South Florida and Southeastern US Trip, January 6-16, 2025, Part 1 of 3

I was sitting at home on a cold day in November 2024 thinking ahead to the prospects of the upcoming winter of birding in western NC.  Winter birding in the area can be pretty slow in good times.  But complicating the picture this year was that several of my favorite birding spots were still inaccessible, or completely destroyed, by Hurricane Helene. 

That’s when I started thinking about setting up a mid-winter trip to a southern (and warmer) US location.  I’ve taken several mid-winter trips recently - lower Rio Grande valley In January 2024, Tallahassee in January 2023, and the Atlantic coast of FL in February 2023.  In each case the trips were focused on pursuing 1or more life birds, and were most successful.  So I checked out the eBird ABA Rarities Alert to see if there might be potential life bird targets to pursue this winter.  There was a long-staying Bananaquit near Miami that caught my eye.  Plus, there are quite a number of newly countable exotic Parakeets, Macaws, and Amazons in south FL that would be lifers for me.  The trip was on!

I started planning a south FL trip focused on specialties, exotics, and rarities.  And speaking of rarities, I also found reports of 2 exciting South American species being seen in south FL - Yellow-headed Caracara and Large-billed Tern.  I mentioned the upcoming trip to my good birding friend Bill Hooker, and he expressed interest in coming along.  Soon we were thinking about a trip for 4 of us –including Bill and his wife Anita, plus Bill’s friend Bob Cowan.  Not only were all of us looking for lifebirds and statebirds, but Bill was also working on his county lists, and Bob was embarking on a 2025 big year.  Plus, Anita was great at photographing our target birds.  So there were lots of potential targets for all of us.  And speaking of state and county birds, we decided to drive to south FL instead of flying so we could work on our lists along the way.

After perhaps 200 hours of research, I mapped out a route that would take us down the coast of SC and GA, through inland northern and central FL, then onto south FL.  Then we would return along the Atlantic coast of FL and back through GA and SC.  We tentatively planned it as an 11-day trip including 5 days in south FL.  Though we included more than enough flexibility to pursue any newly reported target birds.  With this itinerary I hoped for 4 new statebirds in SC, 2 in GA, and 10 new statebirds in FL.  And perhaps 2 of those new FL birds would be lifebirds as well.  Though unfortunately the initial trigger for our trip, the Bananaquit, was no longer being seen.

This blogpost summarizes the first portion of the trip.  The next two posts summarize the rest of the trip.

1/6 - South Carolina

There were an amazing number of rarities being seen in SC as our trip neared.  And even though two initial targets (Eared Grebe and White-winged Dove) were no longer being reported, we still had so many targets that we dedicated most of the first two days of the trip to chasing those SC rarities. 

Our first stop was to try for a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Harbison Pond near Columbia.  This bird had been reliable and seen by many from December 26th through 28th, but then not reported again until January 5th, just in time to put it back on our radar screen.  This western rarity was mostly seen on the eastern side of the small lake, and close to the shoreline.  In fact, most photos showed the bird right at the water’s edge.  So we were cautiously optimistic that the Warbler might actually be pretty easy to spot.

As we drove to Columbia we passed through bands of heavy rain as a strong cold front neared the area.  But luckily the rain had not yet arrived when we got to Harbison Pond, so we had a little dry window to find our target.  We started a slow walk down the eastern side of the lake but the only bird we found was a lone Phoebe.  Making matters worse, then the rain started, along with strong westerly winds.  Even though the bird was typically only seen on the east side of the lake, that area was exposed to the rain and wind.  So we decided to try the protected western side – that was a nice theory but we still couldn’t find our target. 

We went back to the east side and decided to give it one more try.  But this time we had no birds at all.  Just then Anita asked me to check out a bird she spotted high up in a tree in the distance.  Although it was pretty far away I could see the classic head pattern of our target bird – we had the Black-throated Gray Warbler!  (SC statebird #1)  No one had reported the bird foraging that high; wonder if the weather had something to do with it.

My statebird map for Black-throated Gray Warbler is inserted below.  The light blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The 5 darker blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity.

