Good raptor sightings, an early warbler, and many Wilson's Plovers

Sat 23 July 2016

   Cathy Miller and Jeff Kline joined me yesterday for the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey. Coastal Expeditions generously provided what they called a "Yamaha wind" for the ferry ride out to the island; that wind was a wonderful respite from a very hot, very humid morning with absolutely calm winds. Fortunately the natural wind did pick up to be a gentle breeze through the day and the mercury stayed mercifully low to give us a very warm and humid day's outing. Thanks to both Captain Wil Christenson and First Mate Nick Johnson and to CEX for their continued support.

   As an update to the 7 July 2016 survey...we sighted a banded Piping Plover, reported it to Alice Van Zoeren of the Michigan Piping Plover group, and received this reply from Alice about that sighting:

David,

Exciting news. This is our first report of the 2016-17 non-breeding season! The plover you saw is known as "Bahama Mama". She breeds at Muskegon, MI and winters in the Bahamas. She and her mate lost all three of the chicks they hatched this summer so apparently she has no reason to stay up north. She hatched at Ludington, MI in 2013 and was given her unique band combination in the Bahamas when she was trapped there in 2015.

Thanks for letting us know.

Our 14-year-old fellow is still up here and sitting on eggs that aren't due to hatch until the 12th. It's a very late nest for the first male back up here. He had bad luck with a couple of prospective mates before finally getting some eggs to incubate. Hope he makes it back to SC. I'll be looking forward to your report.

Alice

   That "14-year-old fellow" that Alice mentions is their "Old Man Plover" whom we've seen for several years on the survey. Good news. Read more about Old Man Plover and see photographs of him on my 18 Feb 2016 blog report [http://birdingbulls.blogspot.com/2016/02/report-from-our-2-day-overnight-survey.html] and my 17 Nov 2015 blog report [http://birdingbulls.blogspot.com/2015/11/tues-17-nov-2015-survey-lowcountry-snow.html].

   Now about yesterday's survey, we tallied 45 species on the survey proper, 65 species on the island, and 73 species on the day's outing. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended below, FYI. Sightings of note include 17 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (including 6 juvenile ducklings, clear evidence that they're breeding on Bulls now!), Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, 32 Wilson's Plovers (wondering if many were juveniles from this year's breeding?), Sanderling (many in alternate, breeding plumage), Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and a Palm Warbler. The MIKI and RSHA sightings were unexpectedly good finds as neither are seen regularly on the island. The juvenile nestling Osprey on the Lower Summerhouse Pond nest on 7 July was not there yesterday; hopefully it fledged successfully. We did see several Osprey, maybe one was that fledgling.

   We also saw Monarch and giant swallowtail butterflies, Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, fox squirrels, and presumptive feline foot prints through the dunes. Reports from the turtle patrol show that there are 2277 nests in the Cape Romain NWR Refuge this summer (as of yesterday, and still counting), far surpassing last year's record of 1930 nests.

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

Fri 5 Aug 2016 5.1 ft high tide forecast at 10:22 AM

Sat 6 Aug 2016 50 ft high tide forecast at 11:06 AM

David

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

Jul 22, 2016 9:40 AM - 3:06 PM

Protocol: Traveling

13.4 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Cathy Miller and Jeff Kline. Effort: 10.2 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 3.2 mi and 3 hr 55 min by foot. Weather: sunny, warm, and humid; 85 F to 89 F; EES winds about 5 mph; barometer 30.12 in Hg falling to 30.09 in Hg. Tide was forecast 5.9 ft high at 10:03 AM.  <br />Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.2 Build 70

65 species (+2 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  17     6 juvenile ducklings plus 11 mature.

Mottled Duck  14

Pied-billed Grebe  3

Wood Stork  1

Double-crested Cormorant  33     A fairly accurate count.

Anhinga  9

Brown Pelican  20

Least Bittern  3

Great Blue Heron  13

Great Egret  28

Snowy Egret  38

Little Blue Heron  1

Tricolored Heron  5

Reddish Egret  2

Green Heron  2

Black-crowned Night-Heron  7

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1

White Ibis  15

Glossy Ibis  1

Black Vulture  2

Turkey Vulture  3

Osprey  3

Swallow-tailed Kite  5

Mississippi Kite  5

Red-shouldered Hawk  1

Common Gallinule  24

Black-necked Stilt  15

American Oystercatcher  6

Grey Plover  36     A fairly accurate count.

Wilson's Plover  32     A fairly accurate count.

Semipalmated Plover  4

Killdeer  4

Spotted Sandpiper  5     An accurate count.

Willet  15

Lesser Yellowlegs  3     An accurate count.

Whimbrel  5

Ruddy Turnstone  1

Sanderling  140     A fairly accurate count.

Least Sandpiper  1

Semipalmated Sandpiper  10     A fairly accurate count.

Western Sandpiper  10

peep sp.  25     Too distant to be confident of species ID.

Short-billed Dowitcher  34

Laughing Gull  49

Herring Gull  3

Least Tern  22

Gull-billed Tern  21     A fairly accurate count.

Black Tern  5

Common Tern  1

Royal Tern  231     A rough count. Many on sand bar off the North Beach.

Sandwich Tern  10

Black Skimmer  214     A rough count. Many on sand bar off the North Beach.

Mourning Dove  3

Belted Kingfisher  3     An accurate count.

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Blue Jay  2

crow sp.  2

Barn Swallow  4

Tufted Titmouse  1

Marsh Wren  4

Carolina Wren  1

Palm Warbler  1     Warbler flew into tree at close range for good, quick binocular view. Yellow vent, pumping tail.

