3rd day is a charm...

I know you're wondering what the heck Im talking about lol...so it was Friday morning I got up and that was the 3rd day of a rare bird being reported in the exact same spot...I had slept in and having coffee when I read it on the ebird rare sightings for SC.  Only 2hrs and 15 mins drive..hmmmm by the time I arrived it was 1 PM! BUT sunny breezy the prefect day to go on a Twitch.  

In the Eastern corner of Charleston County is where the Santee River empties into the Atlantic Ocean...there's several places here I've been hoping to go check out but just never have gotten around to doing so this summer was SO HOT.  As  you can see it is chock full of mature old growth trees, since it was once part of 2 plantations! Eldorado, and Ormond Hall.  The Nature Conservancy acquired the land in 1974, its 24,000 acres of Coastal plain, flood plain, and contains Carolina Bays, odd small depressions filled with water!

I arrived so late in the day I only explored one area and not very thoroughly either! There's a boardwalk I really wanted to explore, but I was dead tired when I finished walking around about 5 pm sat down to eat my sandwich and began my drive home...if the weather was not going to turn sour I would have stayed over they have a Fabulous campground FREE!

each site is huge and nestled under the moss covered live oaks! All primitive so you're on your own if you stay here..beware of generators in hot weather.  MY Interest was in the 3 large impounds East of the visitors center and museum.  

Right away there was heron to greet me Little, Tri Color,  and Great Blue...all busy hunting for a meal some having success.  










And there's reptiles...

check out those golden eyes...

The Golden Rod and other plants still in full bloom was a treat 

Monarch butterfly

Double Crested Coromorant

Pied Billed Grebe 

The Big Well Trail was where the rare bird had been showing up so I took the trail.  It circles around the 3 impoundments.  

Parking is close to the trail so I drove over and parked by the boat launch area..right away small birds were darting in and out of the sedge and rushes.

If you're familiar with the Sharp Tailed Sparrow "Nelson's" you will recognize this guy...he didn't come out fully in the open I got 3 shots and each one filled in a piece of the puzzle.  It's been so long since I am seeing sparrows that it's like starting over!  We also had the Swamp, and Field come out for photo opts.

One of my fellow birders felt this could be a clay colored sparrow but no black outlines of the check patch so I called it Field Sparrow but then ebird reviewer saw it and said it's an Immature White Crowned...a state bird for me so yeah! 

                                                                     Gr Yellow Legs

We had Gr and Lesser Yellow Legs, Dunlins, Stilt Sandpiper, Least and Western Sandpiper, Short Billed Dowitchers,

Maybe some long thrown in too...couldn't tell you the difference!

Egrets, Night Herons, Semi-P Plovers,

Black Bellied Plovers,

Had Prairie and Palm Warblers peeking in and out of the tall flora along the trail edges...

Prairie Warbler 

Palm Warbler 

Wilson's Snipe

Fly Over Wood Storks 

I hoped for a Sedge Wren...couldn't nail one down but found my favorite the Marsh Wren 

And although we found our target right away I saved it for last wish my photos could have been better but he stayed just out of good range,

Hudsonian Godwit!  
That link takes you to the range map so you can see how far out of his normal range he was!

I had the place to my self for a while but then these other nice people joined in the search, everyone went home happy! 

The 2 people with their back to us in this photo run an Adventure Guide Service.  They will soon be taking a group to Costa Rica.  That's Paul on the left and his lovely wife Amanda on the right.  We spent a couple hours birding together and what a pleasant meeting it was.  If you want to check them out look for them here..

Epic Nature Tours 

... these young people give me HOPE.


  

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

McFaddin and Sabine Woods

My last day at Sea Rim was Saturday and I had 2 places to visit all lined up.  Just down the road was McFaddin WLR.   I took a drive down to see what I might find.  Its a nice drive around a lake and some channels, then you gotta turn around...Once again due to the road that was not replaced when Hurricane Ike destroyed it.  

There is some open grass, some canals and 

salt marsh too, its wet  I'm sure it dries later in the summer.  There were many Sea Side Sparrows out there hiding and singing in that grass...I got a few horrible photos but I'll share one anyways...the camera couldn't focus with all that grass waving around...

and just as crazy is the Marsh Wren they never sit still...

here's a little video of the wren so you can hear the call

           

Saw a few great blue herons, some great egrets, snowy egrets, and Green Herons...

...below is a Savannah Sparrow 

At the end of the drive where you have to run around there was a tug pushing a barge up the canal.

On the way to Sabine Woods from here you have to pass road 69, it is the area of Sea Rim Park where you can rent boats and there is a good sized parking lot there...I stopped to eat a lunch and found this guy sitting right in the middle of an empty parking lot! 

Also camping on the beach was a  fellow from MN for a couple nights and he had ABA stickers all over his Hyundai Fit and little bird statues glued to his dashboard.  A little bit eccentric but it's all good.  SO he and I viewed a similar bird in the grass at Sea Rim he told me they are lesser nighthawk, I wanted it to be the common paruaque but he said no, so I trust his knowledge.  Lesser was a lifer for me anyway!! 

And here is the one we viewed together...

I stood too close to his mate and he zoomed me... what a sound he made...very loud earth shattering almost. I guess different lighting is the reason for the difference in color this one was in later evening light.

In that same parking lot is this NOAA weather monitoring station, pretty cool to see. 

and a red winged blackbird perched on the tower...

After lunch I drove about 10 miles down the road to the Sabine Woods, I stopped by here on Friday but the bugs were so bad I left...so I wanted to return. 

Great big trees in the woodlot, and at the back an open field, they charge $5 for non members..its a self pay station..

There is one pond on the property and it attracts birds and mosquitoes. 

There's lots of plants, insects, trees, nice trails, and some benches here and there to rest, they put out some trickle water features to entice birds to land for you to get a photo...I didn't have much luck, I should have come here first...

lots of flowers to attract pollinators too...

Here is a skipper on a blanket flower as I call this plant....all these plants are native to this area.  like the Cherokee Rose. 

All the birders gathered at the water to wait for the warblers....

What we saw was this yellow crowned night heron try to swallow a turtle! He finally gave up but he whacked that turtle pretty hard...I had to leave I didn't want to see the turtle get hurt.

A grey catbird wanted a drink but he stayed hid in the thicket...

This Eastern Kingbird came right out in the open getting down to business gathering some nesting material.

I walked out of the woods to the field and back towards the entrance is a big mulberry tree, I saw a few orchard orioles fly in and out both males and females, and then one guy said there is a Cape May Warbler in the tree...took me forever to find him but finally I did...

Summer Tanager 

Not a new bird for me, as warblers are plentiful in the Carolina's but it was sweet to get this photo.

I was hot and sweaty and tired so I went back to Sea Rim to get my van settled in for the last time there...

another Neotropical Cormorant. 

Looking across the marsh to my spot for the night on the beach....so lovely. 

Sunday was a day of driving to get relocated...and I'll pick up there on the next blog. 

PEACE

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