Pt. Pelee & Eastern Michigan

Pt. Pelee & Eastern Michigan
May 12-20, 2007

May 12, 2007
I flew into Detroit Airport which is actually in Romulus, MI, then drove west 19 miles to the nearest Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor, MI, even though it was the opposite direction from my final destination. Ann Arbor looked like a tidy town. In fact, all of Michigan seemed very neat and tidy; I saw little to no trash anywhere and most of the homes were well kept. I drove back east from Ann Arbor, through Detroit, across the Detroit River, onto the Ambassador Bridge and into Canada to Wheatley Provincial Park in the tiny town of Wheatley, Ontario where I planned to camp for several days. The customs agent grilled me. When I said I was going camping in Wheatley Provincial Park, he said, “come on, you drove all the way from San Francisco to camp at Wheatley?” I said I was just camping there and planned to go birding at Pt. Pelee. Then he said do you have any alcohol? I lied and said no. I was not about to turn over $25 of special Michigan craft brew I had bought specially in Whole Foods. I didn’t know it was illegal to even possess alcohol at Wheatley. They must have a big problem there. As I entered the town the first thing I saw was a big sign that said, “Crime Stoppers call ….” It didn’t make me feel secure. As I set up my tent at Wheatley an American Woodcock began to give its “peent” call. After a few peent calls it began to display to attract a mate by flying high into the sky while making a wing whir and then fluttering back to the ground. It was spectacular to watch as I had never seen it before. Unfortunately they only do the display at dawn and dusk so it was difficult to film. It didn’t get dark until 9:30 PM and after that I fell soundly asleep in my tent. Almost everyone there was tent camping with just a few campers and very few RVs. During the night some hoodlums made some noise but they left after the weekend and the rest of the time it was quiet.

May 13, 2007
I got up at 5:00 AM and other birders camping in the park were already up and at ‘em. It was a chilly 42 degrees. From Wheatley I drove about 10 minutes to Kopegaron Park and walked a boardwalk through a virgin forest. Pink and white trilliums were blooming in huge patches, though the trees were not nearly leafed out. It was quite chilly and the sun was not warming the tree tops yet and I only saw Ovenbird, Gray Catbird, White-throated Sparrow, and Red-bellied Woodpecker here, all things I could see in NC. So I headed another 15 minutes south to Pt. Pelee National Park, which is the southern most point in mainland Canada in the tiny town of Leamington, Ontario. I drove as far as I could to a large parking area at the visitor center and walked the rest of the way to the tip. Except for two weeks in May when the park is inundated with birders you can drive all the way to the tip but because so many people come to Pt. Pelee to see the spectacle of the amazing spring migration there everyone must either walk or take a tram to the tip. Pt. Pelee is a 15 kilometer triangular-shaped piece of land jutting out into Lake Erie. It sits at the crossroads of the Atlantic flyway, the park's protected forest and sand spit (eroding rapidly) offering a much needed respite to weary birds making their long spring migration northward across Lake Erie.

There were people everywhere I looked. I took a trail behind the visitor center and started walking. I have never seen such a collection of Baltimore Orioles which nest in the park. They were everywhere I looked with their black heads and bright orange bodies making a splash of color in the nearly leafless trees and making them easy to spot. There were also many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. On the ground sweet cicely was blooming in huge carpets as were more trilliums, red columbine, fairy bells, and jack-in-the-pulpit. On the woodlands trail to the tip I saw a Wood Duck in a tree, a Carolina Wren, and Black-and-white Warbler. I walked to the tip where hordes of birders were surrounding a Chuck-will’s-widow that was asleep on a log beside the trail. This species should not be this far north so most people were thrilled to see it; indeed it was probably a life bird for many people there. A Mourning Warbler was singing away in a bush nearby but this shy bird never revealed itself to me. Somebody told me about an Eastern Screech-Owl in a tree and I went and looked at it. Then I walked back up the woodlands trail. There were ten people ahead of me and 20 behind. The place was just crawling with people. I don’t know if there were more birds or birders. On the return trip I saw Black-throated Blue Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Nashville Warbler, many more Baltimore Orioles and some Orchard Orioles. There were literally thousands of Yellow Warblers in every tree. Later I walked the Tilden’s Woods trail and saw Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Wood-pewee, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Least Flycatcher, and Wilson’s Warbler. In the afternoon I took the woodland trail again and found one Worm-eating Warbler which is very uncommon in the park and much sought-after. I saw Swainson’s Thrush, Veery, and Hermit Thrush and American Redstarts were plentiful. Out over Lake Erie there were Common Terns and Forster’s Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls. Very late in the day I stopped at Hillman Marsh and was surprised to find yet more people. There weren’t many shorebirds to study just Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Scaup, Spotted Sandpiper, Bufflehead, and Blue-winged Teal. I heard a Ringed-neck Pheasant calling.

5/14/07
I got up at 5:00 AM and went to Kopegaron Woods again where I saw Lincoln’s Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler. Then I went back to Pt. Pelee. There were many birders. The Mourning Warbler was still at the tip and this time I actually saw it for about two seconds. There was a photographer trying to get a picture; he was the first and only black birder I have ever met. There are three kinds of birders at Pt. Pelee—serious birders who are looking for that rare bird that gets blown across Lake Erie into Pt. Pelee, bad birders who don’t know anything and have just heard about Pt. Pelee, and photographers. These are not just your ordinary photographers either; these people are crazy. They walk around chasing around these poor tired birds with these five foot long cameras with giant flashes and diffusers all sitting on massive tripods that they lug around for miles on the trails. Most of them have camouflaged hoods on the end of their enormous cameras. Someone would report a bird and seven photographers with seven foot long cameras would surround the bird and snap away. I found a Philadelphia Vireo in the trees, a Sandhill Crane flew overhead, and I found a bright red male Scarlet Tanager at the Dunes trail but I could not find a Cape May Warbler anywhere. I asked everyone but they all said they were on the Sanctuary trail the day before, a trail I had not taken. I drove to Sanctuary and walked the trail but only saw more Black-throated Blue Warblers, Northern Parulas, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, American Redstart, and one Blackpoll Warbler. Even though I was not finding my target bird the sheer numbers of warblers I saw was astounding. That night at Wheatley campground the Woodcock was displaying and it was not nearly as cold as the day before.

5/15/07
I got up at 4:30 AM to try to get to the tip at day break. Birders were already in the parking lot waiting for the first tram ride. I started to get on and someone said there was a warbler in a tree: I looked and there it was my first ever Cape May Warbler and what a beauty! I took the tram to the tip. There were warblers dripping from the trees. It was going to be a good day. All day long I saw warblers everywhere including many beautiful Cape May Warblers. As the day progressed it warmed up to 80 degrees—the only day I wore shorts and the only day I saw butterflies which were 99% Red Admirals except for one Morning Cloak. Large crowds of people would swarm any tree where a photographer set up. Someone yelled out Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and I saw it in the trees. Any time more than two or three people stopped to look this would attract even more people so that huge crowds would gather around various warbler filled trees and of course the photographers with their ten foot long camouflaged cameras were swarming the birds as well. I wish I had filmed the photographers just because it alone was a spectacle to behold. After lunch somebody said there was a Golden-winged Warbler on the Shuster trail so I went over and there it was in the thicket. I also heard a Northern Waterthrush in the swamp. I looked for birds all day long until my feet were so tired I felt I could not go on. I ended up seeing 22 species of warblers in just this one day – amazing! In California if I see more than four it’s a miracle. As I was resting at a picnic table two people pulled up and peered into a tree. They left and I dragged myself up and there was a Common Nighthawk perched in a tree asleep. A crowd gathered around a willow tree. I practically crawled over to see what the fuss was about and they were excited about an Orange-crowned Warbler (whop-te-do—they are common as mosquitoes in San Francisco) and a Willow Flycatcher—why couldn’t it be the incredibly similar Alder Flycatcher that I have never seen before? Alder and Willow Flycatcher look nearly identical except Alder has a slightly more noticeable eye ring whereas Willow has nearly none. The vocalizations are similar but distinguishable and unless they vocalize often they cannot be distinguished in the field. Some “expert” birder called this one a Willow (Willow Flycatchers migrate through San Francisco in the fall and are fairly easy to see) even though it never vocalized. I left Pt. Pelee exhausted as it closed at 9:30 PM and crawled into my tent. I didn’t sleep well though as a storm descended and pelted my tent all night long. It rained and the wind blew the tent flaps constantly.

5/16/07
I got up at 4:00 AM and drove a long arduous drive east of Pt. Pelee around Lake Erie three hours to Toronto and then another hour and a half to Carden Plain a Nature Conservancy site. It was a hellish drive. I had to get directions from Susan who did a google search to find it. I ended up on a single lane dirt road in the middle of nowhere in Canada. It was drizzling steadily. I parked at a bridge where a local birder named Roger told me I could find Sedge Wren, a bird I have been looking for a long time, Yellow Rail, and Upland Sandpiper. As I got out of the car an American Bittern began to gallump. If you have ever heard one you know it makes this sound like water coming out of a jug. I did not hear or see any Sedge Wren. I drove to the end of Wylie Road and parked. It continued to rain so I just left my camera in the car. What a mistake! As I walked up the road I saw Vesper Sparrow, Grassshopper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow. Four male Bobolinks perched right in front of me on a fence. Wilson’s Snipes were displaying everywhere. They also make a wing whir as they end their display and descend to earth. Then there they were four Upland Sandpipers flying across a field making their strange call. I walked all the way back to the bridge and nearly there I found another Golden-winged Warbler. This one perched on a branch in plain view. I was supposed to meet Ken at the Visitor Center at 5:00 PM. It was a five hour drive back. I wanted to stay and go back and get my camera since the rain had stopped but there was no time. So I sadly had to leave with no video or pictures of this mysterious bird I will probably never see again. It was a hellish drive back and I didn’t even get to the VC until 6:00 PM anyway. Around 6:30 PM I found Ken and he said he never told me to meet him at 5:00 PM. We walked around and saw many of the same birds I had seen the two days before. Then Ken headed for his camp site at Wal-mart parking lot and I headed to Wheatley with the Woodcock for company.

