Birding in East Tennessee

The fellowship of the nine departed Casa de Holt Friday afternoon. Making it for a late seafood dinner at the Charleston Crab Shack and to the motel with just enough time to go to bed. The fellowship birded 2.5 days of both windy/cool and warm/sunny days.

The first day was spent at Huntington Beach State Park. The second day was spent to the areas of the north. Marshes that were accessable, a woodland wildlife preserve (Heritage) was investigated, and Myrtle Beach was birded. The last day we worked our way south stopping at places like Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge (Garris Landing), Santee Coastal Reserve, Breach Inlet that our fearless leader (Tom McNeil) knew about. Brooky and Jean Potter also contributed with a couple of tremendously good stops at the Carolinian Motel Swamp and Yawkey Ferry Preserve ferry landing. All stops on the final day provided more life bird for many of the fellowship and trip list birds for the rest. Every one of the fellowship got a life bird, some got 2 or 3, while others exceeded 12.

The fellowship consisted of Tom McNeil, Don Holt, Diane Draper, Jeff Larson, Larry McDaniel, Brooky and Jean Potter, Kim Stroud, and Rob Biller.

The trip list ended at 132 species with 130 being found in South Carolina.

A couple of interesting notes - We closed out the woodpecker list (~5 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Santee WMA), the Nuthatch list, the Mimic Thrush list, and got 4 of the 5 Pigeons and Doves.

I have added more pictures from the trip to my gallery and moved the group folder to page 1. I am particulary fond of these two pictures from the trip.

*links changed - will be updated soon*

Just click on the the folder. Also, the folder for December 2005 South Carolina Coastal Trip is available there.

Complete List:

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Black Scoter
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Northern Gannet
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Clapper Rail
King Rail
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasion Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Cave Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
BLue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow.