2010 Wildlife Archives: Incredible Findings and Photos…

Species list: Scaup sp, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breaster Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-creasted Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Buzzard, Turkey Buzzard, Bald Eagle, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Clapper Rail (heard), American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Spotted sandpiper, Willet, greater yellowlegs, Ruddy turnstone, Sanderling, Western sandpiper, least sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Foresters Tern, Common Ground Dove, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red bellied woodpecker, Eastern Pheobe, American Crow, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted titmouse, Sedge wren, Carolina wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Pine Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged blackbird.

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Highlights: We got an excellent number and variety of species today with 59 species and thousands of individuals. At Killdeer Pond we got lots of excellent photos of ibis, herons, and egrets as we slowly crept up to the bridge. A flock of mixed songbirds in the bushes across the bridge included a pine warbler. As we circled around the pond, we accidentally flushed a large brown raptor from the marsh. Either a big female harrier or an immature bald eagle were the two possibilities. Anyway, it was carrying a large white bird – probably an ibis or a snowy egret!  I knew harriers and eagles include birds as part of their diet, but it’s still a little shocking – it seems cannibalistic from our perspective to see a bird eating a bird, but I suppose it is no more cannibalistic than a mammal eating a mammal (cat and mouse, human and cow…). At the beach we saw a large assortment of birds including thousands of ducks (mostly scaup but some scoters in the distance); hundreds of black skimmers; and dozens of red knots.  Over a hundred dunlin and other shorebirds mixed in too. Thanks to rough surf last week, the beachcombing was spectacular too, and a highlight was definitely a live, large sea cucumber!

Species: Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Scoter Sp, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron,White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Unknown Northern Harrier/Immature Bald Eagle, Clapper Rail, American Coot, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Dove sp., Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Chipping Sparow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Boat-tailed Grackle

-Laura Willhoft, Naturalist

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Weather: upper 60s to mid 70s, mostly clear, calm but some rough surf

Highlights: The first thing we did was make a beeline to the Preserve because Thanksgiving is one of only a few choice days in which there are no landscaping or construction noises out there, so it was really lovely and serene.  There were Hooded Mergansers in many ponds, the first of the season for me and right on schedule. Lots of ibis and red-tail hawks around too!  Willet Pond was covered in Laughing Gulls both on and water and in the sky…

Species: Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk (heard only), Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Royal Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker (heard only), Eastern Phoebe, Fish Crow, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee (heard only), Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird.

Highlights: Birded the far east end of Kiawah today for sedge wrens, rails, and whatever else was out there. Our only rail was a clapper but we did see at least one, and possibly as many as four, sedge wrens…a bit of a tricky bird to find. We played some Eastern Screech Owl calls to drum up some songbirds and to our surprise, a screech owl answered back – in the middle of the morning! We found a really nice flock of golden-crowned kinglets and a surprisingly bold hermit thrush.

Bird list: Lesser Scaup, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Clapper Rail, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Eastern Screech Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Sedge Wren, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch

Highlights: Hundreds of Lesser Scaup were out on Ibis Pond, and took off while we watched; we later re-encountered them out on the ocean in front of the Ocean Course clubhouse.  Very large numbers of Great Blue Herons out today.  Great look at a sapsucker on Willet Island.  The two songbird highlights were a Marsh Wren in the grass at Ibis Pond and a Field Sparrow near the bridge to Willet Island.  We also encountered very fresh bobcat scat and some nice, deep bobcat tracks.
 
Species: Lesser Scaup, Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Clapper Rail (heard only), Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sanderling, Laughing Gull, Caspain Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, House Finch (heard only), American Goldfinch

By Tim Pifer, Naturalist

Highlights: Baltimore Oriole near the bridge to Willet Island.  Three different Kestrels in the grassy field where the old ocean club house used to be.  The use of the scope really showed off their beauty.  Loggerhead shrike at the end of the driving course is a highlight anytime i’m out!  Tree Swallows everywhere.  The Hundreds of scoters a bit to far offshore to ID were impressive.  They seemed to be in a huge long line about 4 birds wide and as far as you could see.  Since the surf was so rough you only got a quick glance when they birds were on crest of the wave as they were hidding when in the trough.  Pretty funny to see them out there just bobbing around and occasionally diving down for food.  There were ~30 Scaup in Willet Pond.  Also Ruddy Ducks!

Species list: Greater or Lesser Scaup, unknown scoter, Pie-billed grebe, Brown Pelican, double-creasted Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-Shouldered Hawk (Heard), American Kestrel, Clapper Rail (heard), American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated sandpiper, least sandpiper, western sandpiper, Dunlin, Laughing gull, Ring-billed gull, greater black-backed gull, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Foresters Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Pheobe, Loggerhead Shrike, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina chickadee, Tufted titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow rumped warbler, Northern Cardinal, Boat-tailed grackle, Baltimore Oriole, house finch, Ruddy duck

By Laura Willhoft, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

During the fall and winter months, Pied-billed Grebes migrating from summer breeding grounds in Canada and northern parts of the United States settle on Kiawah’s ponds where they rest and forage underwater for small fish and crustaceans.

Except for their chicken-like bills, Pied-billed Grebes appear to be small, drab, brownish ducks. Instead of having webbed feet like ducks, grebes have lobed toes. These paddle-like toes help make grebes powerful swimmers.
Where to look for grebes on Kiawah: Any of the ponds during the fall or winter. Often found alone or in a pair.

Interesting Facts: Grebes belong to the Family Podicipedidae, from the Greek podex, rump, and pes, foot.  Grebe is probably from the Breton word krib, or crest, describing the crested head plumes of many grebes, especially during the breeding season.

By Will Oakley, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Though each section of the coast had its favorite fishery, mullet were a primary catch throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.  At one time mullet were assigned ‘first place on the list of edible fishes of the South’ due to their numbers, and they were caught in cast nets in the creeks and seine nets off the beaches in astonishing amounts.  It was reported in 1859 that 18,000 fish were taken in one haul of the seine net on the beach at Sullivan’s Island, while most nets averaged about 5,000 fish per haul. 
 
An unusual fish, mullet have a crop and a gizzard like a chicken, and an old folk tale has it that several central Florida Crackers escaped a ‘fishing out of season’ fine years ago when a crafty defense lawyer, dissecting a mullet in a court to exhibit the gizzard, convinced the judge to rule the mullet a fowl and not a fish.

By Jake Feary, Captain, Naturalist

*information taken from William C. Fleetwood Jr.’s book, Tidecraft, The boats of South Carolina, Georgia, and Northeastern Florida, 1550-1950

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Laura Willhoft, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Species: Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Laughing Gull, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Boat-tailed Grackle

The hawk that was found on this porch is young, probably around 0-2 years of age. The yellow eye is a good indicator of the birds age, as the eye darkens from a yellow to a red or brown at 3-4 years. To help the bird out of the porch we removed enough screening to give the bird ample room to fly out.  After some failed attemps and some coaxing, the hawk flew away uninjured into the trees above. It was a beautiful treat to be able to view this hawk (pictured above) so close up and be able to help return him to his natural habitat!

By Laura Willhoft, Naturalist

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Species: Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolroed Heron, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, two unknown flycatcher species (one unknown Empid/possibly a Least Flycatcher, one probably an Eastern Wood-Peewee…), Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Palm Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch

We ended up with 66 new birds and 10 recaptures of 18 species.  Surprisingly, Indigo Buntings (21) were the most commonly banded birds, followed by the not-so-surprisingly Common Yellowthroat (16).  All of the Indigo Bunting were juvenile birds with exception of 2 adult males that had retained some of their brilliant blue plumage.  I am still waiting for the big Gray Catbird push.  Last year at this time we had already banded 102 of them.  So far this year, we have only banded 62 with twice the effort.  My guess is, the next cold front (possibly beginning tonight) will bring them down.  Some other highlights include a Yellow-rumped Warbler (first of the season), Northern Parula, Swamp Sparrow, and a juvenile female Common Ground-Dove. 

50 net-hours; 154.0 birds/100 net-hours

New Birds: 16 Common Yellowthroat, 6 Palm Warbler, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2 Prairie Warbler, 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Northern Parula, 1 American Redstart, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 8 Gray Catbird, 1 House Wren, 2 Red-eyed Vireo, 21 Indigo Bunting, 2 Northern Cardinal, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 1 Common Ground-Dove

Recaptures: 4 Carolina Chickadee, 1 Northern Cardinal, 1 Indigo Bunting, 1 Common Yellowthroat,1 Carolina Wren, 1 Gray Catbird, 1 Red-eyed Vireo

Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Species: Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Forster’sTern, RoyalTern, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Unidentified Empid Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, Commmon Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle

We started by exploring the little hammock island across the bridge from the grassy entrance parking lot.  A few Warblers and woodpeckers were there.  Then we found good action across the road from the O.C.entrance, in the western end of ‘The Grove’.  A Song Sparrow was our first of the fall, as was a Yellow-breasted Sapsucker.

And then was the start of the ‘Catbird Brigade’ and a steady procession of House Wrens.   We were rarely out of sight of Gray Catbirds for the rest of the morning…   We found a huge Loblolly
Pine with an enormous Virginia Creeper vine.  It was loaded with fruit and a horde of Catbirds was flitting about.  Also Yellow-eyed Vireos and some Warblers and a tease of a UFO thrush.

In the little overgrown ‘tunnel’ leading from the open area to the grove, we saw the first of the morning’s Tennessee Warblers.  Then the first of the Eastern Wood-Pewees and Eastern Phoebes.  Then the warbler, vireo, Tanager and Empid parade began.  4-5 Black-and-white Warblers were orbiting us, and a Blue-winged Warbler distracted me from a Traill’s Flycatcher and a female Scarlet Tanager.  I tried not to raise my bins for things like Parulas, White-eyed Vireos, Black-and-white Warblers, Palm Warblers, etc.  But the BAY-BREASTED WARBLER was good eye candy.  We could hear thrushes calling in the thickets but didn’t see any yet.

On the walk up to the opposite end of the grove and the jeep trail beyond, we picked up Magnolia Warbler and my first Orange-crowned Warbler of the fall among the more common stuff.

We saw a bunch of birds feeding on the ground beside the gate, but a Red-shouldered Hawk that went barreling through scared them.  I got a quick look at a thrush with my bins and then a brief scope view showed a Gray-cheeked Thrush.

After a few warblers in the short wooded stretch, including a young female Cape May, we hit MAJOR paydirt in the clearing beyond.  It was swarming with warblers, buntings, flycatchers, vireos and various insectivores.  They were chasing a variety of insects, especially near the ‘boneyard’ where there were hordes of flies around old roadkill the crews wisely move there for Bobcats and vultures.  Around some of the remains, the low palmetto fronds and some dog fennel were as much black as green from all the perched flies.  The warblers buzzed through flushing and then chasing the flies.

While standing in one spot for about 40 minutes, we saw hundreds of warblers and dozens of catbirds.  You could just put your bins up and watch waves of birds wash through your field of view.  The overwhelming majority were American Redstarts and Palm Warblers, with quite a few Common Yellowthroats.  But there was also the first WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW of the fall hanging around with the Northern Cardinals and Painted + Indigo Buntings.  We got great scope views of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo down near the ground by the boneyard.

We had a Traill’s Flycatcher and a couple of Eastern Wood-Pewees in the clearing.  Not sure how many Eastern Phobes…   No sign of the Western Kingbird that Aaron Given found last weekend.

There were 3 Yellow Warblers chasing flies with the Redstarts and Palm Warblers, and 1-2 more Tennessee Warblers.  A Merlin gave a nice low flyover near the end of our time in the clearing.

Back at the grove on the way out, we had a pair of Eastern Wood-Pewees, a couple of Eastern Phoebes and a Least Flycatcher.

Species: Wood Stork, Merlin, Red-headed Woodpecker (h), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (great looks), Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed, Red-eyed Vireos, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Thrush spp., Gray Catbird (hundreds), Blue-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler (2-3), Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Parula (several), Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Cape May Warbler (good year for them along the SC coast), Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler (hundreds), Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler (20+), American Redstart (hundreds), Common Yellowthroat, White-crowned Sparrow, Painted Bunting (7), Indigo Bunting (6), Scarlet Tanager (female)

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Highlights:  Very windy day for song birds.  They all seemed to be low and in thick vegetation.  Loggerhead Shrike at the end of the driving range.  Peregrine Falcon at the same location.  There was a huge crew of surveyors at the ocean course beach that had flushed most shore birds.  Not one gull or tern is pretty impressive after walking that huge ocean course loop.  Also the maintence crew was leaf blowing the “hiking trails” at the preserve.

Species: Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-Crowned Night Heron,  Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker,  Eastern Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren,  Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Painted bunting, eastern bluebirds, buff breasted sandpipers.

By Sarah Ernst, Naturalist

Falcon migration must be in full swing as we saw at least 20 Merlins, 4 Peregrines, and 4 Kestrels.  It seemed like every time I looked up a Merlin (or 3) was flying overhead.  Several Northern Harriers were seen hunting the marsh and dunes as well. 
 
Beach birding was also very good.  Gulls, terns, plovers, and sandpipers were very numerous at both ends of the island.  The highlight of the morning on the beach was a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.  It was seen on the beach at the east end of the island (about 500 yards west from were the Snowy Plover was hanging out last month).  After watching it for a couple of minutes, a jogger flushed the bird and I did not see where it went.  Fortunately, about an hour later we found it on the far eastern part of the island about a mile east of where we originally saw it where we were able to watch the bird feed along with 5 or 6 Sanderlings for several minutes. 

Aaron Given
Wildlife Biologist
Kiawah Island, SC   

By Laura Willhoft, Naturalist

48 net-hours; 185.4 birds/100 net-hours

New Birds:9 Gray Catbird, 3 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 37 Common Yellowthroat, 1 Northern Cardinal, 5 Palm Warbler, 11 American Redstart, 3 Painted Bunting, 1 Baltimore Oriole, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 Prairie Warbler, 3 White-eyed Vireo, 1 Carolina Chickadee, 2 Red-eyed Vireo

Recaptures: 1 Carolina Chickadee, 4 Common Yellowthroat, 2 Carolina Wren, 2 American Redstart, 1 Northern Cardinal, 1 White-eyed Vireo

Highlights:  WOW- we hit a very good day of fall migration with a near record-breaking total of 65 birds!  So many neat sights to list that I don’t know where to begin.  Kingfishers and swallows were present everywhere we went.  At the Preserve we saw a prairie warbler and a yellow-billed cuckoo in the same cedar tree.  Other neat birds – an osprey dive-bombing an immature eagle (nice to see the tables turned), a red-tailed hawk suspended motionless in a headwind; lots of wood storks; and brown-headed nuthatches in the tops of the pines.  At Ibis Pond we found a pair of grebes and an anhinga both using the same patch of water; the anhinga later flung itself onto a dead tree branch to dry off.  But Willet Island was where the real action was at today – within the half hour we spent there, we saw: my first phoebe of the season, a yellow warbler, a pair of mysterious Empiodax flycatchers (possibly two different species!), a yellow-throated warbler, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, lots of palm warblers, a northern waterthrush, an American redstart, and a young black-crowned night heron.  On the driving range we got both a shrike and a few ground doves, as well as my first flicker of the season, and a mysterious dark brown wren that I had to leave unidentified.  On the beach we got the usual assortment of shorebirds, with a few still showing some hints of breeding plumage.  We finished over our allotted time, and pretty worn out, but extremely satisfied with a very exciting morning of birding!

Species: Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-Crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Forster’s Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Empidonax Sp, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Wren Sp, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, House Finch

Photograph by Jamie Rood on her Nature Photography Tour. 

Species: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron ,Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Royal Tern, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle

by Naturalist Sarah Ernst

Species: Palamedes Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Gray Hairstreak, Summer Azure, Gulf Fritillary, Common Buckeye, Monarch, Long-tailed Skipper, Horace’s Duskywing, Fiery Skipper, Whirlabout, Salt Marsh Skipper

By Naturalist Sarah Ernst

On the walk out from the driving range, I had noticed the beach roost acting jumpy – there was a Peregrine working the beach + Stono Inlet. At first I was focused on looking for the Snowy Plover, and worked the inlet behind the beach. But eventually I decided to focus on the roosting birds down by the ocean.

On the way out to the mini-inlet I had briefly scoped the “pod” the Sabines was in and missed it. But it had been fairly backlit and it was impossible to see all the individuals in the flock, since some Laughing Gulls, Herring Gulls, and other larger birds were in front of some smaller terns and so forth.

After exhausting potential spots for the Snowy Plover, I turned back toward the clubhouse – which gave a good lighting angle on the gull/tern roost. I had finished scoping the first pod, which had 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, usual gulls and 6-7 tern species, when most of the second pod and some of the third took off at the approach of some bicyclers. I was looking through them for another Lesser Black-backed or a Gull-billed Tern, when I saw a smallish gull with a bold black-and-white (and gray) pattern.

