature plus 7 juveniles.

Blue-winged Teal  24     A fairly accurate count.

Double-crested Cormorant  2

Anhinga  1

Brown Pelican  75

Least Bittern  2

Great Blue Heron  3

Great Egret  148     A fairly accurate count.

Snowy Egret  96

Little Blue Heron  1

Tricolored Heron  5

Green Heron  6

Black-crowned Night-Heron  2

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  29

Glossy Ibis  3

Turkey Vulture  10

Osprey  2

Mississippi Kite  1

Red-shouldered Hawk  1

Clapper Rail  1

Common Gallinule  13

Black-necked Stilt  4

American Oystercatcher  4

Grey Plover  97     A fairly accurate count.

Wilson's Plover  2

Semipalmated Plover  231     A fairly accurate count.

Piping Plover  1     No leg flags or bands seen.

Ruddy Turnstone  45     A fairly accurate count.

Red Knot  125     A fairly accurate count.

Stilt Sandpiper  2

Sanderling  71     A fairly accurate count.

Pectoral Sandpiper  1

Semipalmated Sandpiper  25

Western Sandpiper  16

peep sp.  135     Peeps too distant to ID to species.

Short-billed Dowitcher  88

Spotted Sandpiper  10

Willet  20

Lesser Yellowlegs  2

Laughing Gull  102

Herring Gull  2

Least Tern  109     A fairly accurate count.

Caspian Tern  10

Black Tern  42

Common Tern  4

Forster's Tern  230     A fairly accurate count.

Royal Tern  206     A fairly accurate count.

Sandwich Tern  47

Black Skimmer  106     A fairly accurate count.

Mourning Dove  1

Belted Kingfisher  2

Eastern Wood-Pewee  1

Red-eyed Vireo  1

Blue Jay  1

Barn Swallow  100

Marsh Wren  1

Carolina Wren  2

Northern Mockingbird  1

American Redstart  1

Prairie Warbler  3

Northern Cardinal  2

Painted Bunting  1

Red-winged Blackbird  30

Boat-tailed Grackle  2

Brown-headed Cowbird  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31224121

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