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