Bell’s Vireo, Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC, October 1, 2026

Fort Moultrie in Charleston, SC is well-known for its rarities, especially in Fall.  So with a planned weekend of birding near Myrtle Beach in early October 2026, I monitored my eBird Needs Alerts for reports from the Fort Moultrie area.  On 9/23, just a week before the Myrtle Beach weekend, a Bell’s Vireo was found along the Sullivan’s Island Nature Trail adjacent to Fort Moultrie.  Coordinates of the bird’s exact location were provided, which was critical since I had never birded this hotspot before. 

That all sounded promising, but would the Vireo remain until my trip to the coast starting on 10/1?  The bird was reported again on the 25th, 26th and 27th from the same area along the trail.  I had hoped for further updates on eBird as my trip neared, but I didn’t find any other reports from the Nature Trail.  So despite the lack of recent updates, I decided to give it a try as a small side-trip on my route to Myrtle Beach.   

About halfway to the coast on the 1st I made a quick stop to stretch my legs and decided to check eBird one more time.  This time I found checklists from the Nature Trail on the 28th, 29th, and that morning, and in each case the Bell’s Vireo was not reported.  How did I miss these checklists in my earlier searches?  I questioned whether I should continue to give it a try or just bag it and head to Myrtle Beach.  I re-read the recent checklists and saw that none specifically said they looked for the Vireo.  So ever the optimist, I thought maybe those birders weren’t actually trying for the Vireo and were just birding the Nature Trail in general.  For better or worse, I decided to stick with my plans and head to Fort Moultrie to try for the rare Bell’s Vireo.

I rolled into Fort Moultrie at about 1:15 and reviewed the Vireo observations in the eBird checklists.  In each case the Vireo was heard giving numerous scold calls, often in response to recordings.  Though there were few visuals of the bird.  After a short walk I arrived at the Vireo spot listed on the eBird checklist.  Here's a typical view of the dense habitat along the trail taken by Matt Johnson.   

Maybe it was the heat and humidity of this abnormally hot fall day, or just the fact that it was mid-afternoon, but there were few birds in the area – mostly just Catbirds and Thrashers.  I tried to remain hopeful.

But then after just a few seconds I heard a couple chip notes to the south that I wasn’t familiar with.  I took a short walk on a side trail and played recordings of the Bell’s Vireo scold call and the bird responded almost immediately.  I then played recordings of this specific bird posted in earlier checklists and the Vireo was even more responsive.  I had my target bird!  The Bell’s Vireo called numerous times all around me, though I never even saw any movement.  A real skulker!

I was able to get several recordings of the Vireo when it was pretty close, and posted the best ones on my eBird checklist: ebird.org/checklist/S398087179.  Local birder Craig Watson forwarded the recordings to a birder who is an expert on the differences between the similar calls of Bell’s and White-eyed Vireos.  He concluded that I had indeed recorded the Bell’s. 

Bell’s Vireo was #314 for my SC list.  My statebird map for this species is inserted below.  The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range in the Midwest and West.  The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it in its regular range.  Finally, the five dark-blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen Bell’s Vireo as a rarity, now including SC.

A Flock (!) of Hudsonian Godwits, Hooper Lane, Mills River, NC, August 21, 2026

On Friday, August 21 I was scheduled to lead a bird walk at the Biltmore.  But rain started overnight and looked to continue well into the morning.  So we cancelled the walk, and I started to think about other places to bird where the rain would actually be beneficial for birding.  Shorebirds, gulls, and terns tend to migrate in rainy conditions, and can even have fallouts in unusual locations.  So I decided to focus on the local hotspots where these waterbirds will often be seen in the rain.

The first location I headed to was Lake Julian in Buncombe County.  While I was on my way to Julian a text came across the local Blue Ridge Birders text group that a Black Tern was spotted there.  Unfortunately, by the time I got to Lake Julian the Tern had departed.  But maybe that boded well for rarities to show up elsewhere.

Next, I was on to the sod farm along Hooper Lane and Butler Bridge Road in Henderson County.  A good collection of shorebirds had been seen recently at Butler Bridge Road so that was my first stop.  But all I found there were the regulars – no new migrants had dropped in with the rain. 

Then I was headed to the south end of the sod farm on Hooper Lane where shorebirds had also been seen in the last week.  But before I could get to the south end I noticed 4 birders together in the distance down the “Birder’s Trail” – the only trail we’re allowed to walk on at the sod farm.  I wondered if they had something of interest.  As I always say – “bird the birders”, so I headed out to the group to see what they might have.  I was well down the trail when another text came across from the text group – “Nora Shipman has found 46 Hudsonian Godwits at Hooper Ln, 2/3 the way down birder trail.”  Wow – simply amazing! 

I picked up my pace and was practically running when I reached the birders.  When I arrived they simply pointed ahead and there was a tightly packed flock of sleeping Hudsonian Godwits.  Most were in basic plumage, though a few had some reddish feathering below remaining from breeding plumage.

After a while they woke up and began milling around a bit and we were able to get an accurate count of 48 birds. They were my 31st shorebird species I've seen at the Hooper Lane sod farm.

I’m glad I got there when I did because the birds didn’t stay long.  Only a couple hours after the Godwits were reported a Red-tailed Hawk flew by and flushed the entire flock.  If the Biltmore walk hadn’t been cancelled, I wouldn’t have been able to see them.

Hudsonian Godwit was #332 for my NC list.  And with the Sabine’s Gull the day before, it’s pretty amazing to be lucky enough to add birds to my NC list on consecutive days. 

My statebird map for Hudsonian Godwit is inserted below.  The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range – as a spring migrant through the middle of the country, a fall migrant in the east, or a breeder in Alaska.  The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it in its regular range.  Finally, the three dark-blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen Hudsonian Godwit as a rarity – Washington, Vermont, and now North Carolina.

 

Sabine’s Gull, Ecusta Pond, Transylvania County, NC, August 20, 2026

I had just started leading a private tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway early in the morning on August 20, 2026 when I received a text on the Blue Ridge Birders text chat that simply said –

“Sabines Gull @ EP!!”

The text was from Michael Plauche who regularly birds Ecusta Pond (EP), where he has found numerous rarities, though perhaps none as rare as a Sabine’s Gull. 

Oh how I wanted to skip out on the tour and go chasing after the gull, but the client comes first.  Luckily the Gull continued (along with a not-too-rare Black Tern) throughout the morning.  So when the tour was done, I headed straight for Transylvania County and Ecusta Pond.

Michael and a couple other birders were there when I arrived and the bird was cooperatively swimming out on the lake.  I got this barely passable phone-scoped photo of the bird.

And the Black Tern continued as well.

Surprisingly, the Gull continued at the pond for 7 days – I guess I didn’t need to stress about getting there so quickly after all.

Sabine’s Gull was #331 for my NC state list.  My state bird map for Sabine’s Gull is inserted below.  I’ve seen this species in 2 light blue-shaded states (CA and AK) in its regular range, and as a rarity in 5 dark blue-shaded states (MA, NH, VT, NY, and now NC).

As an aside, there is some debate about the correct pronunciation of this bird’s name.  You’d imagine this bird was named after someone named Sabine, and the bird’s name would be pronounced the same way Mr. or Mrs. Sabine pronounced their name.  This quote on the Sabine’s Gull is from the St. Louis Audubon website:-

“Arctic gull named after a distinguished Irish scientist and naturalist, Edward Sabine, who apparently pronounced his name to rhyme with “cabin”. “

It’s official.  And it’s not pronounced anything like Sabine Pass on the Texas Gulf Coast.