Next we were on to Fort Moultrie on the coast near Charleston.  This spot is well known for its rarities and this January was no exception – Western Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and LeConte’s Sparrows were all being reported there.  When we arrived we spotted a birder in the distance so we made our way over to her.  She had just seen both flycatchers loosely associating together.  And soon we spotted the Western Kingbird on a low perch in the field – a nice rarity but I had seen one at Fort Moultrie in the past.  We spent a few minutes searching for the Ash-throated but with no luck.  Then I played a couple Ash-throated call notes for this tape-responsive species and it flew right into us (SC statebird #2).  I got these passable digi-bin shots of the two birds perched just a few feet apart.

 

We spent the next 30 minutes searching for the LeConte’s Sparrow, and found a nice flock of foraging Savannahs in about the right location, but we had no luck with our target.

Our next chaseable rarities were a male and female Western Tanager just 20 minutes away at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.  They were seen separately generally foraging in woods near a submarine memorial and nearby across the street.  We had good directions, now we needed the birds to cooperate.

We parked at the memorial and quickly checked the trees there, but had no birds at all.  Then we headed across the road and at least started to find a few birds here and there.  Soon we got to a small wooden bridge that I remembered as being one of the hotspots for the Tanagers.  This spot turned out to be quite birdy, with a number of birds coming out of the brush under the bridge.  Then I noticed a larger bird perched in a bare tree just above the bridge – it was the female Western Tanager.  (SC statebird #3).  It was likely an immature bird with very limited yellow below.  Certainly not the most colorful bird, but still a new statebird.  Here’s a shot of Bob and Bill looking at the Tanager.

Since we found the Tanager so quickly we still had time for one last stop.  There was a male Bullock’s Oriole coming to a nearby private feeder, and even though the general suggestion was to try for this bird in the early morning, we decided to give it a go since we still had time late that afternoon.  We arrived at the residence and headed to the chairs in the backyard to start our vigil.  The homeowners came out to greet us, and put additional jelly in the feeder to entice the Oriole.  And within just a couple minutes the adult male Bullock’s flew in to the feeding station.  I had seen a female in SC a couple years earlier, but it sure was nice to see this beautiful male.

1/7 – Coastal South Carolina

Our first stop of the day was on Edisto Island where up to 2 Long-tailed Ducks had been reported.  Unfortunately, they had not been reported for 4 days, and the locations of the eBird checklists were at multiple spots all along the beach.  So I was a bit worried if we were going to be successful on this search, or at least successful quickly.  But I got a tip that they might be more reliable off the Coots Bar restaurant, so that’s where we started.

When we parked at Coots Bar I looked down the coast to the southwest and was shocked to see numerous jetties jutting out from the beach.  Long-tailed Ducks like to feed along jetties so there could be a dozen or more places to check.  I scanned the first jetty but didn’t find any ducks.  Then Bill said he thought he had them at the next jetty.  Binocular views revealed two small mostly white ducks, and in the scope we confirmed we had the male and female pair of Long-tailed Ducks.  (SC statebird #4)  SC was the last Atlantic coast state where I still needed this species.  The two cross-hatched states in my statebird map (OR, OH), are the last 2 states where I still need this species in its regular range.

We then spent a little time focusing on the shorebirds feeding on the jetties and picked out 2 Knots among the flocks of Sanderlings, Turnstones, and Willets.

As we continued our trek down the coast our next stop was at Bear Island WMA.  And here we quickly picked up Tundra Swans as our key target.  We also kept our eyes open for a White-winged Dove reported there recently, but just found Mourning Doves. 

Our last stop in SC was at the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive in Savannah NWR.  The key target here was a Gray-headed Swamphen which was only the second SC state record.  The bird was first reported some 2 weeks earlier, and was seen daily within 100 yards past port-a-potties located along the drive.  An occasional Cave Swallow or 2 was also reported by some birders in the area, though that target was a pretty long shot.