The bird’s upperwing had dark black wingtips, with the black also slanting forward along the leading edge of the outer wing.  In other words: the outer primaries were black, and the primary coverts were as well.  All the secondaries and some of the inner primaries were white (most of the wings’ trailing edge), which combined with the black area and the bird’s gray mantle + coverts made an arrowhead shape.  The bird did not have any black on the inner half of the upperwing – either on the greater, median or lesser coverts. The bird’s tail was all-white and squared off / wedge-shaped. The bird had a fair amount of hood left – I could see white frosting around the front of the face but it was mostly dark gray or light blackish color as far as I could tell. I did not get a look at the bill – by the time I had gawked at the upperwings for a while and then at the head and tried to see the underwing, it was down the beach too far.  I switched from bins to scope but could barely pick it out of the receding flock of Laughing Gulls, Ring-bills, and all sorts of Terns.  They did not head offshore – looked like down island. 

Posted on the Carolina birdlist serve. Nathan Dias is the Executive Director of the Cape Romain Bird Observatory.

Highlights:  The #1 highlight was the mosquitos in the preserve.  NONE!  

Colorfull male painted bunting in the preserve was very low in the brush and only gave us one quick look. Loggerhead shrike perching atop a snag south of the willet island bridge. Aaron Givens met us at the beach and helped ID the 4 greater blackbacked gulls that I saw into 2 lesser and 2 greater blackback gulls. We had high hopes in finding the buff-breasted and pectorals but the driving range was fill with nothing but golf balls. We did find a ~8′ gator in the very first pond at the end of the driving range. There were great gator tracks from the beach that went to those ponds.  It appeared he came from the ocean. The terns were out in both quanity and quality but were unable to find the black terns that were seen earlier in the week. Garter Snake in the preserve.

Species: Brown pelican, double-crested cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, tricolored heron, green heron, wood stork, black vulture, turkey vulture, osprey, red-shoulderd hawk, red-tailed hawk, clapper rail,  black-bellied plover, semipalmated plover, killdeer, willet, ruddy turnstone, sanderling, semipalmated sandpiper, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, pie-billed grebe, laughing gull, herring gull, lesser black backed gull, greater black backed gull, ring billed gull, caspian tern, forster’s tern, royal tern, common tern, least tern, sandwich tern, black skimmer, mourning dove, common ground dove, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, fish crow, american crow, chimney swift, carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, brown-headed nuthatch, carolina wren, northern mockingbird, palm warbler, common yellowthroat, northern cardinal, common grackle, boat-tailed grackle, painted bunting, loggerhead shrike

Visit wildlifeatkiawah.com to see a record of all the birds caught this fall – 246 birds and 23 species! Pictured is a male American Redstart, a stunning warbler that retains its vibrant breeding colors year-round. Females and young males are similar in pattern, but substitutes yellow for orange patches and and olive-green for black.

Highlights: It was both a gorgeous and bird-filled morning today!  At Killdeer Pond we saw a large flock of white ibis overhead, but all the best birding was out at the Ocean Course driving range.  Right away we saw Wood Storks over Willet Pond and were about to chase them, but then I spotted a flock of 7 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS on the driving range.  There were also a few scattered peeps, common ground doves, and a single PECTORAL SANDPIPER.  At the beach we found lots of piping plovers (7 total!), plus a large assortment of shorebirds including a least sandpiper that allowed us to approach as close as one yard away, plus a beautiful flock of black-bellied plovers and a few turnstones that were in the last stages of molting to non-breeding plumage.  A common yellowthroat was in some high marsh grass and a tiny little prairie warbler in the dunes.  When we got back into the van, there were a pair of adult BALD EAGLES soaring over Willet Pond and a wood stork on a tree.  What a way to end a birding trip!  We concluded the morning of birding by swinging by Turtle Pond on our way back to the nature center to pick up a few common moorhens for my guests’ life lists.

Also of note, we caught a 3-4″ long cicada near Killdeer Pond (which then proceded to blast out our ears with noise as it struggled to get free…I let it go, my ears ringing, and it flew off into the trees).  The grounsel bushes are in full bloom and absolutely covered with hundreds of pollinators, including hundreds of Ailanthus Webworm Moths, a pretty little day-flying moth…

Species: Brown pelican, double-crested cormorant, anhinga, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, tricolored heron, white ibis, wood stork, black vulture, turkey vulture, osprey, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, clapper rail, common moorhen, black-bellied plover, semipalmated plover, piping plover, killdeer, spotted sandpiper, willet, ruddy turnstone, sanderling, semipalmated sandpiper, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper, buff-breasted sandpiper, laughing gull, herring gull, caspian tern, forster’s tern, royal tern, black skimmer, mourning dove, common ground dove, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, fish crow, american crow, purple martin, northern rough-winged swallow, barn swallow, carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, brown-headed nuthatch, carolina wren, northern mockingbird, european starling, prairie warbler, common yellowthroat, northern cardinal, common grackle, boat-tailed grackle, house finch

