One of the organizations I volunteer for was planning a meeting on the southern South Carolina coast in October 2025. Of course, I would take advantage of the trip to include some birding in route and while on the coast. I scanned my Needs Alerts for SC but came up empty. But since I’d be close to Georgia maybe there might be some coastal birds or fall migrants to pursue just over the state line. There were a couple records of migrant passerines I needed, but they looked iffy at best. Instead, there were far more possibilities in northern GA. I started to wonder if I could swing by the greater Atlanta area on the way home from the SC coast. But that would make for a very long time on the road.
As I had more or less given up on the possibility of seeing
any new statebirds on this trip, my SC meeting got canceled. Hmm… I
had already blocked out several days to be away from home in early October. And the statebird potential was pretty good in
northern GA. Why not just head directly to the greater Atlanta area and forget
about SC altogether? Atlanta was closer
than the SC coast anyway. My impromptu
trip to Atlanta was a go!
With a bit of research, I came up with 3 key targets, or
groups of targets, for my trip. The
first was a group of long-staying Limpkins in Clayton County a bit south of
Atlanta - I felt pretty good at my chances for this one. My next targets were migrant passerines. Numerous species popped up on my Needs
Alerts, though none were seen regularly at any specific location, nor in good
numbers. Lastly, I targeted several
shorebird species that were reported at a sod farm north of Atlanta. Though the last report of these birds was a
full week before my trip. Overall, I
felt like it would be a successful trip if I saw the Limpkin, 1 new migrant
passerine, and 1 new shorebird species. That
would be a rather long trip for just 3 new state birds, but since I had the
time available, why not.
October 2 – Limpkin Search
Ever since the big Limpkin irruption year in 2023 I’ve
noticed large numbers of Limpkins reported at the Clayton County Water
Authority Lake Blalock hotspot. These
birds have apparently colonized this spot and are likely breeding. That was the good news. The bad news is that the birds have been
around so long that few of the recent checklists included details for finding
the birds. Plus, the hotspot title included
the phrase “limited access”, so I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to access the
spot. Luckily, I found a couple birders
who had recently seen the Limpkins that had eBird profiles with e-mail
addresses. I was able to get the scoop from
them on how to buy a daily pass to the site, and that the birds were most often
seen at the western end of the lake.
Armed with those details, finding my target birds was actually
quite easy. I got my daily pass, drove a
short distance to the parking lot at the western end of the lake, took a short
walk to the water’s edge, and started scanning the shoreline of a nearby island. Within a few seconds I found a Limpkin foraging
along the shore (GA statebird #1). And
with a bit of scanning found 3 more feeding nearby.
My statebird map for Limpkin is inserted below. I’ve only seen this species in its regular range in light-blue-shaded FL. The 5 dark blue states (SC, NC, TN, TX, and now GA) are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity. To think that before the 2023 irruption I had only seen Limpkin in FL.
October 3 – Passerine and Shorebird Searches
My Needs Alerts for migrant passerines included multiple
species, and multiple locations for most.
But no specific sites seemed to stand out as the most likely ones for my
targets. So I reached out to several GA
birders to see where they would suggest.
One birder commented that migrants were better in both riparian and
wet/weedy open habitats. And all
included one site in their suggestions – the Cochran Shoals Unit of the
Chattahoochee River NRA. My GA birding
friend Bob Johnson gave me great details regarding how to bird that site,
including birding an area along the river where nearby boardwalks go through
wet scrubby areas. That satisfied both the
riparian and open habitat recommended conditions. It seemed like Cochran Shoals might well be a
prime spot so I chose that location as my starting point for the morning of the
3rd. Now I just needed the birds to
cooperate.
I arrived in the Cochran Shoals parking lot just before
sunrise and was surprised how many joggers and cyclists there were. But the trail along the river was wide enough
that hopefully we all could keep out of everyone’s way. Here’s a shot of the river just as the sun
was beginning to rise.
I got to the boardwalk area that Bob had recommended and was
just about to walk into the wetlands when I noticed some movement in the trees
right along the river. It turned out
that there were quite a number birds flitting around in the treetops.
I stayed there for an hour or more and had 9 warbler species in the trees, dominated by Redstarts, Black-and-whites, Magnolias, and Parulas. Then I spotted a bird fly in with fine streaking below. And with a closer look it turned out to be a Cape May, which was soon joined by a second one (GA statebird #2).
I then made my way to the boardwalk and found several Hooded
Warblers, and a surprise Sedge Wren right along the boardwalk. A bit later I heard sharp chip notes coming
from the wet understory and eventually got great looks at a Northern
Waterthrush (GA statebird #3). GA is now
my 34th state where I’ve seen this species.
The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see Northern
Waterthrush in its regular range – 11 more to go.
I came back out to the main trail along the river and noticed a couple birders walking toward me. They were local birders Rick Sellers and Pierre Howard who bird that site frequently. They told me about a couple other areas to bird along the river, and we birded together for the rest of the morning. We came up with a couple other good birds including a second Sedge Wren, and a few more warblers here and there. They also took me to an area called the Vireo Trail that had some nice brushy understory. Living up to its name we got Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos here. And most importantly I spotted an Empidonax flycatcher that was bright yellow below with a yellow throat - an adult Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (GA statebird #4). Interestingly, the local eBird reviewers don’t accept silent Yellow-bellies without photos, though they are accepted here in western NC.
We finished the morning with 55 species featuring 12
warblers, 3 vireos, and 4 Catharus thrushes and Wood Thrush. It was great birding with Rick and Pierre. In fact, birding was so good that morning
that we decided to meet up there again the next morning.
Next, I was onto the Etowah Indian Mounds Sod Farm north of
Atlanta to try from some shorebirds. Exactly
a week earlier there was a checklist from this hotspot that included 4 of my targets
- Golden-Plover, Buff-breasted, Baird’s and Pectoral. But there had been no reports, positive or
negative, from that site since. I
connected with a local birder familiar with the site who said that a week ago there
had been heavy rains that flooded parts of the fields attracting those
shorebirds. But the sod had since dried
up and local birders knew that meant the shorebirds were long gone. I was tempted to pass on the site as a result,
but I had the time and directions so I decided to give it a try.
There are 2 main viewing points onto the sod farm – one for
the southern half and another for the northern half. I first pulled into the southern pulloff and my
eyes went right toward a small wet area in the distance – maybe I was going to
be in luck after all. But despite
several scans I could only find Killdeer walking around the muddy area and
neighboring sod. I then started scanning
the dry areas and found good numbers of Killdeer, but nothing else. But then while scanning a more distant part
of the farm to the southeast I spotted a more upright plover walking across the
sod. I increased the magnification on my
scope to get a better look – tall upright plover with broad white eyeline and
dark cap. I had an American
Golden-Plover (GA statebird #5). Here
are 2 distant phonescoped shots of the bird.
Then with some additional scanning of adjacent areas I picked up 6 more Golden-Plovers. Not bad for a bird that hadn’t been spotted for a week.
As they say on the TV commercials: “But wait there’s more…” While scanning the Plovers another time to
make sure I had an accurate count I noticed a pair of browner shorebirds a bit
smaller than the Plovers. They were
Pectoral Sandpipers (GA statebird #6) – undoubtedly one of the most common
species that I still needed in GA. I’ve
now seen Pectorals in all but 3 states in the continental US.
I was pretty confident that I had seen all the shorebirds present in the southern half of the farm, so I drove down the road a bit to the pulloff overlooking the northern areas. This time I found a larger flooded area, and it was full of peeps. I counted 62 Leasts and 5 Semis, along with 3 more Pectorals, a Solitary, 4 Snipe, and a Greater Yellowlegs. I looked hard for Baird’s or something better, but to no avail. Then in a more distant pond I spotted a pale bird that was very active – running along the banks, and swimming in the pond. I thought it could be a Wilson’s Phalarope but couldn’t quite eliminate a more likely Lesser Yellowlegs. Here are 2 miserable distant shots of the bird.
I ended the day with 5 new statebirds, and now 6 for the trip. And I still had one more morning of birding ahead of me.
October 4 – Another Passerine Search
Given our success at Cochran Shoals on the 3rd, Rick, Pierre
and I decided to head back there for a morning of birding on the 4th. I once again arrived at dawn and headed to
the boardwalk area where we had so many birds the day before. But soon it was obvious that we wouldn’t have
the same kind of morning, with fewer birds passing through the area. I decided to return to the main trail to get
a different view of the area. And just
after I arrived, I spotted a Cuckoo flying by – it had limited rufous in the
primaries so I was hopeful that I had a Black-billed. Luckily it landed in the open in the understory. Lower perches are more typical for
Black-billed so the evidence was mounting.
It started to preen, and as it preened its tail I got a good look at the
underside which was mostly dark with limited white. And then finally I got to see the all-black
bill. I had a Black-billed Cuckoo (GA
statebird #7). I still need this elusive
species in a lot of states especially in the central part of the country.
Later we found at least 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, both perching higher in the trees which is typical for this species. We finished the morning with 11 warbler species, 4 vireos, and 50 species total. Not bad for a slow morning. As lunchtime neared, I decided to call it quits and start the drive home. I wished Rick and Pierre well, and hoped that we could bird again together either in north GA, or back home in western NC.
I ended the trip with 83 species including 7 additional
statebirds, obviously much better than the 3 I had hoped for. That brings my GA state list to 279. It would be nice to try to get to 300 someday, but there aren't too many easy birds left.
