Starting at dawn, the day that daylight saving began, found some of us a little drowsy at first, but the beauty of the Kiawah River site, and the crisp morning air quickly woke us up. We started off at the “bridge” where we saw Great Egrets, Belted Kingfisher, a variety of sparrows and even some Wild Indigo. For more on this native plant https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/baptisia-false-or-wild-indigo/.
Moving down the road to the paddock areas there was a number of Bluebirds, Brown Headed Cowbirds, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, and an Osprey on its rather creative(or sad) nest-clearly making use of the materials left by humans in its once pristine breeding area. The biggest treat for me was my first view of Purple Martins for the year! (if you look carefully at my not so clear photo, you’ll find one peeking out of the gourd) Find out more about Purple Martins on https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/overview.
After about an hour and a half birding this area we moved to another pond area closer to the community. The parks were full of birdlife including Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Yellow -throated Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, abundant Yellow-rumped Warblers, and all the usual suspects Chickadees, Titmice, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, some of us thought we caught a glimpse of a Red-headed Woodpecker, but alas it was not so.
From here the group divided into those that had to leave and those who wanted to continue into the less developed area of the property. This is where it got very interesting. The area had received an enormous amount of rain the Friday before, with some local events cancelling events. This, in turn, made the dirt roads we were to travel on muddy and in some places covered in water.
This did not deter our fearless leader Bob Mercer, we divided into 3 cars and ventured out. Things went well until we came across a fallen cedar blocking our progress on the very narrow one way trail around a large pond. The only way forward would be to try and move the tree, or back out. Moving the tree was not possible. But our leader had other plans. Undeterred he brought out a field saw! Who knew birding required such preparation and ingenuity! The team pulled together and began sawing, removing branches and eventually succeeding in making a navigable path.
The path through was cleared so that the vehicles could gingerly make their way through without falling into the lake.
All cars and birders made it through safely and we continued on. Spotting a Spotted Sandpiper, some Laughing Gulls and at least 12 Least Sandpipers at the edge of our lake. Another highlight was found from the observation tower was a rare Common Goldeneye located on the River side. We saw many wonderful birds, 72 in total!
The camaraderie and adventuresome spirit of this group of enthusiastic Birders made this trip an especially memorable one! And a special thanks to Bob Mercer for leading us through and teaching us about the birds along the way.
Submitted by: Jennifer Jerome