Whip-poor-will (Finally!), Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area, SC, May 11, 2022

When I moved to the western NC mountains in 2019 I put together lists of possible new statebirds not only in NC, but also in the neighboring states of SC, GA, TN, and VA.  The SC stateline is only a 30-minute drive from home, so I’ve spent almost as much time working on my SC list as I have my NC list.  As a result, I’ve been slowly chipping away at my SC targets, especially those in the nearby upstate portion of the state.  Entering 2022 I had seen 39 of my 45 realistic upstate SC opportunities. 

Conspicuous on my remaining SC Needs List was Whip-poor-will.  This goatsucker is actually quite common in the upstate, as is Chuck-will’s-widow, though I had that one on the SC coast years ago.  I had several reliable spots for Whips within 45 minutes of home.  So what was the hold up?  I just hadn’t done any nocturnal birding in the area.  Pretty tough to find a goatsucker when you’re only doing diurnal birding.

But all of that changed in Spring 2022.  Two of my birding friends from New England were coming for visits to do some birding in the area.  First was David Donsker whose target list included hearing and hopefully seeing Whip-poor-wills.  Then after David’s visit Chris McPherson was coming to the area to obtain recordings of a number of species including Chuck-will’s-widow.  Those visits would give me two opportunities to not only help my friends with their targets, but also to finally add Whip to my SC list. 

Now I had to find the best places to listen and hopefully look for them.  A couple of my SC birding friends have routinely gone to Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area for both species.  And with a little eBird research I could see that both species were regular there.  I’ve also had both goatsuckers about the same distance away in Polk County in NC, but the Tall Pines site was in SC so that would give all of us a chance to check off our targets.  So Tall Pines WMA it was.

On the evening of May 3rd I went with David Donsker to Tall Pines for my first recent nocturnal birding in SC.  I was told that the area around the parking lot was likely the best for Whips, and the nearby power line cut was best for Chucks.  So our plan was to start at the parking lot and get the Whips, then head to the power lines for Chucks.  Yes, we were quite optimistic.  

As David and I waited for dusk, we talked about how important the phase of the moon might actually be to hear our targets.  Many birders talk about the fact that goatsuckers are more active when there’s a bright moon, but I’ve never quite believed in that theory.  Afterall, they have to feed every night, don’t they?  Well as luck would have it, on the 3rd there was only a sliver of a moon, so this might be a good test of the importance of the phase of the moon. 

Sunset was at 8:17, and we hoped to hear our first Whip-poor-will calls perhaps 20 minutes later.  It was a warm and very quiet night with no wind, so conditions were great.  But by 9:00 we still had heard no calls and decided to head over to the power line cut just a mile and half away.  We spent another 5 minutes there but again had no luck.  As we drove home I had plenty of time to wonder if the lack of a bright moon was the reason why we were unsuccessful. 

Chris McPherson arrived in town the following week, and we planned to try for his target Chuck-will’s-widows on the 11th.  I wondered about going to a different spot to try for them, but my research kept comping back to Tall Pines as the best spot.  At least historically.  The moon would be about 80% full, with peak brightness about 10 PM, so that should help in our search.  Assuming that’s an important factor at all.

On the evening of the 11th we went right to the power line cut especially to focus on Chris’ target Chucks.  Before sunset we had some very nice birding, including cooperative Summer Tanagers, Chats, and Brown-headed Nuthatches which Chris recorded.  By sunset at 8:23 we were back at the car to start our vigil.  It was another warm and still night with next to no road noise, just like the 3rd.  But this time there was a bright moon overhead.  And sure enough at 8:34 we heard the first of at least 3 Chuck-will’s-widows.  Here is a link to our eBird checklist including Chris’ excellent recording –

North Carolina Bird Atlas Checklist - 11 May 2022 - Tall Pines WMA - 5 species (ebird.org)

And since it was still quite bright we watched the skies to try for some visuals.  Luckily we were able to spot Chucks fly by two different times as they passed through the power line cut. 

Now that we had Chris’ target, I wondered if we should head over to the WMA parking lot to try for Whips.  But it turned out we were just fine where we were, because at 8:47 a Whip-poor-will started to sing a short distance away.  We both had our respective targets at the same spot.  Nice when it works out that way. 

Whip-poor-will was #292 for my SC state list.  In my statebird map below, the blue states are those where I’ve seen this species and the cross-hatched ones are those in its regular range where I still need it.  Still a lot more to go, including in nearby southeastern states.  Time to do some more nocturnal birding.  And I guess I should stick with those nights when there is a bright moon.

6 South Carolina Statebirds in November 2019

November was another great month of birding in South Carolina, focused not only on finding new birds for my SC list, but also on learning about hotspots within the “Upstate” (the higher elevation counties in western SC).  Along the way I teamed up with fellow Hendersonville birder Dave Minnich, who in turn introduced me to several Greenville County birders including Michael Robertson, Gary Harbour, and David Palmer.  And given my success with so many relatively easy birds, I prepared this monthly summary rather than individual blog posts for each trip – that will likely come in December.

11/4 – Tall Pines WMA

Dave Minnich and I had visited Tall Pines WMA in October and got a great introduction to the area with Michael’s, Gary’s, and David’s help.  When we came back on November 4^th, Dave, Michael, and I first headed to several fields that looked like they could have good sparrow habitat.  We had a few sparrows here and there, but not the good numbers, and good species, we hoped for.  When we reached the third field we headed to the far side that was flooded and found some nice weedy habitat.  And within just a few more steps we flushed a small sparrow which flew a short distance to a brushy perch.  It sat in the open for just a couple seconds which was just barely long enough for Michael and me to ID it as a rare inland Lincoln’s Sparrow, new for my SC list.  Unfortunately, Dave didn’t get on the bird in time. 

My statebird map for Lincoln’s Sparrow is inserted below – solid shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but I haven’t yet seen it.  Now that I’m living in the southeast maybe I can fill in some of those gaps for this species.

As we walked from the field we entered a brushy area along a stream and began to hear the chattering calls of a Winter Wren – target #2.  This one was more cooperative, sitting in the open for us all to see.  I just need this species in one more state in the southeast as a wintering bird, though several more as a breeder in the Midwest.

Next we headed to a nice mixed hardwood/pine woodland.  In our previous trip to Tall Pines we took this same trail and didn’t see much.  This time we all thought that the woodlands could be a good spot to find my next target – Brown Creeper.  As we slowly walked the trail, we admired the trees and plants in the undergrowth, but once again didn’t see many birds.  But then we heard a single high-pitched call from high in the woodlands, which we all thought was likely to be a Creeper.  It continued to call and we eventually got looks at this shy bird.  We later had 2 others in this same stretch of woods.  Nice when a prediction comes true.  Six more states to go to fill in my statebird map for this widespread species.

11/9 – Anderson County - Townville Area

This was an organized trip run by the Greenville County Bird Club to visit several hotspots in the Townville area in Anderson County.  The key targets were Vesper and White-crowned Sparrows, along with Snow Goose as a recently reported rarity.  I met Michael near Greenville and carpooled to the starting point of the walk.  There we met up with about a dozen other birders, and we started with some nice woodland birding at Beaverdam Creek WMA.  Key highlight here was a late Yellowthroat.  Then we were off to the farm fields at Dobbins Farm.  A pair of Snow Geese had been reported on a small farm pond at this site for several days, as recently as the day before our trip.  But despite our best efforts we found no white geese.  We even tried several other ponds nearby without success.  Our best find here was a distant flock of 7 small peeps that were just too far to identify.  Michael mentioned that this spot was also well-known for wintering Brewer’s Blackbirds – something to keep in mind for a future trip.

Next Michael and I decided to leave the main group and head directly to Prater Farm where he has had the best luck with our target sparrows.  We made our way to Tom Martin Rd. and stopped at a brushy edge that had been good for the sparrows in the past.  Just as we got out of the car we flushed a sparrow from the roadside which flew up to a cedar tree.  Hmm… - that’s very typical of Vespers which will fly up to a higher perch after being flushed.  We changed our angle a bit and got a view of the sparrow in the tree – it was indeed a Vesper.  Then we noticed more activity in the tree, and spotted no less than 4 more Vespers.  It was an amazing flock of 5 Vesper Sparrows – I don’t remember seeing anything more than individuals away from their breeding grounds.

After celebrating our experience with the Vespers we started walking a bit further down the road and flushed another sparrow – it was a young White-crowned!  We found five other White-crowns here, including at lead one singing adult.  I just need this species in GA and DC to complete my statebird map.

At this same spot we also had a large flock of 100 Pipits in an adjacent field, a Eurasian Collared-Dove, and a perched Loggerhead Shrike.  A nice stop, and a nice way to end the morning’s trip.  I’ll definitely have to come back here in the winter to look for Brewer’s Blackbirds.  And since this area is close to the GA/SC stateline, maybe a future trip could include some time working on my GA list as well.