We quickly found the port-a-potties less than a mile from the beginning of the drive, parked our cars, and began searching the marshes nearby.  Our initial searches yielded numerous Common Gallinules and Coots and a few dabbling ducks, but no big purple marsh birds.  We continued down the road a bit combing through more cattail marshes but still couldn’t come up with our target.  I took a break at one point to look for swallows and found quite a number of Tree Swallows passing quickly by, seemingly in migration.  None looked like possible Cave candidates though all were passing by so quickly that a Cave ID would have been difficult.

We had now come more than 100 yards from the port-a-potties, so I started heading back to recheck the marsh we had just searched.  Just then I spotted a flash of purple color at the edge of the cattails.  I saw a bit more movement and watched as the Gray-headed Swamphen stepped out of the reeds into view.  (SC statebird #5) 

Just as I was getting everyone on the bird, Bill spotted an American Bittern slowly moving through the cattails just a few feet from the Swamphen.  Even when we knew where the Bittern was it was next to impossible to see.

With the Swamphen search complete, I turned back to the swallow search.  As before there were many Trees flying quickly by, but this time I noticed a swallow flying back and forth foraging low over the impoundment.  This one had an orange rump and buffy throat – we had a Cave Swallow (SC statebird #6).  We had at least 3 Caves together at the Swamphen spot, and at least 2 others a short distance down the road.  Each of the Caves were coursing low over the vegetation apparently feeding, while the numerous Trees were flying as if migrating by.  SC was my 5th state seeing Cave Swallow as a rarity.  I’ve also seen the Caribbean group breeding in south FL, and the Mexican group breeding in TX, NM, and LA.

We birded the rest of the Wildlife Drive, finding lots of waterfowl (including a somewhat unexpected pair of Mottled Ducks) and many waders.  And although we wanted to bird there longer, it was time to move on to our next stops.

1/7 – Coastal Georgia

It was now getting late in the afternoon but we had time for 2 quick stops just over the stateline in GA.  The first was at Fort Pulaski to try for the 3 “marsh sparrows”.  Although the tide wasn’t high, which is the easiest time to find these elusive birds, we still hoped to find them in the excellent salt marsh habitat at the fort.  But despite playing a lot of tape we were unsuccessful.  Lastly, we headed to the North Jetty at Tybee Island where there were old reports of Purple Sandpipers, Black Scoters, and a Long-tailed Duck.  But we could only find Turnstones and Sanderlings.  Maybe we could try for them on the way back north later in the trip.

1/8 – North Florida

Our first stop in FL was at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville for a long-staying Cinnamon Teal.  Although the bird was seen regularly in a large flock of Blue-winged Teal, there had been no reports of our target since January 2nd.  So I was a bit concerned that it had moved on.  As we walked into the park we saw a group of birders coming out.  They told us that the large flock of Blue-wings had moved on and the Cinnamon Teal likely had gone with them.  When we got to the impoundment where the Teal flock had been we found just 6 Blue-wings.  At least the whole area was very birdy, including this Snail Kite that flew in and perched cooperatively nearby.

Next we were on to the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park 45 minutes to the south.  This site had 2 key targets for us: a small number of Vaux’s Swifts that were being seen sporadically, and an Ash-throated Flycatcher.  The Swifts were mostly spotted flying over impoundments at the south end of the park, and the Flycatcher was principally near the northwestern part of the park.  We pulled in and quickly headed to the southern impoundments, but our searches of the skies came up empty.  We noticed a birder in the distance and walked over to him for some local advice.  He mentioned that we just missed the Swifts, as they flew by just 20 minutes earlier.  Surely they would come back, right?  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case over the next 30 minutes. 

We decided to try to change our luck and look for the Flycatcher.  After a short walk toward the northern end of the park we watched and listened to no avail.  We played some tape hoping for a response like we had with the SC bird a couple days earlier, but again with no luck.  Though a couple Eastern Phoebes briefly got us excited. 

After about 90 minutes at the park we decided to cut our losses and head out for one more stop yet that afternoon.  The last stop of the day was about 2 hours to the south in Osceola County where a Whooping Crane had taken up residence with a pair of Sandhills in a subdivision under construction.  This bird was apparently quite reliable, so we hoped we might soon change our luck after missing several consecutive targets. 