5/17/07
I got up at 4:30 AM and met Ken at the VC. We took the tram to the tip but there was not much activity compared to the previous days. Everyone said there had been many cuckoos the day before. Ken was dying to see a Mourning Warbler or Connecticut Warbler. All day long he surreptiously played bird song tapes, even though this is verboten at Pt. Pelee, trying to draw in either of these two highly sought after warblers. He did manage to call in four Black-billed Cuckoos one of which landed just inches from his right shoulder at one point. These are very cool birds with a very unusual underside of their tail. I have seen Yellow-billed Cuckoos in southern California and South Carolina but never the much more sought-after Black-billed Cuckoo. We wandered around for hours seeing many great birds but not the ones Ken wanted. Ken complained bitterly out loud if any birders passed us. I was wondering the first day I got there why he even liked the place when there were so many birders. He yelled at a couple of people and grumbled a lot. It was overcast and quite chilly so there weren’t even that many people compared to the previous three days. I suggested we try the De Laurier House which had been a hot bed two days ago. We walked out to a cemetery but there was nothing really there. Ken just wanted to rest because his video camera weighs about 20 pounds and he carries a heavy tripod too. I said we should go over to the pond where I saw all the Cape May Warblers on Tuesday. We started seeing some warblers at least but Ken was disappointed that none of them was a Connecticut or Mourning Warbler. We stopped to go to a look out to see an alleged eagle nest, which we never saw. While we were resting a Mississippi Kite snatched a swallow out of the sky and took it to a tree to eat it. I was amazed. This was very far north for this species. As it ate, a Common Grackle or Red-winged Blackbird repeatedly swooped at it once even pecking its back. I thought it was pretty cool but Ken was unimpressed because it was too far for videotaping it. He only cares about birds he can videotape. Ken is working on a project to videotape all the species in North America. So far he has probably about as many as I have on my life list. But the project seems so massive to edit when he takes about nine or ten hours of video on every trip he takes, that it seems inconceivable he would ever be able to complete the task without professional help. I wanted to stay longer but we had a five hour drive ahead of us to Mio, Michigan in Huron National Forest where we were to take a tour at 7:00 AM the next day. So we reluctantly left Pt. Pelee National Park. At first I was following Ken but he refused to go even one kilometer over the speed limit and it was a painfully slow drive. An 18 wheeler truck even passed us which has never happened to me before. So eventually I passed Ken too. At the border the customs agent asked me what I did in Canada and I said looked at birds which they must hear a lot given how famous Pt. Pelee is. But he wanted to tell me about flying squirrels they have in the east. I did see some Eastern Black Squirrels in Pt. Pelee but no flying squirrels. I was so long at the border that Ken got ahead of me and I lost track of him. I stopped at two rest stops and got gas and still found Ken puttering along Michigan Highway 33 around 11:00 PM with five cars behind him. After they all passed him I followed for a while but when I saw a forest service campground I decided to camp there and turned off Hwy 33. Ken went ahead to the ranger office. I slept soundly at a nearly empty quiet little forest service campground on Wagner Lake. I got up at the late hour of 6:00 AM to 25 degree weather! It was so chilly in upper Michigan. After breakfast I drove to the ranger station which had moved to McKinley Avenue in Mio. Ken was already complaining about how many people were there and how he wasn’t going to go, etc, etc. I just went in and paid my $5. They had a video playing in the visitor center with ultra close up shots of the endangered species we came to see, the Kirtland’s Warbler, feeding chicks in a nest which they build on the ground. Before we started our tour to find one, the forest service had us watch a short video. It’s good that it was dark because I almost started to cry when they said in the video that there are only 2000 breeding pairs of Kirtland’s Warblers left in the world, a species that is sure to go extinct in our life times. Michigan is very pretty in a subtle way. It doesn’t have the gorgeous cliff lined coasts or majestic mountains or even a real beach but the trees stretch for miles, everything is very clean, it is surrounded by the incredible great lakes, and it has the last remaining breeding pairs of the endangered Kirtland’s Warblers. After the video Ken tried to get the forest service to give him a private tour but they said no. So he had no choice but to join the others. Chris with the Huron National Forest Service which oversees management of the Kirtland’s Warbler sites, led us to a spot where we would look for one. We drove to a managed Jack Pine forest. Kirtland’s Warblers are going extinct because they only breed in Jack Pines that are 4-10 feet high. Jack Pines get higher than that but historically there were many the right size for the warbler because of naturally occurring fires. The cones of Jack Pines will only release with fire. Fires have been suppressed for many years by the Forest Service and this along with loss of habitat by development caused the Kirtland’s Warbler numbers to decline dramatically. Now the forest service sets proscribed burns and replants the Jack Pines to keep these few remaining Kirtland’s Warblers alive. We started down a trail in some pine trees with a few scattered Pinoaks. Within five minutes one flew up right in front of us. Unfortunately it was right in the sun making for bad photos and video. I got a good look at my first ever Kirtland’s Warbler with its bright yellow breast, black face, and eye arcs. He perched in a pinoak and sang away. After everyone had satisfying looks we headed over to an area where they capture Brown-headed Cowbirds. These birds are native to the central US but their numbers have increased dramatically with the dramatic increase in the cattle industry. Now Brown-headed Cowbirds occur in large numbers throughout the US. The problem is that they are obligate brood parasites. This means that they build no nest. Instead the female lays her eggs in another bird’s nest and lets that bird raise her chicks. This causes the other bird’s chicks to starve. It is illegal to kill any native bird but the forest service has special permission from Congress to euthanize these cowbirds in order to help the Kirtland’s Warbler which would otherwise be parasitized by the Cowbirds. The number of nests which are parasitized by Cowbirds has been reduced to 6% since the introduction of the capture project. While looking at the cowbird pen we saw four more Kirtland’s Warblers and some Clay-colored Sparrows and one Vesper Sparrow. Two Trumpeter Swans flew overhead and a Scarlet Tanager flew into a tree. As I stood in front of the Jack Pine forest planted by the US Forest Service and intensely managed by it, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Kirtland's Warbler would go extinct. I could imagine 20 years into the future when the demands of overcrowding and overpopulation would cause the government to turn the land over to developers. I could imagine the argument the developer would make: "The Jack Pine wood is only good for particle board and this real estate could be put to better use as a housing development with condominiums and a golf course..." My picture of the Kirtland's Warbler is not very good but I think I will keep it as it may be the last Kirtland's Warbler I ever see. After the tour we went to a burn area to look for Black-backed Woodpecker which we did not find, just one Red-headed Woodpecker. Then it was time for Ken to head north for Minnesota and me to head south closer to the Detroit Airport. I went into what’s known as the Thumb Area of Michigan, an area surrounded by Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron, to the Minden State Game Area. I walked out about two miles but didn’t see anything but very common birds but it was interesting nevertheless as it is a peat bog. As I walked along I flushed a Wild Turkey out of the bog which was strange. After I left the bog I headed south along the shores of Lake Huron. There are many picnic areas and public parks along the shore but I didn’t see any suitable campgrounds. I was debating driving back to Pt. Pelee but dreading crossing the international border again. It was getting late and I was ready to go back into Canada when I found a state park campground, Lake Port. It was $31! And when I got to my campsite which the ranger made sound like it was huge and private there were hundreds of RVs! And not only that but they were bunched together like an RV condominium. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like a shanty town. I wanted to go back and get my money back. Instead I just crawled into my car not even putting my tent out and fell fast asleep in the car. I got up before anyone and was out of there by 6:30 AM. I drove to Port Huron, MI which is along Lake Huron but at the base of the Thumb region. I went to the Port Huron State Game Area and spent the entire day there at various spots looking for birds. At the first stop on Vincent Road there was a sign which made it amply clear that the area was made possible by the money extracted from hunters. This is a story I have heard many times before—that birders do not support their sport and that hunters do and that’s why we have to bird in dangerous areas with crazed hunters. Fortunately for me it was not hunting season. I was the only person there the first two hours. I started down a well worn trail past the spent shotgun shells in the parking area. Immediately I began to see many warblers including four Golden-winged Warblers. This is another prized warbler. Their numbers are threatened by hybridization with Blue-winged Warblers. The problem is that where the two species’ ranges overlap as in Michigan the Blue-winged will edge the Golden-winged Warbler out (if they continue to hybridize it threatens by definition the existence of the species). I did not see any hybrids but I did see a fair number of Blue-winged Warblers. A Cooper’s Hawk was perched in a tree but took off. I heard a Hooded Warbler which is uncommon this far north and I saw two more Cape May Warblers and one Palm Warbler. I next stopped at the Black River and was dismayed to see several cars and a table set up. Some people were walking the trails with binoculars but it was obvious they were rank amateurs. I stepped onto a flooded side trail and there in a tree was a male Mourning Warbler. Before I could even get my camera turned on it flew into the tangle which is so typical of this shy bird. I met a man and asked him why so many people were there; he said it was a mist netting and banding event (what this actually means is a time for amateurs to come and torture birds by capturing them in nets making them vulnerable to prey and then putting on an uncomfortable piece of metal on their little leg). I asked him if he had seen any Alder Flycatchers and he looked at me like he didn’t know what it was. He said he wanted to see a Golden-winged Warbler. I told him about the previous spot and told him it was at the end of Vincent Road. He left and within two minutes I heard and then saw a Golden-winged Warbler. He obviously did not know the bird’s song. What a moron. I ended up seeing four more at the Black River. I walked the trails around the Black River for about two or three hours and eventually found an empidonax flycatcher that was singing which I think was an Alder Flycatcher. There were a few Baltimore Orioles and a lot of eastern species like Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Least Flycatcher, and Great-crested Flycatcher. Later at another location on the Black River I heard a Mourning Warbler singing but it never popped out. Next I drove to Bruce Road which was just incredible. I saw a Mourning Warbler right in a tree over the trail, Magnolia Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler (very common it seems in MI), more Golden-winged Warblers, Hooded Warbler (rare here) American Redstart, Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, and the only Tufted Titmouse of the day. Unfortunately it began to rain. I ran back to the car and got my raincoat and continued my walk seeing more warblers and one Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I stopped at Kingsley Road and found a Veery and Nashville Warbler and in a weedy field Field Sparrow and Bobolink. It was getting late in the day and I still hadn’t found a definite Alder Flycatcher. I drove to Graham Road and parked in the parking area. There were a few cars. A sign said Firing Range Closed but I heard gunshots anyway. I walked up Graham Road listening for Alder Flycatcher. I stayed in the middle. A car came tearing down this dirt road about 60-65 MPH. Some brat teenager was driving some rickety old car with a broken side mirror dangling. It was getting hard to hear between the gunshots and racing car. Then some jackass started driving his lawn mower down the dirt road for about one mile. It was so noisy. Do you have any idea how loud a lawn mower is on a dirt road? I glared at him and after he passed I turned my camera on him and called him foul names. I could not find an Alder Flycatcher. A kid walked up in fatigues and asked if I had seen anything interesting which was amazing for a teenager. I said it was too noisy and he said they were playing paintball but somebody came and tore down the Firing Range Closed sign and began shooting so he quit. He walked home and I turned back to my car as it was getting too dangerous here. These people living out in the country are crazy; South Carolina has nothing on them! A few minutes later the jackass in the car with one mirror pulled up. He was some pimple faced impudent obdurate child and the churl that was driving the lawn mower in the road was in the passenger seat. The driver said impudently what are “you guys” doing? I thought maybe in Michigan they don’t know that “you guys” is plural just like in Texas they don’t know that y’all is plural. I glared at him with a withering look and said I’m not doing anything. I’m looking for birds jackass. He said something I couldn’t hear; I think they were worried I was videotaping him riding the lawn mower on the road. The little morons I’m sure will grow up to be full blown criminals. I found another parking area said to be good for Alder Flycatcher in the Birding Michigan book. I walked out into a muddy weedy field. I played the Alder Flycatcher tape and an empidonax flycatcher flew into a nearby tree. Sing I yelled, sing! But no, it would not sing and I still don’t know if it was a definitive Alder. Why wouldn’t it sing? I deserved for it to sing after putting up with those crazy Michigan red-necks. It was getting real late. I walked a very scenic woodland trail but it just had Red-eyed Vireo and Wood Thrush. I had one last stop and that was Wadham Road for Upland Sandpiper or possible Sedge Wren neither of which were in the field. Good thing I made that long drive to Carden Plain in Ontario and saw the Upland Sandpiper. The Sedge Wren will have to wait for a winter visit to SC or NC. There was a Bobolink in the field and a Cliff Swallow. Then it was time to drive back to Detroit for an early flight back in the morning. I really enjoyed my day of birding in Michigan. It had superb numbers of warblers without all the big crowds of Pt. Pelee. But every birder must make the trip to Pt. Pelee at least once in his or her life time just for the sheer spectacle of both man and bird and beast.

