Twitching!

The main goal of twitching is often to accumulate species on one's lists. Some birders engage in competition to accumulate the longest species list. The act of the pursuit itself is referred to as a twitch or a chase. A rare bird that stays put long enough for people to see it is twitchable or chaseable.

But it's not just about the numbers it's about the experience and the effort! Otherwise I wouldn't have been here yesterday!  The only competition going on here is between me, myself, and I. 

                                                             boardwalk at Huntington Beach State Park

I had no intentions of becoming a twitcher but why not, if I can do it.  As I've mentioned I want to step up my birding when I saw that I may have a shot of making it to 500, I thought it's worth a try.  Now I know that is low by most people's standards..but I spent 2 decades raising a child so I am playing catch up.

                                      a very heavy sea mist just wouldn't lift

I saw a few birds I was in need of rare e-listed for the coastal SC region. Ones I had hopes of were Greater Scaup, White-winged Scoter, and King Eider.  So with 3 possible I jumped up and packed the van for an overnight trip!

So awesome to be able to be spontaneous, something I have not always been privy to.  I did however decide to leave the big dogs at home.  I knew they would be fine one night alone...but it is the very first night they have ever been home alone overnight in their 9 1/2 yrs!  

                       no scaup in the pond, some Bufflehead and Rudy duck

                                                                 Sanderlings in the surf

I left late in the afternoon after giving the girls their dinner and assuring them I will be back....and hit the highway.  Casey came along as he is old and prone to some dementia, he gets into trouble pretty easy. I arrived to my campsite after dark, and basically ate some dinner and  hit the hay...

top: great blue heron, middle: tri-colored heron, and bottom: greater yellowlegs 

In the morning I enjoyed lots of song birds in my camp site while I made coffee and breakfast.  I have no photos of those guys as I was hurrying trying to get my food eaten and break camp...I took Casey for his long walk and we saw Cedar Waxwings and tons of Yellow Rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, probably 100 in the trees.  Then once Casey was secured in the van, I went and took all the photos shown above while I looked for the Greater Scaup, that I dipped on.  And quite frankly the tide was out and I didn't see much.  This spot used to produce tons of birds, just didn't see the numbers here that I have seen in the past.  The recent cold blast may have moved them farther south.   

                                                                Dunlin....Winter plumage .  

There was a Harlequin Duck spotted down on the jetty, but I decided to use that time to drive up to Myrtle Beach where the Eider had been spotted.  I saw Harlequin Duck  in the Port Townsend Bay in WA.  I heard later that the sea mist was so heavy no one saw the Harlequin that morning...and that mist refused to lift even as the morning passed to noon. 

                                                                the Grand Strand 

The Eider and Scoter had been spotted at the 2nd Ave Fishing Pier.  Winter season the pier is closed so that meant searching for the bird from the shore as the tide was coming in.  Would have been easy peasy from the pier but to the wet sand I went.  

                                                             2nd  Ave N pier

Fortunately for me a lady was walking back with a scope on her shoulder...so I asked..and she was so nice she walked me right to where she spotted it and set her scope back up so I got a good look... not just of the Eider but the White Winged Scoters too.  CaChing!  She was so nice and her name just went right into the back of my mind! She had driven down from Cape Lookout where she had been working as a temporary Ranger, but unfortunately she just got laid off for the season.  I almost think I have met her before maybe at Congaree NP where she has also worked.  

                                                                            incoming tide

It may not look it but it was cold and windy and the waves were rolling big...the ducks would appear on the crest then suddenly disappear as they rolled over the wave so they were up then gone every couple seconds! While I stood there with my face glued to my binoculars the tide got my feet wet! AHHHHHHHHHHHRRR. Soaking wet cold feet. Ok there she is...

And then the Scoters too...

Lousy photos but considering  the mist, movement, and distance I was thrilled!

The King Eider Female. 

She would make her way up to the piling and eat a few barnacles off the wood, then the tide would pull her back away from the pier and she would try again...

These fishermen did set up on the pier...about 50+ Double Crested Cormorants!  with a few Pelicans too...

On my way back to the van, a young girl with a camera on a tripod thrown over her shoulder was walking toward me, so she asked me the same thing I had asked the Ranger lady, and I did the same for her, took her to the shore and pointed out the Rare Bird! Gotta pay it forward.  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Sea Rim State Park, Sabine Pass TX

Of course I will get behind on blogging as I have most of the time a dead computer...It stays charged long enough for me to upload the zillion photos then it goes dead. I have been in Texas since Wednesday and I'm still at the very same place...because at first it was so awesome then the weekend hit, so I stayed put leaving here on Sunday.  Here is Sea Rim State Park.   on the Gulf coast.   Here is my camp they said sorry the campground is full..but the beach is open!

So I said hell yeah!  Why would I ever want to leave....And to boot there are soooo many birds here.

black bellied plover

Right outside the door of my van I see this!! And then the tide pools are full of terns, stilts, and long billed dowitchers. 

black necked stilt

I have to sort through these terns and see what is there....

there is so much to see and do right here..

I  have met some nice people and enjoyed some good chats while I've been hiking around the park looking at the birds...

dunlin getting their black belly patch

here is another shot taken right outside my van door...the Ruddy Turnstone.

the staff here are so nice...the beach is considered primitive, so no amenities, but this to me is an emenity...

Another right in front of me lifer the Snowy Plover.

One nature trail is the Gambusia...its all a boardwalk thru the marsh...its awesome and depending on the time of day you walk it you will see all sorts from coots, blue winged teal to Black bellied whistling ducks! Another lifer.

it's just gorgeous here...

and finally I see the American Avocet in breeding plumage! 

Least tern...

Least Sandpiper

Nearby is Sabine Woods I found this migrating Orchard Oriole

Sabine woodlot

The best part is I don't have to do anything except wait to see a great sunset.

Second day was perfect too...but I'll have to save that post for next.

ebird List here

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Day Tripper...

Mar. 10 Bear Island WMA-

I meant to do a post on my most recent finished projects on the House Make Over, but I never got around to taking the photos! My head is just not in it right now as it is SPRING! I mean it came so fast, it is now each day hitting the 80's for us. I've been so buzzed about Birds lately..I do take it "by spells" as my Grandmother used to say....meaning it is my focus for a while then it wanes, never fades tho.  Anywho Like I said ITS Spring...I'm on a bender of a sort....soon I'll be hoping for Warblers and other migrants to stop over!!

some of the shrubs in the yard

...decided to take my itchy foot down to the Low Country and to Bear Island WMA, to check out the ponds before the changing of the guards and the migration is in full swing.  This area is located near the Ashepoo River not too far away from Charleston...its about a 2 - 1/2 hr ride for me..put my coffee in the cup holder and off I went...Casey came along but he was happy to nap in the back we had the windows down and air felt NICE!

Ashepoo River 

along the same road is the Airy Hall Plantation...C-1701

this plantation once consisted of 16,000 acres and rice was the main crop

The Wildlife Management Area means they cater to hunters...which I hate but as a birder you will hear the argument about the duck stamp yada yada yada, anywho its a great place when its NOT hunting season..

ebird showed a recent Ruff sighting, I don't have a scope...must check ebay for a bargain on one..... if I saw it I didn't recognize it...Shorebirds are a great mystery to me...they all look alike in the winter/fall plumage, I am trying very hard to improve and that's partly why I made this day trip...  So here's some of what I did see; lots of Northern Shovelers,



and quite a large number of Green Winged Teals

And quite a lot of shorebirds were present! I am still trying to figure out exactly who I saw....of course as is usually the way they were on the Far Side, and with the sun behind them...so good photos didn't really happen. I squinted till I was nearly blind!  Helped a Turtle across the road..

An awesome sunny day was had by me and quite a few other birders who car pooled in.... am I a bigot if I say they all looked alike too? Individuality is dying....
These Spanish moss covered trees make a natural bridge over the roadway...very dramatic...

Down at the Hog Island pond spotted lots of American Avocet,  and one Forster's Tern

Here's an Avocet resting they were so busy catching small crustaceans swishing their heads back  forth...

....kinda made me dizzy just watching...

Greater  & Lesser Yellow Legs were plentiful...

and am going with Dunlin on these and the smaller one a Western Sandpiper 

Pretty sure those legs are dark....but to me this is a Reddish Egret. 

and a Bald Eagle soared over me a few times...

tho this is not a good clear shot Im thinking this is a Least Sandpiper 

and several Glossy Ibis were around...

saw 2 alligators, it was warm so most were in the water cooling off...

I almost stepped on a snake! I scared it so bad it nearly jumped 3 ft..

and the A. White Pelican flew over looking like a crop duster---- he was so big! I swear the wing spread seemed to be 8 ft across...

so it was a fun Day Trip and I hummed Day Tripper by the Beatles of course all the way home, "it took me so long to find out... but I found out....lala''

back home: The Eastern Bluebirds in my yard have already starting nesting, and soon our hummingbirds will arrive for the season...Looking forward to seeing those guys!! 

Can't believe how fast the winter went this year, now we have to turn the clock forward, I protest!! 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

West Lake and Eco Pond

The mosquitoes were gone in the morning so I set up my stove outside for coffee and breakfast gave Casey a walk around then we headed out for various sights, birding, and nature walks....So our first stop was again over in the Walk in area to check the skimmers and the bay...still busy 

And there was a red shouldered hawk hunting in the area in fact he would fly over the bay and spook the skimmers

then rest on the solar array framing

This white pelican was out of the water in the mud..and a willet was patrolling the beach

Our next stop was West lake and the boardwalk there...

that takes you thru a red and black mangrove forest! Trees that have half the root out of the water...and manyyy roots up to get oxygen..

and you can see some of the red tannic acid in this shot

Came upon this chillin Gr Egret on the boardwalk 

then the board walk opens up to West Lake..

Saw some warblers on the way out some weird streaky photos of the quick little devils, there was a Black n White, a Black Throated Green, Louisiana Waterthrush and a Black Throated Blue!! 

The most common butterfly I saw was the Florida White!

No hike on Snake Bight trail too many skeeters, so we went back down to Eco Pond to look for the White crowned Pigeon that was rumored to be hanging around..got a sneak peek at a white eyed vireo they had been following me every where I was happy to get a backwards glance shot. 

We flushed the pigeon right away and I figured I missed my shot at getting a photo..but when I was leaving the Eco Pond, I respotted him eating some berries in thick cover about 10 ft up...I kept trying and got these not so hot shots of a new lifer for me..

and a closer altho fuzzy shot of that white eye!

So with this White Crowned Pigeon, this brings my lifers to 5 I totally forgot to put one on the post where I saw him so I'm adding him here and with a Dunlin, a Semipalmated, and the Stilt SP 

1. Lesser Scaup @  Little Talbot
2. Roseate Spoonbill @ Merritt Island
3. American Flamingo @ Bunche Beach 
4. Limpkin @  Big Cypress Nat Preserve
5. White Crowned Pigeon  @ Everglades

              

And then I met this fellow at Eco Pond looking for the pigeon, I was able to help him find it in the same place I saw it...so that was fun because it was fun to share with someone who was as excited as me to see it...and he shared a bit of info with me--- my next post.

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.