11/19 – Northern Greenville County Lakes

The goal of this trip was to check out a number of the lakes in northern Greenville County that can have some nice waterfowl during winter.  We had no key waterfowl targets – it was just a scouting effort.  But then oh by the way, Michael suggested we might get lucky with Rusty Blackbirds at Lake Cunningham.  He’s had them there off and on this time of year.  As I pulled in to Lake Cunningham David and Michael were already at the lake doing a bit of birding.  And within just a couple minutes a few blackbirds flew into a nearby tree.  After a quick view we realized we had our first Rusty Blackbirds.  Within the next few minutes more Rusty’s flew in – I counted 160 birds in total.  But just as quickly as they arrived, virtually the entire flock had flown away.  A nice start of the day!  I just need this species in 5 midwest states as a migrant or wintering bird.  Though it’s nice to have seen this species as a rarity in CA as well.

We made stops at 6 other ponds and lakes that morning, finding a few waterfowl here and there, the best being 5 Horned Grebes at Lake Robinson.  We also made a quick stop at Jordan Pond where Common Goldeneyes have wintered the last couple years – something to keep in mind for a future trip.  And my last stop was at the Stamey Valley Road lake where I had a flyover flock of 20 Rusty Blackbirds.  A nice way to end the morning.

I ended November with 6 new statebirds for my SC list which now stands at a nice round number of 250.  That’s 18 new SC species since I moved to the area just over 2 months ago.  Although there have been a couple rarities, most have been pretty regular species.  And with a dwindling list of relatively easy target birds, I’m sure I won’t be able to keep up this pace for too much longer.

4 New Statebirds in "Upstate" South Carolina, October 2019

The South Carolina/North Carolina line is within 30 minutes of home, so SC is definitely within reach for pursuing possible new statebirds.  Or perhaps I should say western SC is within reach – the coast is still more than 3 hours away.  So during October 2019 I made 2 trips to the western, or “upstate”, portion of SC as it’s called locally.  On these trips I birded with several birders active in the Greenville County Bird Club, who are excellent birders and really friendly folks to bird with.  Great to make these excellent connections and friendships.

10/14 – Conestee Park 

My first birding trip to western SC was to Lake Conestee Nature Park near Greenville where I hoped for a number of new statebirds, including some reasonably regular migrants.  When fellow Hendersonville birder Dave Minnich and I arrived we were greeted by quite a group of birders from the Greenville County club.  During introductions I realized there were a number of passerines in the nearby trees.  One of the local birders mentioned that they just had a Black-throated Green Warbler – one of my targets.  Luckily we were able to re-find it a couple minutes later as my first SC addition.  We continued along the trail and found a few migrants along the way, including another target - Bay-breasted Warbler.  We would end up seeing at least 3 more later on our trip.  Then later Dave suggested we take a short side-trail and we came upon a nice group of migrants, including the first of 3 Chestnut-sided Warblers we had that day – my 3rd new statebird of the day. 

Although each of these species is a regular migrant throughout much of the eastern US, they often pass through during a reasonably small window of time.  So you need to be birding in appropriate habitat during that window in order to try to check them off on those statelists.  Though it’s certainly easier to find them on their breeding grounds.  And that is the case for all 3 of my new SC statebirds.  Take Chestnut-sided for example.  In my statebird map below, the dark shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those where it is regular but still missing from my lists.  I’ve seen Chestnut-sided in most every state where it nests in the northern parts of the eastern US.  But I still need it in quite a number of states where it is a regular migrant.  (I’ve also seen it as a rarity in CA.)

We spent much of the day in the park exploring a number of the trails through excellent and varied habitat.  And although I didn’t add any additional statebirds that day, it was a great introduction to the park for future trips.

10/21 – Tall Pines WMA

This site was opened to the public less than a year ago, and the local Greenville County birders have done a great job exploring it in that short period of time.  Habitats are excellent, including woodlands, ponds, and fields.  We spent much of the morning walking the trails, and although birding was pretty slow, it was an excellent introduction.  Later Dave Minnich and I headed up to Ceasars Head State Park to take a look at the hawk watch site, but it was socked in with fog with negligible visibility. 

My only statebird of the trip wasn’t actually at either spot.  On our drive down to Tall Pines Dave and I spotted a pair of Common Ravens flying overhead just after we crossed into SC.  Luckily it’s a species that easy to ID while you’re driving at 60 mph.  I only need Raven in a couple more states where it is regular.  Though this expanding species can be seen virtually anywhere across the country these days.

I ended October with 244 on my SC statelist.  There are still quite a number of pretty easy birds on my target list, not to mention those rarer species.  I’m looking forward to many future trips to the Upstate, and birding with my new friends from the Greenville County Bird Club.