5/20/07
At the airport security the agent took my ticket and identification and said, “what happened to your hair?” I said Michigan happened to my hair.

Total number of species = 167
Total number of life birds = 4 maybe 5
Cape May Warbler
Upland Sandpiper
Black-billed Cuckoo
Kirtland’s Warbler
Possible Alder Flycatcher

Birding SC &NC: April 21-May 5, 2007

A Journey Back in Time: Birding South Carolina & North Carolina
April 21 – May 5, 2007
Total species: 187
Life birds: 8 (in caps)

I was born in South Carolina but made my escape years ago when I moved to San Francisco. It was only then that I became interested in birds. I have always wondered what I missed out on all those years by not paying attention to all the colorful birds that migrate to and through the south every spring. So I planned a spring trip to SC and NC to find out. On Saturday, April 21, I flew into Charlotte, NC and drove from there to Carolina Sandhills NWR in McBee, SC. It is a hellish drive as there is no direct route. At first I drove through the ugliest outskirts of Charlotte, with endless strip malls, Walmarts, McDonalds and other ugly accoutrements of ex-urbia. Finally as I entered South Carolina the road opened up through rolling hills. Lots of Common Grackles flew by. It took so long to get to the wildlife refuge that I only arrived at 6:30 PM leaving just 1.5 hours to explore. The park has some active Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities but I didn’t have time to track them down. I walked a couple of the trails and saw Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Pine Warbler, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Towhee, White-throated Sparrow, Great-crested Flycatcher, and Red-bellied Woodpecker, some of the birds typical of the southeast. I didn’t really have sufficient time for this park as it soon began to get dark. A Chuck-will’s-widow began to call at dusk. A weird looking all white dove with a black tail flew by and I’m still not sure what that was, maybe one of those country folks out there breeds rock pigeons. As I was about to leave I heard some American Woodcocks giving their “peent” call. As I left the park I saw a Wild Turkey crossing a field.

It is a 2.5 hour drive from Carolina Sandhills NWR to Huntington Beach State Park, SC. The gate to this park closes at 10:00 PM so I called in advance and got the combination to the gate lock. The person who answered the phone just told me to check in the following morning. I arrived at Huntington Beach around 10:45 PM and unlocked the gate but could not determine which site was mine. The campground was nearly full so I just pulled into an open space and camped there for the evening.

April 22, 2007. Huntington Beach is South Carolina’s premier birding location and indeed I saw more species of birds there than anywhere else I went in either state. It has many diverse habitats from salt marsh to fresh water marsh, tidal flat, coastal scrub, and maritime forest. It was a chilly 46 degrees when I woke up. After breakfast the first thing I did was walk out on the boardwalk. I saw one Clapper Rail but not much else in the salt marsh. Next I took the trail behind the fresh water lagoon where I saw Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Northern Parula, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Then I stopped by the office to check in. There was a stern looking man with a crew cut and an ex-marine attitude. I said I would like to check in for my camp site. I said I stayed at number 13 last night. He said that site was rented to Andrew Brown; you trespassed. He turned around to enlist the support of his supervisor who walked out just about then in a University of South Carolina sweatshirt, saying what should I do to her. I said I did not trespass; I already paid for my site. He started yelling at me that I cannot just camp wherever I want to. I said I told you I already paid and called ahead and said I would be late and she gave me the combination. He said well you weren’t supposed to camp in Andrew Brown’s camp site. I said it’s water under the bridge; he didn’t come so why are you going on and on about it? He again turned to Mr. USC sweatshirt who said, just get her out of here, as if I had done something wrong. I was so ashamed to have attended the same university as that knucklehead. On the other hand he was working in an office at a SC State Park campground so possibly he only liked the Gamecocks football team and never attended that fine university. I was so angry at my treatment that I was planning to rob Andrew Brown’s site again after the gate was locked. I drove back to the campground and unfortunately it was taken by an RV as most of the camp sites in SC are. I checked on my site and was horrified to see that it was out in an open field encircled by a posse of RVs. I was mortified. There was no way I was going to throw up a tent surrounded by six RVs. All day I was so angry at the mistreatment I had received from Mr. Crew Cut and the horrible camp site I had been assigned that I could barely enjoy myself.

I walked out to Sandpiper Pond and there was just a Common Moorhen, Blue-winged Teal, and Pied-billed Grebe. But then a Least Bittern flew out of the marsh and into some reeds. They breed at Huntington Beach and finding the nest would have been very cool but I never could find it as I walked around the sandpiper trail. There were many Pearl Crescent, Carolina Satyr and Little Wood-satyr butterflies. A flock of Cedar Waxwings flew overhead. After walking the trail I walked out on the beach all the way to the jetty and the marsh behind it where all the rarities are usually found in SC. Northern Gannets were flying over the ocean and an Osprey was patrolling the beach. There was one yellow butterfly flying just at the breakers which I found odd; it was probably a sulphur. I remember my father telling me that one year hundreds of yellow butterflies flew down the beach while we were there. All the gulls were Laughing Gull except for one Herring Gull. Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, and Royal Tern were flying up and down the beach. At the jetty I was surprised to see a Gadwall and some Red-breasted Mergansers. There was one lone Piping Plover, Savannah Sparrow, two American Oystercatchers. Semi-palmated Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin in breeding plumage, Short-billed Dowitcher, and a Ruddy Turnstone. After lunch I drove over to Brookgreen Gardens, which is across Highway 17 from Huntington Beach. I walked around there until dinner. My family has been taking a family vacation on the Grand Strand in SC for many years and this trip almost always entailed a trip to Brookgreen Gardens, an outdoor sculpture garden left by the Anna Huntington Estate. There are two things I remember from these outings--we always had to stop to see the big statue of Don Quixote and to read the Pelican Poem, "A wondrous bird is the pelican, his beak can hold more than his belly can. He holds in his beak enough food for a week but I'm damned if I see how the hellican." There were a lot of Boat-tailed Grackles, Orchard Orioles, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Yellow-throated Warblers, and many other birds as well as many alligators along the trails but I could not find that pelican poem. I did find Don Quixote looking exactly as I remembered him with Pancho by his side. I had dinner at the picnic area while admiring the many butterflies attracted to the gardens including the incredibly beautiful Zebra Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, and Palamedes Swallowtail. While eating my dinner at the Brookgreen Gardens picnic area a Broad-winged Hawk flew into a tree nearby and perched briefly. I had cherry pie all over my hands and was unable to get any video of it at all. After dinner I went back to Huntington Beach; a Wood Stork and a Great Blue Heron were right next to the causeway. I checked the feeders at the boardwalk and there were many Painted Buntings and a Blue Grosbeak. I waited until the sun went down, took my shower, and only then would I crawl into my car where I slept, not even setting up my tent while corralled by all those RVs.

April 23, 2007: In the morning I drove to the picnic area at Atayal, the Huntington’s historic home or something (I have never really checked it out) to have my breakfast before leaving for Francis Marion National Forest in McClellanville, about an hour south of Huntington Beach on Highway 17. I planned to spend the entire day at Francis Marion following a route recommended by Nate Dias, director of the Cape Romain Bird Observatory. It turned out to be one of my favorite days of the trip. It was again very chilly in the morning, somewhere in the low 40s. I drove down I’On Swamp Road into the forest first checking Clayfield Road where I heard a Hooded Warbler singing. I continued down I’On Swamp Road stopping at each bridge over the many swamps to check for birds. There were dozens of beautiful bright yellow Prothonotary Warblers in the swamps. They were very easy to see mostly at eye level out in the open. I stopped on I’On Swamp Road and took the I’On Swamp Nature Trail. This fascinating trail follows an old dyke made by the early settlers who actually managed to convert this wild thick swamp into a rice field! After it became a national forest it was allowed to convert back to a swamp which it easily did. When you go to South Carolina you realize that it is basically half swamp and half jungle and it makes you wonder why those first colonists actually stayed after they realized that. I have come to the conclusion that this is why South Carolina is the lost cause state; it was founded by crazy people and it will always be filled by crazy people-- people crazy enough to think they can tame a swamp and a jungle. Walking through I'On Swamp it was hard to imagine how those settlers were even able to cut it down to make the rice fields. Swamps are fascinating places to visit. On the I’On Swamp Trail I was able to walk along the old dyke and easily see into the swamp where the tupelo and cypresses with their strange knees poked through. There were many alligators and Yellow-bellied Slider turtles. I kept hearing something falling from the trees like a light rain but there was not a cloud in the sky. On the trail I saw a lot of these small bright metallic green beetles, Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. Not far into the swamp I heard a Swainson’s Warbler singing. It flew up into a branch hanging over the trail and I got an excellent look at this most sought after and elusive bird, a South Carolina specialty bird. Continuing down the path I came within 10 feet of a Barred Owl perched in a tree. It just sat there patiently while I filmed and photographed it. There were a lot of birds on this fascinating trail through history including Pileated Woodpecker, Acadian Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, White-eyed vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo (heard only), Hairy Woodpecker, and Hermit Thrush. Back at the car I found a caterpillar on my hat and realized that all the falling noise was caterpillars falling from the trees.

At the end of I’On Swamp Road I stopped where it intersects with Willow Hall Road, a magical place. A Prairie Warbler was singing in the field across from Willow Hall and a BACHMAN’S SPARROW was singing away in the trees. This was one of my target birds. So I braved chiggers by walking out into the field to track it down. I was probably too close to some Red-cockaded Woodpecker trees which are all marked in Francis Marion NF by double white bands but I could not track down that darn bird. I was so frustrated. I finally gave up and continued my route in Francis Marion. I saw many more Prothonotary Warblers and two more Broad-winged Hawks flew out of the trees beside the road. Near the end of the suggested route the road came upon a hunting camp with abandoned trailers and clothes, used cars, and some creepy looking campers. I got scared and made a wrong turn driving all the way back out to Highway 45 whereas I was supposed to end up on Forest Road 204 to the Wampaw Creek Bridge to look for Swallow-tailed Kites. The best time to see this bird is from 1-3 PM according to Mr. Dias. I wasted so much time getting lost and driving back the same way that it was 4:00 PM by the time I made it to the bridge. I saw no kites at all but there were a lot of warblers in the tree-lined road. In the evening I returned to the intersection of Willow Hall and I’On Swamp and waited for dusk when the woodpeckers return to their cavities. Around 7:00 PM a RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER flew into one of the marked trees near where the Bachman’s Sparrow had been singing earlier. Two life birds in one day at the same location—this was a very special place. As darkness descended I drove back down I’On Swamp Road to Highway 17 and heard a Whip-poor-will singing. Across Highway 17 is the Buckhall Campground where I planned to camp the next two nights. The campground is beside the Santee River and is very peaceful and romantic. A Wood Stork flew up the river as I set up my tent. As the sun went down a Chuck-will’s-widow began to call and continued well into the night and again before dawn the next day. During the early evening I also heard a King Rail call from the river and later during the night a Great Horned Owl hooted.

April 24, 2007
I drove a short distance up Highway 17 to Ferris Landing to catch a ferry to Bull Island on the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. I stood on the pier waiting for the ferry and saw my first ever GULL-BILLED TERN fly by! I had been looking for this tern for years. At 9:00 AM just I and nine other people took the ferry on a beautiful bright sunny day out to this pristine wilderness barrier island. On the ferry ride over in the estuary I saw American Oystercatcher, Whimbrel, and a Bottled-nosed Dolphin.

Once on the island I took all the trails looking for warblers but there were no passerines at all. I tried the beach but it was windy and I only saw Willets and Sanderlings. So I walked around the marsh area. There were a lot of alligators and I also saw a Bobcat and an Eastern Black Squirrel. Two more Gull-billed Terns flew over the marsh. I did not have my spotting scope with me which was unfortunate because there were many shorebirds in the marsh. Along the canal I found a Solitary Sandpiper. Further out there were Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover, Tri-colored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Mottled Duck, American Black Duck, Green Heron, and lots of peeps I could not identify. A Northern Harrier came and they all scattered. So I walked around to the viewing platform. There were a lot of Palamedes Swallowtails and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies. On the trail I saw an interesting animal that was all black with a long thin tail and a triangular head. I think it was a Mink though the boat driver thought it was a black Fox Squirrel. Back at Buckhall Campground I wearily crawled into my tent around 9:30 PM and fell asleep only to be awoken by a selfish moron in an RV who thoughtlessly turned on his TV at full volume at 11:00 PM. He blared his TV for a solid hour before I could take it no longer and yelled for him to turn it down. He ignored me so I had no choice but to get revenge in the morning.

April 25, 2007
I got up at 5:00 AM as usual and took my tent down. After breakfast and putting everything away I got in my car and turned on NPR full volume. I moved my car directly in front of Mr.TV's stupid RV and let Steve Innskeep yell at that moron for a while before I left the campground. I went from there to Santee Delta WMA and walked out on the dyke. I saw a bunch of Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks. I was surprised to see five Swamp Sparrows. There was also a rail, King Rail, maybe calling from the marsh and I heard many Northern Parulas and Prothonotary Warblers. I saw a Viceroy butterfly land on some thistle.