Northern Cardinal  2

Painted Bunting  10

Red-winged Blackbird  24

Boat-tailed Grackle  4

Orchard Oriole  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30810117

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

Fall shorebird migration begins and Gull-billed Terns at every survey site

Fri 8 July 2016

   Jeff Kline joined me for yesterday's waterfowl/shorebird survey. Coastal Expeditions joyfully hauled us out and back; they had a good day with so many passengers showing up that they needed two ferries to get everyone out to the island. Captains Wil Christenson and Gates Roll and First Mate Nick Johnson gave us their usual first class treatment. Wil and Nick knew just where to see the female Red-breasted Merganser hanging out in the marshes of Bulls Bay. 

   We tallied 43 species on the survey proper, 63 species on the island, and 68 species on the day's outing. Our eBird checklist from the island is appended below, FYI.

   There were two recent posts to the Carolinabirds listserv proclaiming the beginning of fall shorebird migration. Steve Shultz reported a Solitary Sandpiper in Dare County, NC, on 24 June and Audrey Whitlock reported Western Sandpipers along Split Pea Inlet, NC, on 26 June. I thought that each was a bit too eager to declare the beginning of fall migration, but after Thursday's survey, I'm in full agreement. We tallied a banded Piping Plover showing full-on alternate (breeding) plumage, several Lesser Yellowlegs, and almost 50 Western Sandpipers. 

   We tallied Gull-billed Terns from each and every survey location on the island. I don't recall any one survey having tallied any species at every survey site before. 

   Other avian sightings of note include Red-breasted Merganser (predictably and reliably hanging out in Bulls Bay along the ferry route), Reddish Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Black-crowned Night-Herons are much more common on Bulls), an Osprey juvenile still on the nest, Swallow-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite (at Garris Landing), Clapper Rail (actually very uncommon on the survey proper), Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Black Tern, Common Tern, and Belted Kingfisher (fairly uncommon during summer).

   Non-avian sightings of note included Atlantic bottle-nose dolphin and butterflies. Sarah Dawsey, the refuge manager, reported that she had tallied 65 (I think that was the number) turtle nests on the day and they hadn't even surveyed Bulls Island yet; they headed out to look for turtle crawls on Bulls after we returned to Garris Landing about 4:30 PM. 

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

Fri 22 July 2016 5.0 ft high tide forecast at 10:03 AM

Sat 23 July 2016 5.1 ft high tide forecast at 10:51 AM

David

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

Jul 7, 2016 9:42 AM - 3:23 PM

Protocol: Traveling

14.6 mile(s)

Comments:     Conducting the ongoing Bulls Island waterfowl/shorebird survey with Jeff Kline. Effort: 10.2 mi and 1 hr 30 min by vehicle plus 4.4 mi and 4 hr 15 min by foot. Weather: sunny, hot, and humid; temps 80 F to 94 F; AM winds WNW at 10 mph to 15 mph, PM winds SE to W at 5 mph to 10 mph; barometer steady at 30.06 in Hg in AM, dropping to 30.00 in Hg after noon. Tide was forecast 4.9 ft high at 10:51 AM.  <br />Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.2 Build 70

63 species

Mottled Duck  17

Double-crested Cormorant  4

Anhinga  7

Brown Pelican  19

Least Bittern  3

Great Blue Heron  7

Great Egret  11

Snowy Egret  20

Little Blue Heron  5

Tricolored Heron  4

Reddish Egret  1

Green Heron  12

Black-crowned Night-Heron  5

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  5

Glossy Ibis  10

Black Vulture  1

Turkey Vulture  4

Osprey  6     5 mature plus 1 juvenile still on the nest.

Swallow-tailed Kite  2

Clapper Rail  1

Common Gallinule  15

American Coot  1     Close view. Dark rail, white bill.

Black-necked Stilt  19

American Oystercatcher  3

Grey Plover  26     A fairly accurate count. None showed alternate plumage.

Wilson's Plover  15

Semipalmated Plover  4

Piping Plover  1     In full alternate plumage. Banded: Orange flag UL ( no apparent alphanumeric code); Yellow over Green LL: metal UR; Orange LR.

Spotted Sandpiper  1

Willet  36

Lesser Yellowlegs  11     An accurate count.

Whimbrel  2     An accurate count. Large shorebird with streaked crown and long, decurved bill.

Marbled Godwit  3     An accurate count. Large, warm/cinnamon plumage; straight, bicolored bill. Seen in mixed shorebird flock adjacent to Willets, Whimbrel, Short-billed Dowitcher, and smaller shorebirds.

Ruddy Turnstone  11     A fairly accurate count.

Sanderling  15     A fairly accurate count. Showing very pale basic plumage colors and dark straight bill. Seen with Western Sandpipers, Semiplamated Sandpipers, and Black-bellied Plovers.

Semipalmated Sandpiper  24     A fairly accurate count. Seen adjacent to Western Sandpipers. Showing intermediate straight bills.

Western Sandpiper  49     A fairly accurate count. Seen adjacent to Semiplamated Sandpipers. Distinctly long bills with decurved tips.

Short-billed Dowitcher  45

Laughing Gull  34

Least Tern  7

Gull-billed Tern  27     Seen at each survey site.

Black Tern  1     A small very dark tern (black back and head fading to dark gray breast).

Common Tern  1     Small term showing short legs, long primary projection, white forehead with black band around head, bicolored bill, and faint carpel bars.

Royal Tern  16

Sandwich Tern  13

Black Skimmer  66

Mourning Dove  3

Yellow-billed Cuckoo  2

Common Nighthawk  2

Belted Kingfisher  1

Great Crested Flycatcher  2

Barn Swallow  4

Carolina Chickadee  3

Marsh Wren  3

Carolina Wren  2

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher  1

Northern Mockingbird  1

Northern Cardinal  3

Painted Bunting  5

Red-winged Blackbird  10

Boat-tailed Grackle  6

Orchard Oriole  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30604028

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