October 11 was October Big Day. This is a day designated by eBird with this stated purpose: Wherever you are on 11 October, take a few minutes to enjoy birds and share what you find on eBird. Participate from anywhere—even from home! By taking part in October Big Day you’re also celebrating Global Bird Weekend and World Migratory Bird Day. Be a part of the global team and help set a new record for October birding.
Seabrook Island Birders planned the day to participate by scheduling 5 activities throughout the day. Mother Nature had other ideas as the day included an all day rain event. But that didn’t deter many of our birders…not all of them on Seabrook Island. SIB members submitted 23 checklists so far with a total of 73 species.
Alan and Shar Fink submitted the first eBird list of the day from Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links in Tasmania. It wasn’t a planned birding activity but they did observe Black Swan and Australian Shelduck. Beth Hawkins birded in Northern Michigan. The highlight of her day was at least 30 Sandhill Cranes. In Georgia, Aija Konrad was also frustrated with the rain but she birded her backyard and submitted 30 species on her eBird list. Those of us on Seabrook Island would have been happy to see some of her species which included Tennessee Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush and a Red-headed Woodpecker.
Closer to home, Craig Watson and Pam Ford birded Breach Inlet (8 species), Patriot’s Point Nature Trail (19 species) and Whipple Road Pond (3 species). On John’s Island, Nancy Brown and Flo Foley submitted 2 checklists. They may have only seen 8 species but their nieces from Maine enjoyed watching the birds, especially in their backyard where the Eastern Bluebirds kept escaping the rain by seeking refuge in the birdhouse.
Painted Buntings were reported by 4 “backyard” birders. Jennifer Jerome on John’s Island was able to get a picture of both a male and a female on her wet feeders. Early in the morning, Jackie Brook’s feeder cam was able to video 5 males at her feeder at the same time and across the island, Gina Sanders also saw Painted Buntings. The final report came from Nancy and Flo with their nieces.
Jennifer was able to also get a good picture of a Common Yellowthroat on John’s Island. This bird that prefers edges of creeks and marshes didn’t mind a little rain. It was seen on 3 different checklists on Saturday.
The only organized bird walk was a reschedule of the Palmetto Lake walk. Three members with cabin fever went for a walk around Palmetto Lake in the drizzle rain late in the afternoon. 21 American Redstart and 16 Palm Warblers were among the 39 species seen during this excursion. Also seen was a First of Season (FOS) Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The fun thing about the FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler was that eBird said it was “rare” so a description was required to report this common winter resident.
The “white birds” were coming in to roost as the Palmetto Lake walk was completed. 8 Great Egret, 7 Little Blue Heron, and a Pied-Bill Grebe didn’t seem to mind the rain. The numbers reported included 9 Wood Storks in their recent “hang-out” across from the Lakehouse. (This picture by Paul Giardino was taken on a later date).
A report of the day wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the White Ibis. They were reported in 7 checklists! 48 were seen at Patriot’s Point Nature Trail and 12 in Nancy and Flo’s neighborhood. The high count was 111 seen at the Equestrian Center late in the afternoon. There were 109 there earlier in the day when Gina did a “birding by car” excursion” in the rain.
Seabrook Island Birders made a good contribution to citizen science on a rainy day.
Submitted by: Judy Morr