When we arrived we first had to drive through a neighborhood of new houses to get to the construction area.  There we found the roads were completed and the subdivision was all laid out, but the houses were not yet under construction.  The Crane was most often reported right in the cul de sac at the end of the road, but there was no obvious tall white bird in site.  Then I looked to the east a bit to a neighboring farm and noticed a white bird in the distance.  With a quick binocular view we confirmed we had our Whooping Crane feeding in the short grass with 2 Sandhills.  (FL statebird #1) 

After watching it feed at the farm for a few minutes it took off and flew right by us, landing in a pond in the cul de sac, giving us great views.  What a great way to end the day!

There was a second Whooping Crane being seen less than 10 miles away.  It turns out that both birds were released in the area in 1999 and had formed a mated pair, but somehow the 2 birds had recently become separated.  You would sure hope that the authorities would try to reacquaint the birds, especially given that the habitat for the one we saw would soon be compromised once construction of the neighborhood was underway.

1/9 – Central Florida

One of the key initial targets for the trip was a Large-billed Tern discovered at the Goodwin WMA.  This South American species was first spotted in the area in the summer of 2023, but then disappeared until being re-found in November 2024.  Interestingly, it or another one spent the summer of 2024 near Naples in the southwestern portion of FL.  Goodwin WMA is only accessible by car on Thursdays, or with a very long walk on Sundays, resulting in a limited number of reports from the area.  The last positive report for the Tern was December 15th, so we weren’t too hopeful.  But with so many birders looking for the Tern, it’s not too surprising that another rarity was found there- a Ruff feeding with other shorebirds in one of the impoundments.  A nice example of the “Patagonia Picnic Table Effect”. 

Now we needed to gain access to the site and find the impoundments where the Tern and Ruff were most likely to be seen.  Not to mention find our target birds!  For this support we turned to David Simpson, one of the local expert birders, and the person who discovered the Tern.  It turns out that he has his own guiding company, and was free on Thursday the 9th, so we hired him for a half day tour.  And since Goodwin is only accessible on Thursdays, we literally planned our entire trip around birding that site the morning of the 9th.

We met David in the parking lot at 8, and birded the immediate vicinity for a while waiting for the gate to open at 9.  A male Vermilion Flycatcher and a Tropical Kingbird were being seen in the area, and we quickly found both birds perched in the same bush.  Later a female Painted Bunting was spotted there as well.  By the time the gate opened at least 20 birders had gathered anxious to get into the site.  We were hopeful that with all those eyes we would find at least one of our target birds. 

Once we got inside we started to get a feel for how immense the site was.   We first drove through several miles of dry savanna until we reached wet impoundments.  Marsh birds and waterfowl were everywhere, including numerous Swamphens and both Gallinules, all the expected waders, and flocks of dabbling and diving ducks.  We spent some time at the impoundment where the Tern would often perch, but we were all realistic that the Tern had most likely moved on.

We eventually made our way to the impoundment where the Ruff and most of the shorebirds were being seen.  There were already at least a dozen birders there by the time we set up the scopes.  Here’s a picture of the impoundment.

After a bit of scanning we eventually spotted the flock the Ruff was likely associating with, but the birds were really far away and most were sleeping.  Mixed in the roosting flock were large numbers of Skimmers, Ring-billed Gulls, and Forster’s and Caspian Terns – though no Large-billed Tern was in the group.  We tried numerous vantage points but mostly just found more sleeping shorebirds.  But after a while we started to find some birds up and about foraging on the flats, including a nice Stilt Sandpiper feeding with both Yellowlegs.  And then as we were about to run out of time, we came upon a large group of mostly Dowitchers feeding a bit closer to us.  And one birder mentioned he might have an interesting bird in the flock.  David looked in that birder’s scope and confirmed they had the Ruff.  It took me a couple anxious minutes but I was finally able to pick it out in the distance.  (FL statebird #2)  FL is the 10th state where I’ve seen Ruff – of course all as rarities.