Next I drove over to Santee Coastal Reserve, a wonderful reserve that goes through long leaf pine forest, marsh, and riparian habitat. I walked the Maslyck trail and saw a ton of birds including Northern Parula, more Bachman’s Sparrows, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers foraging, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Wood Peewee, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Brown-headed Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Next I drove to the Hike-Bike Trail and walked along a canal where I heard a Swainson’s Warbler singing. In the marsh I saw a Bald Eagle and one Mississippi Kite. I was always with my eye to the sky looking and looking for the elusive Swallow-tailed Kite but with no luck. I was so busy looking for the kite that there was no time to identify all those swallows flitting about. I stopped to have lunch and thought to myself, wow the Tree Swallows in SC sure are a lot bigger than at home. As I was eating my lunch a “large Tree Swallow” perched in a tree and I looked at it only then realizing that all those large Tree Swallows were actually Purple Martins. I noticed an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly as I was looking around. After not finding the kite in the sky over Santee Coastal Reserve I drove again over to the Wampaw Bridge. As I stood on the bridge looking for the kite an old geezer stopped and started telling me about a bright yellow bird he saw while canoeing the Wampaw Creek. He said it was probably some king of finch or something. A few minutes later another geezer stopped and asked me what animals I was seeing. I said I was looking for birds and he too told me about a bright yellow bird he had seen in the creek. I said it was a Prothonotary Warbler. He just stared at me clearly unable to even repeat the words. He began to relate his life story to me. It was hard to scan the sky with this man talking to me. The dreaded question came, where are you from? It was too complicated and would illicit a negative response so I just took the easy way out, I am from Aiken, SC, which is true. His eyes enlarged the size of saucers, incredulous that somebody would travel that far to Francis Marion NF. Before finally departing he advised me to be careful because of all the crazy people out there. It was past 3:00 PM, the witching hour for kites so I decided to go ahead and leave. I drove up I-95 to Santee State Park on Lake Marion, a large lake in the middle of South Carolina. I walked around the nature trail. There were many Brown Thrashers, Wood Thrushes, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. At the lake I saw a River Otter. That evening I decided to leave my camp stove out with a little bit of cereal in a double plastic bag in order to save time in the morning when I got up. I fell asleep and woke to a crashing sound on my picnic table. In my confusion I was convinced that grackles had robbed my site. I got out of my tent and found my entire bag with a half pound of Peet’s Coffee and my cereal gone! It was my coffee for the entire trip. Oh no!. I went back to sleep completely distraught. I saw some Common Grackles in the morning and cursed them. Then I thought some more about it and realized that was insane. A grackle couldn’t have picked up that big bag. It was a raccoon! I was mad. I went all day long with no coffee.

April 26, 2007: I drove from Santee State Park to Francis Beidler Forest. This beautiful pristine swamp is a South Carolina Treasure. Anyone who visits SC should most definitely make it over to this fantastic area. There is a visitor center and then a boardwalk over the swamp with many interpretive signs along the way. I saw lots of Prothonotary and Hooded Warblers right next to the trail. I also saw a Louisianna Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, and Northern Parula. I saw one Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Everywhere along the boardwalk there were these beautiful black damselflies called Ebony Jewelwing. There were also some interesting butterflies including a Spring Azure. After walking the entire boardwalk which I had entirely to myself for almost the whole walk, I drove to the nearby town of Harleyville, SC to visit my niece, Rebecca, and her two kids. It’s a nice old southern town but there is not a lot there. We sat in the back yard and I heard a Wood Thrush calling and some other birds but she was not interested. She showed me the St. George grocery store before I left which had a pitiful selection of coffee, all of it a poor substitute for the excellent Peet's coffee I had brought from home and been robbed of. Before returning to my camp at Santee State Park I checked out Santee NWR on the opposite side of Lake Marion. I walked the nature trail at the Bluff Unit and saw Painted Bunting, Prothonotary Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Summer Tanager, Wood Duck, Osprey carrying a fish, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, and Wild Turkey. Before it got dark I checked the little trail behind my camp site that goes down to Lake Marion. There on the trail was the empty plastic that was my cereal and completely intact my coffee that little bastard raccoon had abandoned. That evening at my camp site at Santee State Park I was horrified to find that my new RV neighbor (and they are all RVs) had brought a lamp post with him and set it up to shine the light directly onto my camp site! What an idiot. I cannot believe how dumb people are. Did he not think it might annoy a camper to have a light shining in her eyes all night? My god those RVs should be outlawed. I wanted so badly to smash his stupid light to smittereens before I left.

April 27, 2007
I got up at 5:00 AM amd turned on my headlights pointed directly at Mr. Lampost RV. I was out of Santee State Park by 6:00 AM so as to meet my sister, Karen, who was going to join me for part of my trip, at Congaree National Park. It took a little longer than I thought but I was there by 7:30. Since the gate doesn’t open until 8:30 we started on the Bluff Trail from the after-hours lot. We walked the entire boardwalk seeing many great birds my sister had never seen before. I could pick out their song and she was excellent at finding the bird. On the Bluff Trail there were Pine Warblers, Northern Parulas, Acadian Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker. On the boardwalk I heard, “beer, beer, beer, bee" --my first ever BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. They were easy to see at eye level from the boardwalk as they jumped around in the tupelos. As we turned to take the Weston Lake Loop I heard the song of a Kentucky Warbler. Karen found it up in a tree and we both had excellent looks at it. We heard a Northern Waterthrush but it never revealed itself. We took a five mile loop trail before finishing the boardwalk loop and saw lots of great birds in this wonderful park. In addition to the great birds we saw a Plain-bellied Watersnake, Yellow-bellied Slider turtle, Five-lined Skink, Zebra Swallowtail, Question Mark, American Lady, Carolina Comma butterflies and a green Anole lizard. We trudged back from our long hike to our cars and then made the long drive up to Brevard, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains where we planned to camp the next two nights. We camped in Pisgah National Forest at the Davidson River Campground, a very well maintained and peaceful campground. As we set up at our campsite a Whip-poor-will came and sang over my head. Karen just slept in her car while I slept in my one person tent that has served me so well on my birding expeditions. I got up early and made coffee waking Karen when it was ready. When I knocked on her door again she set her car alarm off. I was so embarrassed. When I asked her why she had locked her car she explained that someone might want to break in. Then I reminded her that I was in a tent.

We drove from Bevard a short distance back into SC to Caesar’s Head State Park. I have not been to this park for 33 years. I still remember my father taking us up to the look out at Table Rock, a prominent rocky outcropping which you can see from Caesar’s Head; it made a big impression on me. At the park we took the popular Raven Cliff Falls Trail. It was chilly in the morning. We didn’t see a big number of birds but had a good variety mostly birds my sister had never seen before. We saw Blue-headed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Scarlet Tanager. We heard Ovenbird and Hooded Warbler singing. We were the only people at the falls due to our early start. On the way back we had great looks at a beautiful Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Near the start of the trail I thought I heard a Brown Creeper but then realized it was a Black-throated Green Warbler singing his "tree, tree beautiful tree" song. Then a Broad-winged Hawk flew overhead. We next drove to the visitor center and waited for another sister, Ree, who would also be joining for this part of the trip. While we waited we saw the only Dark-eyed Junco of the trip. After Ree arrived we had our lunch at a picnic table looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains and then took a five mile loop trail, Cold Springs Branch Trail. There were not many birds but lots of wild flowers were blooming and it was a very beautiful trail with lots of rhododendron and laurel draping over the middle fork of the Saluda River. Part of the trail was very jungle like with thick vines and roots to stumble over. Many trilliums were blooming along the trail and lots of butterflies including the only hairstreak of the entire trip, a Red-banded Hairstreak. About the only birds were another Worm-eating Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red-eyed Vireo. After our rigorous five mile hike we drove to the highest point in South Carolina, Sassafras Mountain at 3540 feet. Typical of SC it is not owned by the state but is private property owned by Duke Power Company. There is a right of way though it on the foot trail to Caesar’s Head. We walked to the top on the foot trail and Karen found a Ruffed Grouse in the laurel. We returned exhausted to Davidson River Campground and were again greeted by the singing Whip-poor-will. Karen and Ree had not heard a Whip-poor-will since we were children. A Whip-poor-will nested behind our house where we grew up in Aiken, SC. There was also a Wood Thrush singing.

April 29, 2007
I woke everyone up bright and early at 5:00 AM for our big day to visit Stecoah Gap. It was an anxious drive over a mountain road taking nearly two hours. We found the place and parked. A birder got out of her car and asked if we were there for the bird walk. Ree asked her if she was there to see the Cerulean Warbler and she said no she had already seen one but maybe she could add one to her NC list. I said oh, you are one of those listers. We didn’t know exactly where to go so we started up the Appalachian Trail. It was full of variously colored trilliums. At the start of the trail we heard it singing. There it was a CERULEAN WARBLER right in a tree by the parking lot to the trail (OK, this picture is not very good at all but hey this bird is going extinct so I can't delete it). We all had excellent looks at this beautiful endangered bird that os sure to join the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Carolina Parakeet, and Bachman's Warbler (all extinct) in our liftimes. I called down to the lister, “Ma’am, there is a Cerulean Warbler right here.” She came up and said I don’t see any blue on it; are you sure?” I wanted to smack her. The thing was singing away plain as day. What a moron. The trail was so lovely with all the wild flowers. It was a picture perfect day with perfect weather and birds everywhere. Warblers were flying all around us—Blackburnian Warbler, Ovenbird, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, and of course Northern Parula. We heard but never say a Chestnut-sided Warbler across the street. This was what I had come all this way for-- to see all these beautiful warblers in all their spring glory and to hear them singing too. After we had our fill of warblers we had our lunch at the picnic tables near the Cerulean Warbler tree before heading even further west to almost the furthest point west in North Carolina to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. This virgin forest is full of gorgeous gigantic poplars straddling a stream. We all enjoyed our hike in this beautiful mountain setting. On our hike we kept hearing an unfamiliar song but could never draw the bird out. I am pretty sure it was a Canada Warbler. At Joy Kill Mem For we also saw Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy Woodpecker, Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, and Broad-winged Hawk. There were also many butterflies here, Falcate Orangetip, Spicebush Butterfly, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and one West Virginia White. On the drive back I saw a Red Fox. The drive along Highway 276 is interesting. There is no planning whatsoever and lovely well maintained mountain villas are right next to used car lots with broken engine parts and rusting combines in front of dilapidated houses. That night at camp Karen and Ree decided they could not get up at 5:00 AM to join me and would just look around Pisgah NF before heading home.

April 30, 2007
I got up super early as usual and was at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC while it was still dark and cold. I waited for the sun to come up and then walked the nature trail in this regional park that is a major stopover in spring and fall migration. At first I just saw Blue Jays, White-throated Sparrows and such but when the sun finally hit the tips of the trees I started to see Ovenbird, Hooded Warbler, then one Blue-winged Warbler, one Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, and one Least Flycatcher. A Broad-winged Hawk flew by. Then I saw a Blackpoll Warbler, one Field Sparrow, only one of the trip, Pine Siskin, and Chimney Swiftsflying overhead. A beaver stood right out in the open 10 feet away wiping its face. I did not have my camera with me though. Hendersonville turned out to be very close to our campsite so I called my sisters and we met back up at the Pisgah NF Visitor Center. We took a hike in the Dupont State Forest to a Triple Waterfall. Not much was happening here with the birds although there were lots of butterflies to enjoy. My sisters were hungry so we went to the Sycamore Picnic Area back in Pisgah and had lunch. An Eastern Phoebe was flycatching while we ate. In the car from the picnic area Karen was reading from a Transylvania County Bird List she had picked up, “Wood Stork and White Ibis, Abundant”, she said. I was flummoxed. Did they have some super attractant lake or something? Wood Stork and White Ibis would be incredible this far inland.

We went for a hike to the Pink Beds in Pisgah NF. I really enjoyed this hike along a creek to a bog. Warblers were swirling around our heads, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Northern Parula. We saw a singing Louisianna Waterthrush at the bog. Other birds here were Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, and Blue-headed Vireo. After our great hike Karen and Ree left for their respective homes. Karen probably added 30 birds to her lift list. It was a very memorable trip for all of us. I then had to move my tent to a new site as the one we had been using was reserved by an RV for the following day. After setting up camp and showering I got in my car to head over to the Blue Ridge Parkway. An elderly couple in a golf cart waved me down in the campground. The woman got out and stormed up to my window, “Lady” she said, “that is a one way street!” There was hardly anyone in the campground and I was frankly shocked that she had the audacity to call me “lady.” I just said, “oh really. I’m so sorry.”

Near dusk I drove to Devil’s Courthouse, a little rock outcropping where owls are known to nest. Three other people drove up and interrupted my solitude. They were birders too. As it darkened a Hermit Thrush sang and then a Veery too. I also heard some Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Winter Wren sing. Near dark a pair of Peregrine Falcons flew into a tree. They have been nesting here for a number of years. Darkness fell but still no owls called. Finally I asked if they minded if I whistled the owl call. No response came. One of the other birders tried and I thought I heard one way in the distance. The birders gave up and left. Finally I could finish my beer and play a taped call. Immediately four or five responded back. I heard my first ever NORTHERN SAW WHET OWL. That evening at my camp I was going over the birds I had seen and was looking at the Translyvania County Bird List when I saw next to White Ibis and Wood Stork, a big “A”—accidental!

May 1
I broke camp at Davidson River CG and headed back to Jackson Park. I didn’t really like it there but it seemed like my best opportunity to see a migrating Cape May Warbler. There were too many birders there and they were of the supercilious variety too. When I ran into them on the nature trail they said, "mornin" through gritted teeth and didn't even ask the universal birder question, "seen anything good?" On the nature trail I again saw a Blackpoll Warbler, a migrating bird and not a NC nester. There were also Yellow-rumped Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, and Ovenbird. I tried the trees near the road and found a Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Palm Warbler, and Yellow Warbler. I passed some birders who grudgingly said good morning through clenched teeth. What is wrong with those people anyway? I left Jackson Park and drove to Hooper Lane hoping for a migrating Upland Sandpiper but was unsuccessful. I was running out of time before I had to drive the long boring drive in long North Carolina to Raleigh. On a whim I stopped at Craven Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway and got out and started hiking the Mountain to Sea Trail. Even though it was close to midday there were warblers swarming all around and singing too. I saw Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker, Wood Thrush, and heard a Cerulean Warbler and Wild Turkey. In addition I saw a Southern Pearly-eye butterfly. It was a spectacular 30 minutes of birds, butterflies, and mountain scenery.

My butt was so tired after driving all the way from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Raleigh that I stopped first at Eno River State Park in Durham to take a walk. I took a cute little trail to the river and saw Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. Then I continued to Raleigh and had dinner at my parents house with my family and spent the night there.

May 2, 2007
I got up super early and drove to Greenville, NC. The directions to the Voice of America site in Birding North Carolina are very bad and I got lost. I had to call Susan in San Francisco to google some directions for me. She got me to Site A. You are not allowed into the site and can only bird the perimeter. I was looking for allegedly breeding Henslow’s Sparrow. I was unsuccessful. I walked around the perimeter but only saw Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Kingbird, Turkey Vulture, Killdeeer, Savannah Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, and Prairie Warbler. I tried to find Site B but got lost and found myself in downtown Greenville. I was surrounded by Walmart, Best Buy, strip malls, and traffic noise when I should have been surrounded by birds. So I turned around and left that hell hole. I started down I-95 and stopped in at Four Oaks, NC at the Howell Woods. What a little gem in the middle of nowhere. This 2500 acre preserve is owned by the Johnston Community College for research and is an Important Bird Area (IBA). Even though it was hot and the middle of the day I saw plenty of birds, Kentucky Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, and finally I saw a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. I also saw Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Acadian Flycatcher, Great-crested Flycatcher, several Red-headed Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Howell Woods is a super spot and it’s too bad I wasn’t able to be there in the early morning but I had to move on.

The next thing I did was very unpleasant. I figured the only bird I had a realistic chance of adding to my life list at this point was Swallow-tailed Kite which I had missed in two previous attempts. So I drove for four hours from Howell Woods back down to the SC Coast to Georgetown hoping that I could get a camp site at Buckhall CG. I arrived around 9:30 PM and the moon was coming up over the Santee River. It was beautiful so I pulled out my camera to film it when the campground host pulled up. I said are any of these tent sites available and one was so I took it for two nights. The mosquitoes were starting to get bad. So I showered, put the tent up, and got ready for bed. The Chuck-will’s-widow came and started to sing and the Great Horned Owl hooted. I was sound asleep when around 11:00 PM a huge party boat slowly moved down the Santee River. People on the boat were making a big ruckus and it took forever for the boat to pass by the Campground. That should not be legal.

May 3, 2007
I got up early and tried the Santee Delta WMA area first thing in the morning since Santee Coastal Reserve doesn’t open until 8:00 AM. The mosquitoes and yellow biting flies were bad. It hadn’t been too bad the week before when it was cool in the morning with a breeze. I sprayed myself liberally with poison but those yellow biting bugs would shoot right under my hat and go for my face. They got me several times. I didn’t see any new birds so I gave up and headed over to Santee Coastal Reserve. The mosquitoes were bad there too. I walked the Old Mazlyck Road again and got a great look at the beautiful Yellow-throated Vireo. There were many other birds there including another singing Bachman’s Sparrow. I then drove to the parking area for the hike-bike trail. The Swainson’s Warbler was singing but the yellow flies were too awful to try to wait around for it to pop out. I walked out on the dyke and there were a lot of shorebirds to study. There were many Least and Western Sandpipers and I also picked out a White-rumped Sandpiper and a Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper. I kept my eye to the sky looking for the kite. A Wood Stork flew over and then two Bald Eagles, a Northern Harrier, two Anhingas but no kite. There were Forster’s Terns fishing in the marsh and then two Gull-billed Terns flew by as well, and one Least Tern. I was very surprised to see a Greater Scaup and ten American White Pelicans. An Osprey flew out of a tree with a fish in its talons. I flushed a Black-crowned Night-heron. There were a few Orchard Orioles in the shrubs around the marsh. It was noon and crunch time for the kite. I didn’t want to but I figured I had to try Santee Delta WMA before the Wampaw Bridge in case the geezers came by again wanting to talk. The bugs at Santee Delta WMA were bad. I went to the blind and scanned the skies. This time at least something more than a Turkey Vulture flew by. A Red-shouldered Hawk landed in a tree and screamed. Then an Osprey flew by and then a Common Nighthawk circled several times but still no kite. A Sora and a Marsh Wren called from the marsh. An Eastern Kingbird was flycatching from a tree. It was getting late. I had one last chance so I headed over to the Wampaw Bridge in Francis Marion National Forest. I looked and waited and saw no kites. It was 3:15 and I was completely dejected. I was born and reared in SC. I couldn’t go home not having seen this SC specialty bird. How embarrassing. I was just about to leave when there it was the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE! It was flying at eye level away from the bridge toward the trees. I realized it was the same bird I had seen 10 minutes earlier but only from the back. I could see a ton of nesting material in its bill but nothing of its front. Yippee! I jumped up and down on the bridge in sheer delight. Now I could go. Before I left I went to the magic spot, corner of I’On Swamp Road and Willow Hall Road. The Bachman’s Sparrow was singing. I’m not sure but I thought I heard a Northern Bobwhite calling. Near dusk the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers came to their cavity. They foraged a while before going in for the night. It was time for me to go as well. I returned to my cute little camp site on the Santee River at Buckhall and the Chuck-will’s-widow sang me to sleep.

May 4, 2007
I drove from Georgetown, SC back to Congaree National Park. I figured I at least had a shot at some migrating warbler there like a Cape May. I didn’t see one but I heard a Northern Waterthrush singing and a Louisiana Waterthrush. There were more Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Prothonotary Warblers, Kentucky Warblers, and Northern Parulas. There was nothing new and no exciting migrants but I did see the Veery again on the Weston Lake Trail After finishing up the boardwalk I drove over to Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve. This was an interesting area. It has a trail that goes to an observation deck of the jungle bordering the Congaree River and a trail that goes down to the river. I checked the observation deck and then took the trail to the river. The vegetation was very thick and the mosquitoes were numerous. I wondered what made the colonists want to stay in such an inhospitable place. No wonder SC is so backward. The kind of person who would have stayed in a nearly submerged area that is half swamp and half jungle, would had to have been crazy. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird shot out of bush right for my head and began to display. There were lots of the same southern piedmont birds, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Acadian Flycatcher, Barred Owl. Out in the open pine area I found a singing Prairie Warbler. I left Congaree Bluff and headed north on I-95 to nearly the border with NC. I was so tired. I found a state park, Andrew Jackson State Park in Lancaster, SC and decided to camp there for the night. A Black-and-white Warbler and an Ovenbird were singing at my campsite when I arrived. There were no nighjars or owls that night just some strange animal that prowled my site after I went in my tent making me nervous.

May 5, 2007
It was my last day. I drove from Andrew Jackson SP to Raleigh, NC to see my family one last time before I left. I went to Ree’s house in Durham and we drove to nearby Duke Forest to the Shepard Nature Trail. It was overcast and chilly. There were few birds. We then tried the Korstian Unit of Duke Forest. It is a lovely trail through oak woodlands to a creek. A light rain began to fall. I heard a Hooded Warbler and gave my binoculars to Ree to look at it. She said that it had a yellow flower in its mouth. I said that I had never heard of a warbler carrying a flower. It turned out she was confusing its bright yellow head with a flower. For my last stop I tried Mason Farm in Chapel Hill. It rained a little more steadily and there were few birds, just the same brightly colored birds I had seen in other places the past two weeks. That evening I went to my sister Sharon’s house in Raleigh for a Kentucky Derby party. I looked out her kitchen window at a male and female Cardinal, the forgotten Northern Cardinal. I had only added eight birds to my life list in the two weeks I had been in NC and SC but the Cardinal reminded me why I was there. All those years in SC I never knew or noticed all those brightly lit birds. South Carolina is a lost cause as a state but it has one thing and that is many brightly colored birds, Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, and all those gloriously colored bright beautiful warblers. I will miss all those bright beautiful birds and yes that includes the underappreciated but beautiful Northern Cardinal.
Michelle Brodie
5/10/07

Pied-billed Grebe
Northern Gannet
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tri-colored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Wood Stork
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mottled Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Greater Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Northern Bobwhite
Clapper Rail
King Rail
Sora
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Semi-palmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semi-palmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
American Woodcock
Laughing Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Forster's Tern
Least Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Common Nighthawk
Chuck-will's-widow
Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Canada Warbler
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Eastern Towhee
Bachman's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow