In late April, a Northern Bobwhite was reported at CawCaw. It is the only quail native to the eastern U.S., where populations are declining sharply. The All About Birds site states “Despite their sharp population decline, it’s still possible to find Northern Bobwhite in fields, rangelands, and open forests over much of their range.” This isn’t really the habitat for CawCaw so I thought it was likely a misidentification. Then it kept being reported.
This week, Melanie Jerome, Joleen Ardaiolo and I decided to go “twitching”. Wikipedia defines Twitching is a British term used to mean “the pursuit of a previously located rare bird.” In North America, it is more often called chasing. We weren’t sure if we were searching, chasing or twitching but we knew we wanted to see it. While there, we also hoped to see the King Rail that had been seen on our “rare bird” list for Charleston County for the last few weeks.
On Wednesday we arrived at CawCaw shortly after they opened. We were pleased to meet Mike Harhold as we arrived and he agreed to join us on our search. Since we didn’t know where in the park the Northern Bobwhite had been seen, we thought the most likely area would be the back corner near the waterfowl enpoundment. We chose to get to that area via the swamp trail and boardwalk. Shortly after seeing the Prothonotary Warbler (check that off the list), we encountered another walker with binoculars and camera. She said she had “just seen” the Northern Bobwhite over near the Osprey platform…the opposite side of the park from our guess. But birding in the swamp was great! We continued on our way and saw the Red-headed Woodpecker (check), the Hairy Woodpecker (check) and a great view of two Yellow-billed Cuckoo (check, check). As we got out on the dikes, two Swallow-tail Kites flew over (check). When we got to the area by the Osprey nest….no Northern Bobwhite. This is also near where the King Rail had been reported. No luck with that either. We had “dipped out”. (In Audubon’s Birdist Rules of Birding, they state Missing a bird you’ve traveled to see, or ‘dipping,’ can be a disappointing experience. It’s also a birding rite of passage.) It was an enjoyable day of birding in great weather so although disappointed, we weren’t discouraged. We had identified 49 species for the day.
Looking at our calendars and the weather, we decided Sunday morning would be a good time to try again. This time, Jennifer Jerome and Walter and Jackie Brooks agreed to twitch with us. We actually arrived before the gates were open. We had agreed we’d go directly to the “known location” but of course we’d have to bird along the way. We saw some birds on one of the dikes which we tried hard to make into a Bobwhite but they flew before we could confirm. Jackie and Jennifer got pictures for verification when they got home but we thought they were probably Mourning Doves (they were). Jennifer and Judy caught a glimpse of the King Rail but it went into the reeds before the others could see it. We walked the dikes back and forth and finally we decided to try “one more time” at the “known location”. As we approached the designated corner, we met a gentleman with binoculars and a long lens camera. When asked, he said “yes, the Bobwhite just went in those grasses and the King Rail was still moving in the reeds”. We were close! With his help we first got a great view of the King Rail feeding on fiddler crabs. As we left that site, he pointed out where the Northern Bobwhite had come out of the grasses. So two successes for the day.
Jennifer and Judy continued through the swamp and saw more good birds including a Barred Owl near the parking lot. In addition to a great walk after the storm, 47 species were seen. Jennifer and Jackie caught some of these in pictures.
Submitted by: Judy Morr