On our way back out of Goodwin we spotted a couple Snail Kites – a nice way to end the trip to this amazing spot.  Without David’s help we doubt that we would have been able to find the Ruff, let alone find the impoundment where the Ruff was hanging out.

As we continued our drive toward southern FL our next stop was Paul Rardin Park along the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee.  This small roadside park had an amazing set of wintering flycatchers, with recent reports including a Vermilion Flycatcher, 2 Western Kingbirds, a Tropical Kingbird, and occasional sightings of the only overwintering Gray Kingbird in the state that year.  Soon after we arrived I spotted a pair of flycatchers on power lines at the edge of the park which turned out to be a Western and a beautiful male Vermilion.  Then another Western joined them.  Soon we were surrounded by Kingbirds, and we counted 4 Westerns and a Tropical, eventually all flying in to perches in the same tree!  Here is one of Anita’s pictures of the Tropical with the rising moon in the background. 

We spent some additional time trying to re-locate the Gray Kingbird without success.  That one will have to wait for the breeding season when they’re common in the right habitats.

It was now late afternoon and we had just enough time for a stop at the Sem-Chi Rice Mill.  This spot is well-known for its blackbirds, with large mixed flocks coming to feed on spilled rice.  Our key target here was Shiny Cowbird which was sometimes seen in those flocks.  I had birded here a few years ago, and the protocol was to park at the edge of the parking lot and bird from the edges, staying away from mill operations.  This strategy was confirmed by my more recent contacts as we prepared for this trip.

We pulled into the parking lot and quickly noted a small flock of blackbirds coming into a nearby dumpster.  Just as we started to focus on the birds several employees came out of the buildings and made it quite clear that we weren’t allowed there.  We made a hasty retreat to our cars, and found a safe spot to park just outside the mill property.  Luckily there was a spot where we could still see the dumpster and all its blackbirds.  The birds would fly into neighboring hedges and trees, stage there briefly, then either fly right into the dumpster, or rest briefly on its edge, before dropping into it out of view.  At times the whole flock would be spooked and all would fly away, only to come back to start the process all over again a couple minutes later.  At best that gave us only brief views of any one bird so we had to be quick with the binoculars.

We spent the better part of an hour there watching the almost constant movement of blackbirds dominated by about 100 Red-wings.  We eventually all got good views of at least 3 Shiny Cowbirds (at least 1 male and 2 females), and at least 3 Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  I also got one view of a Bronzed Cowbird but couldn’t get others on it before it flew off.  Wonder what was in that dumpster that the blackbirds liked so much.

The next 2 blog posts summarize the rest of the trip.

Two Coastal South Carolina Statebirds While Returning from a Florida Chase, February 6, 2023

Late in January 2023 I started to notice reports of a Bahama Mockingbird in Cape Canaveral, FL.  I’ve birded south FL a number of times, picking up several rarities there over the years.  But there has never been a Bahama Mockingbird there during any of my trips.  As a result, this species has been a key target of mine.  And since this individual was relatively “close”, at only halfway down the peninsula, it was definitely one to chase after.

And of course, there was also statebird potential along my route back home through GA and SC.  My route would take me along the coast, and with a little research, I found 7 statebird targets in GA and 3 in SC.  My two previous blog posts summarized the FL and GA portions of my trip.  This post details my searches on February 6 for 3 possible statebirds in SC:

• Black-chinned Hummingbird coming to a feeder in Mount Pleasant,
• Western Kingbirds at Fort Moultrie near Charleston, and
• Saltmarsh Sparrow most anywhere in appropriate habitat along the coast.

I first birded Fort Moultrie in October 2022 with the help of local birder Craig Watson.  Craig was not only a great help in finding our target bird of that day, a Clay-colored Sparrow, but he also described how the Fort was a magnet for rarities in general.  And sure enough for much of this winter there had been a pair of Western Kingbirds reliably foraging around the Fort property. 

The feeder that the Black-chinned Hummingbird was frequenting was only a short distance from Fort Moultrie, so it would be easy enough to try for both birds in the same day.  I reached out to Craig to see if he knew how to get permission to look for the Hummingbird, only to find out that the bird was actually visiting Craig’s feeders.  Although Craig was going to be away when I was passing through, he gave me permission to view his backyard feeding station to look for the Black-chinned. 

Now for the bad news – it didn’t look like timing would be right to try for Saltmarsh Sparrows.  They and their Nelson’s and Seaside cousins are easiest to find on high tides.  Unfortunately, I would miss the higher tides during my rather short visit along the coast.  I guess this relatively common wintering bird would have to wait for another trip to the coast. 

So with my research completed, I was ready to pursue my 2 SC target birds.

I started the day at sunrise on the northern GA coast at Tybee Island, adding Western Tanager and Black Scoter to that state list.  I then hit the road and arrived at Craig’s house in Mount Pleasant just after noon.  Within a couple minutes I had positioned myself in his backyard under a beautiful spreading live oak tree, waiting for the Hummingbird to arrive.  There was quite a bit of activity at the feeders, but the hummingbird feeders were quiet.  Then about 30 minutes later I heard the Hummingbird calling behind me, likely perched in a nearby tree.  Try as I might, I couldn’t track the bird down.  I know Black-chinned calls are similar to Ruby-throated, but with no Ruby-throateds at these feeders in nearly a month, and with the Black-chinned reported on every recent visit, a calling bird would be much more likely to be the Black-chinned rather than a Ruby-throated.  Not definitive, but certainly strongly circumstantial.

I waited another 30 minutes or so but with no other observations of my target Hummingbird.  Although I was sure of the call, it would be nice to get a visual of the bird.  But I didn’t want to spend too much time here and miss out on the nearby Western Kingbirds.  So I decided to make a quick run over to Fort Moultrie, hope that the Kingbirds would be cooperative, then come back to the feeders to spend more time with the Hummingbird.

After a short 15-minute drive I pulled into the parking lot of Fort Moultrie.  Sightings of the Kingbirds this winter had been all over the Fort, though the most recent reports put them behind Battery Jasper.  So I walked right to the field behind the brick building of Battery Jasper and did a quick binocular scan.  I almost immediately picked out a bird perched on a chain-link fence in the distance.  And a quick scope view confirmed I had my target Western Kingbird.  Then a moment later I spotted the second Kingbird nicely perched in a small tree in the nearby field.

My statebird map for Western Kingbird is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The four cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it where it is a regular species.  And now SC is the 6th state where I’ve seen Western Kingbird as a rarity (the brown-shaded states).  This species is certainly prone to vagrancy in fall and winter along the east coast.

I spent all of just 6 minutes at Fort Moultrie – can’t ask for a more efficient chase!  So just 40 minutes after I left Craig’s yard I was back to the feeders in hopes of better views of the Hummingbird.  After another 30-minute wait I once again heard the Hummingbird calling, this time from the live oak.  I anxiously waited for it to come to the feeders, but no such luck.  Then maybe 15 minutes later I heard more calls from the live oak – perhaps it never left and was perching there the entire time.  But unfortunately, still no visits to the feeders.  All told I ended up spending nearly 2 and a half hours at the feeders, heard the bird call multiple times on 3 different occasions, but it never came to the feeder.  That was a frustrating chase – at least it wasn’t a life bird, as I’ve seen this species in many western states and now 3 in the east as a rarity.

The Hummingbird and Kingbird bring my SC total to 299.  It’s too bad I couldn’t chase after the Saltmarsh Sparrow on this trip – it would have been a nice one to have as #300.  Next time…

And for the entire trip I added 9 statebirds – 2 in FL (which were also life birds), 5 in GA, and 2 in SC.  Although I missed several along the way, it was still a most successful trip.

Two New Statebirds and a Third One Clarified, South Carolina Coast, October 17-21, 2022

My wife had been talking about going on a family vacation to the coast of SC for some time.  Ever since I moved from New England I’ve really missed birding the coast, so I was looking forward to spending some time with those coastal birds.  After a bit of research, she settled on a trip to Kiawah Island on the mid-coast in October 2022.  When I heard Kiawah Island I quickly remembered that was the location where a Bar-tailed Godwit overwintered last winter for the first SC state record.  A nice one to look forward to, but would it return this winter?  And even if it did, the bird wasn’t found last winter until October 25, so the bird would have to arrive a bit earlier than last winter.  A long shot but certainly one to hope for.

