Sullivan' Island Trip cont.

          So the trip was 2 1/2 days long. On the morning of the second day, we tried a place called Pitt Street Causeway a second time, because the first time the tide was too far out, and we couldn't see the birds! This time the tide was dead high!!! We just couldn't get the tide right. I did get 3 year-birds though. (Horned Grebe, Cooper's Hawk, Tree Swallow)

Coop

Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe

           In the afternoon, I decided to walk from Station 17 to Station 30 and back. (About a 5 mile walk along the beach.) It was very exciting! I got to see a Red Knot with a flag on its leg!(A form of a band) I was able to get close enough to him to read the tag #. Later I saw a Piping Plover with bands on his legs too!

Piping Plover

Piping Plover - Sunset

            I reported the two birds to banding websites. Maybe I'll get a response saying where they were banded! THE BEST PART of the walk was the Lifer! After 2 sightings of a loon sp. out in the water, finally I noticed a loon about 50 yards out. I grabbed the binocs, and soon noticed the intricate plumage on its back, the amount of white on the face, and the overall small size. All signs pointed to Red-throated Loon! An awesome experience! On the way back, as the sun set, I tried to take a picture with my crummy little phone since the camera decided to stop working again, and it didn't turn out too bad!

Sunset

          The next day, I saw 5 more year-birds before I left at noon. ( Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Gray Catbird, Clapper Rail, and Purple Sandpiper) The Purple was a Lifer! It was basically the last bird I saw before leaving, as I finally got the tides right and found it hanging out with another trio of Purps and some RUTUs and REKNs.   

Purple Sandpiper!

Laughing Gull

Red Knot

Willet

So, trip totals:

    5: Lifers

    29: Year-birds

    1: Awesome experience!

Sullivan's Island, SC

       Now I know this isn't related to my County Big Year, but it's such an awesome trip that I had to write about it!

       I arrived in Sullivan's Island, SC last night, and was ready for Bull's Island in the morning. I wake up and the trip has been canceled. :( But, there are plenty of more places to go! I ran out to the beach a few hours ago, and got 3 Lifers and 8 Year-birds! Lifers were Dunlin, Red Knot, and Northern Gannet! All 3 were beautiful birds!!!

     I am about to go to 3 more hotspots, and hoping to pick up at least 7 more year-birds and 2 more Lifers. I am hoping to see White-winged Scoter, Marbled Godwit, and at least one of the coastal sparrows. Some pics taken by my Dad to be uploaded later...

Getting Caught Up cont.

         I forgot to mention in the last post that after we went birding at the ponds, we went by a resident's house in Columbia County to see a Baltimore Oriole which which had been visiting her feeder. I dipped though, and in the process, my camera somehow mysteriously broke :(. I have partially fixed it by now.

        So including the birds that we saw on the car ride home, my total after January 3rd is now........

        COUNTY YEARLIST-   52


       JANUARY 4-

          I awake to my dad asking me if I want to come to Bluff Plantation (a private area of swamp and fields galore down in south Richmond Co.) with him and do a little birding while he hunts with our dog. I gladly accept.

        I get there at a feeding time and see 5-6 FOX SPARROWS, 2 WILSON'S SNIPE, a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a WINTER WREN, and some other goodies, racking up a total of  34 species, 15 of which being year-birds. I get 2 more year-birds at different times during the day.

   
       COUNTY YEARLIST- 69


JANUARY 5-

       I get 3 more year-birds in the yard, one on the highway, and then head out with a friend to Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, my favorite place to bird! I end up with 15 year-birds at the Park, including notables; AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, NORTHERN PINTAIL, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, SEDGE WREN, and MARSH WREN. A successful day!

           COUNTY YEARLIST-   88


JANUARY 11-

     On the way out to Hephzibah to try for some C0MM0N-GR0UND D0VES, JP calls me up and asks if I would rather see a RUF0US HUMMINGBIRD. Turns out that a lady who lives a few blocks away who had hosted a CALLI0PE back in 01 and a RUFOUS last year, had seen another one on her feeder. I raced over and eventually saw it. Problem is, we have to ensure it is a RUFOUS and not just an extremely rare ALL3N'S, so I'll have to wait for the bander to confirm it when he comes to catch it soon. (Hopefully.)

     After the hummer, we only had a little bit of daylight left, so we hurried to the spot. But couldn't find any Ground-dove. But just before we got to the car....PEENT............................PEENT........

AMERICAN WOODCOCK! What a great way to end the day!

COUNTY YEARLIST-   89

JANUARY 12-

     This is the present date. I went birding at Phinizy Swamp again, hoping to nab at least 2 of the Phinizy specialties that I missed last time. I succeeded, getting 2 more year-birds, VIRGINIA RAIL and AMERICAN WIGEON. Once again, I was not able to get the King Rails or Soras to call, so I will have to try for them again. But today, I experienced one of my Top 10 Best Moments of My Life.

   I got my lifer VIRGINIA RAIL back on November, and have heard them at least 3 different times since. Today, I heard 4 different VIRAs!!! But that's not the best part. The best part is when I went to the special viewing platform where you can call for KING RAILS, and started to clap. Instead of the normal KING RAIL response, I heard a VIRGINIA RAIL about 15 feet to my right. I thought that maybe I would get to see one this time because I had the height advantage, with me being on a platform and all, but I quickly regained my sanity, realizing I was never going to see a VIRA or even KIRA, since they were so shy. As I started to walk away, I noticed a slight twitch of cattails and thought that it came from the direction of the VIRA call. I put my binocs on the spot, and BINGO. I was looking into the eye of a VIRA!. He was peeking out at me through the cattails...."thin as a rail".....I could see his beautiful plumage and bluish face. I thought that this might be the best look I would ever get. But no, it gets better! 

       The rail then called again, and started to move around, in random directions. Eventually, he started moving in my direction; closer and closer........until before I knew it, he was standing still in the one patch of cattail-free dirt in the area, less than 10 feet away, totally out in the open, cocking its head at me, almost as if, he was amazed by.....Me...... He stood there for about 30 seconds, and I would have taken a picture if my camera hadn't been broken, but I really don't care. It was amazing seeing this beautiful creature in person for the first time, and realizing that they actually do exist! He eventually wandered off.....to who knows where. I felt almost lonesome when he left. But I know that someday.....we will cross paths...again.

COUNTY YEARLIST-   91

Getting Caught Up

So, since I started this blog 2 weeks into the year, I'll give you a run-through of everything that has happened to date.


JAN 1-

     I took a 3 hour long car ride back to Augusta from the N.C. Mountains, and don't get to do any heavy birding in my county on the first day of the year. I arrive home around 4:30 P.M. and do see a GBH and a Great Egret in our neighborhood pond.

COUNTY YEARLIST-    2


JAN 2-

  Another boring day where I can't get a ride to any hotspots, so I do some birding around the yard. Nothing of interest excepted for an Eastern Towhee (White-eyed), a rare subspecies this far inland.

COUNTY YEARLIST-   15


  JAN 3-

         I get to go birding with a friend (JP Moss) early in the morning at Merry Brothers Brickyard Ponds (the best place for ducks in the county.) Unfortunately, IT'S 25 DEGREES OUTSIDE! Despite the cold and our craving for some Waffle House, we amass a fair total of 47 species, including an incredibly late Yellow-throated Warbler and a nice pair of Bonaparte's Gulls. I pick up a good 35 year-birds on the trip! After 3 days, I am 25% complete with my goal!

COUNTY YEARLIST-   50

Start of Blog

           I'm not sure if this is going to work out, but I'll give it a shot.

           I will try to be posting almost daily reporting my progress on my goal for this year: 200 species of bird in Richmond County, Augusta, GA.

           I am setting the bar high this year. I set the bar low last year, in my first year of birding. I wanted to get 200 lifers by the end of the year, and I finished with 239........I didn't want to fail and be upset with myself, so I tried to accomplish something easy. I know by raising my expectations this year, I can make this even more fun.

          The goal of 200 birds in a single year in a single county is a tough task to accomplish. But I feel that it can be done. I finished the year with 187 species, and I had only become aware of GABO and eBird in July, which means I missed a few rarities that showed up in the beginning of the year.

           I broke the record for most species in a single year in 2013, but all of the credit goes to Mac McCall, JP Moss, and my Dad, who drove me basically everywhere, and taught me everything they know. There have been a total of 247 species seen all time in Richmond Co., and with my new library of knowledge, I know that I can break the record again, and hit 200.