But my research of possible new statebirds didn’t stop there.  The second key target for the area was Clay-colored Sparrow, which is routinely found in the fall at Fort Moultrie just an hour’s drive from Kiawah.  This one too I remembered from last year.  On my way to a birding trip on the GA coast in September 2021 I had initially planned a stop at Fort Moultrie for the Clay-coloreds.  But they weren’t reported the week of my trip so I passed on them last year.  Once again, I needed my target species to return this year.

My last potential target was a bit complicated.  I’ve birded the southeast Atlantic coast for many years; in fact many decades.  Much of my coastal birding time predates the split of the Sharp-tailed Sparrow into Saltmarsh and Nelson’s Sparrows.  So when the split occurred I simply had Sharp-tailed Sparrow on my statelist for each of the coastal states.  Unfortunately, back then I did not look close enough at the sparrows to note the differences, so I have no idea if I saw either one or both species.  And both are present in SC at the same time of the year, so the timing of my past trips doesn’t help me to determine which species I may have seen.  So for now, I arbitrarily put Saltmarsh on my SC state list.  And when I got back to Spartina marshes on the SC coast, if I saw a Nelson’s that one would replace Saltmarsh on my list.  And I would still have to see both species in order to have a net addition to my SC statelist.  Make sense?

As the trip neared it was time to fine-tune my research.  First the good news about the Bar-tailed Godwit – it was re-found on September 18 more than a month before it appeared last year.  Once again it was near the east end of Kiawah Island near the Ocean Course (or “OC” as the locals call it) golf course property.  This was private property, as was the entire island.  But once you’re on the island successfully you can access the golf course.  Now the bad news – it was not being seen reliably, and in fact was not reported after September 22.  But not to worry – it was spotted again on October 13 “near the spit”.  Suddenly I was quite about more optimistic.  I reached out to one of my local birding friends, Nate Watkins, who was working at the banding stations on Kiawah.  Nate agreed to go with me to try for the Godwit so I was good to go.

There was similar good news for the Clay-colored Sparrows.  Right on schedule they showed up again at Fort Moultrie starting on September 13 with regular reports of up to 3 birds continuing through October 15.  I had contacted local birder Craig Watson last fall for advice on finding the birds, and did the same again this year.  Craig offered to meet me there and look for the sparrows together.  Another helpful connection!

Then onto the Nelson’s and Saltmarsh sparrows.  Although it was still early in the year for them, several of both had recently been reported in marshes nearby.  Nate also suggested looking for them at the bridge onto Kiawah Island at high tide. 

Everything was falling into place.  With some help from my local birding friends I was hopeful that I would be able to add 3 new birds to my SC statelist.

First up was my try for the Bar-tailed Godwit.  Nate suggested the bird might be easiest to find at high tide.  There was an afternoon high tide the entire week of our trip so that worked out well.  And our schedules meshed on Tuesday the 18th so I picked up Nate at 2 and made the short drive to the OC golf course.  We walked out to the lagoon at the edge of the driving range, but found few shorebirds.  The water level in the lagoon was quite high, likely the result of Hurricane Ian’s passage a couple weeks early.  I tried to remain hopeful.

We continued to walk east toward the spit, the site of the most recent report.  Soon we could see a small mudflat up ahead with a fair number of shorebirds.  We set up our scopes, quickly picking out good numbers of Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers and Short-billed Dowitchers.  Then I spotted a sleeping bird, standing on one leg, that was much bigger.  It was so much bigger than the Plovers and Dowitchers that it had to be a Godwit.  It was facing us, mostly white below, showing faint streaking on the chest, and a bit of streaking on the flanks.  We had our target bird!  Here’s a phonescoped picture of the sleeping bird dwarfing the nearby Dowitchers.

Then it briefly woke up showing its long, slightly upturned, two-toned bill.

SC is now the 4th state where I’ve seen this species.  As shown in my statebird map below, I’ve also seen it in WA and MA as a rarity (the brown-shaded states), as well as AK in its regular breeding range (a blue-shaded state).

Before we left we spotted this Whimbrel at the edge of the flock – a nice addition to the day list.

Later we did some landbirding nearby and picked up a number of migrant passerines in some nice habitat.  An excellent ending to the day.

My next statebird search was for the Clay-colored Sparrows at Fort Moultrie on October 20.  During my hour drive to the site I recounted notes from the recent reports that they were often seen perched in their “favorite tree” near the row of cannons, and along the fencing near the SPAWAR building.  But they were also reported in various other places in the grasses and fields at the fort.  So it almost sounded like they were foraging throughout the entire site.  I arrived at 7:45, quickly met up with Craig, and we started our walk towards that favorite tree.  It turned out to be a small tree partially broken down by the recent hurricane.  And there were a couple birds perched in it – but just Savannah Sparrows and a Palm Warbler.  We would have 20 or more Savannahs in the general area, but we couldn’t turn any of them into our target.  We continued our walk around that park of the park, adding Song and Field Sparrows, but no Clay-colored.

Next we turned our attention to the SPAWAR building – that’s the one up on the hill with all the antennas in this picture.  The Battery Jasper is straight ahead.  Sure is lots of great sparrow habitat to search!

We flushed a few Savannah and Song sparrows here and there, but still no target.  As we started to walk clockwise around the fence surrounding the SPAWAR building Craig pointed out a tree on the hill near the building known locally as the “giving” tree since many rarities have been found perched there.  Just a couple minutes later we noticed some birds perched near the top.  Three were Bluebirds but the fourth was much smaller.  The bird was a bit distant but we could tell it was a sparrow – and it had no streaking below.  We eventually got a quick but good look at the head and it had the characteristic supercilium and moustache streak of the Clay-colored Sparrow.  Success!

In my statebird map below I’ve seen this species in most of its regular range in the central portion of the US (the blue-shaded states), but still need it in several other states where it’s regular (the cross-hatched states).  And SC is my 11th state seeing Clay-colored as a rarity (the brown-shaded states).  The bird is certainly prone to vagrancy on both coasts.

As we headed back to the cars we flushed another small Spizella sparrow – but this one was just a Chipping, though it provided a nice comparison to the Clay-colored. 

My search for the marsh sparrows came later on the 20th.  The local high tide was just after 5 o’clock, which made it ideal to coordinate a trek through the marshes with a drive to a restaurant for dinner take-out.  Per Nate’s suggestion I headed to the Spartina marshes near the bridge onto the island arriving right at high tide – it looked ideal for all the marsh sparrows.

With my “wellies” on I started walking through the vegetation at the edge of water.  Just a minute in I flushed a dark brown sparrow that flew out farther into the marsh – likely a Seaside Sparrow.  Soon thereafter I flushed a smaller and lighter brown sparrow that flew a short distance then perched nicely in view.  I could see indistinct, blurry striping on the flanks and chest, with buffy color on the chest.  I had a Nelson’s of the Atlantic race.  Now I needed to find a Saltmarsh to be able to add a statebird.  I continued to walk slowly through the marsh and flushed another Seaside that perched nearby most cooperatively.  If only I could get a Saltmarsh to do the same.  Over the next 30 minutes I flushed no less than 5 other smaller, lighter colored sparrows, but all flew deep into the marsh and dropped in without perching.  Undoubtedly all were Saltmarsh or Nelson’s, but none cooperated enough for a definitive ID.  Although I couldn’t add a statebird, at least that clarifies the marsh sparrows for me in SC – I added Nelson’s and took off Saltmarsh.

My Nelson’s Sparrow statebird map is inserted below.  All my sightings have been in coastal states and in WV and VT as a rarity.  I still need this species throughout its breeding and migration range in the central part of the country.  And I still need to clarify this species on the GA coast as well.

With 2 new statebirds that brings my SC state list to 294.  I ended up with 104 species for the 5-day trip.  All in all, a most pleasant trip giving me my coastal birding “fix”, at least for now.