Highlights: Tim and I spent a morning trying out his new spotting scope.  The first bird of the morning for me was a Chuck-will’s-widow, swooping over my head in the dawn light.  As we passed Ibis Pond we saw a very large number of egrets, terns, and gulls, but after a quick scan we didn’t see anything unusual and decided to continue on to Willet Island.  Our biggest surprise there was a small bobcat we flushed from a tree just a few feet away from us!  We also saw a flock of ~30 small birds, probably bobolinks based upon their unusual call note but I wasn’t certain because they simply passed by us, not coming back for a second look.  Walking towards the beach we saw a common ground dove in the grass.  At the beach there was a nice assortment of shorebirds, but what we were really after was the snowy plover…and we found it!  We also found a buff-breasted sandpiper.  Other nice birds out there were piping plovers, wilson’s plovers, marbled godwits, sandwich terns, least terns, black skimmers, a great-black-backed gull, and a pair of my first herring gulls of the season.  Two blue-winged teal flew over our heads at Willet Pond, my first ducks of the season.  As we drove off from the ocean couse, Tim found a nice suprise: a female merlin, yet another first of the season for me, sitting on a dead tree.  We also swung by the Preserve in hopes of finding some migrating songbirds, but completely struck out on that front.  But it did let us add an ibis and a few woodpeckers to our list.

Species: Blue-winged Teal, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Merlin, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Least Tern, Foster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Chuck-will’s-widow, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Cardinal.

By Sarah Ernst

Highlights: While the mosquitoes were a little too enthusiastic for our tastes at Killdeer Pond, the first few minutes of birding out there were really fast-paced with various herons and egrets, woodstorks, a belted kingfisher, a kite and hawk, and an assortment of songbirds.  After that the birds laid low but the mosquitoes increased their attack so we beat a hasty retreat.  At Osprey Point we walked right underneath a red-tailed hawk and watched it preen for a few minutes, keeping a careful eye on us but otherwise tolerant of our presence.  The waterthrush was still at the end of the peninsula in Willet Pond, or least an identical individual if not the same one, and we also got a nice look at a flock of peeps (least and semipalmated sandpipers this time) in the mud of Willet Pond.  Turtle Pond was pretty quiet today (though we didn’t spend much time out there) but we did see the resident gang of juvenile moorhens.

Species: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Mississippi Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Moorhen, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Common Ground Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Cardinal, House Finch.

Highlights: It’s full-blown warbler season! Bird of the day was a Louisiana Waterthrush hanging out with a pine, palm, and black-and-white warbler. The white ibis are starting to come back too, we saw one on a tree out at Falcon Point.

Species: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Various Peep Species,  Laughing Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Royal Tern, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush
 

Written by Naturalist, Marcie Palm
Photo by Guests Phil & Lee Dell’lsola

As summer wanes, the female Golden Silk spider (Nephila clavipes) reaches maturity. Come fall, their rusty golden bodies will grow to lengths spanning the palm of my hand. The smaller males present in webs from July to September leave the females to complete the task of bringing their offspring into the world. You will notice her hard work if you find the egg cases made to house hundreds of baby spiders. Look for small, tan, paper-like sacs about the size of a nickel and spun with golden silk. I see them most commonly near the female’s web, spun close to vegetation.
 
The female’s golden silk is where this spider gets its common name. When constructing a web, she can actually adjust this golden pigment to suit her web site, allowing for maximum camouflage. Since their diet consists of a wide variety of flying insects, they position their webs in such a way as to take advantage of insect flight paths.  For humans, this advantageous location translates into somewhat of a warning when biking along paths with overhanging trees. It also means these spiders are doing a world of good by feasting on ‘pesky’ insects. Like all spiders, Golden Silk spiders are venomous. However, a bite from one is much less intense than a common bee sting and should therefore not be considered harmful to humans.

Finally, I’d like to share a small note found in my field guide regarding the genus name Nephila. Its roots are Ancient Greek and means ‘fond of spinning.’  I would encourage you to notice these enormous, strong, golden webs. Undoubtedly, you will find that its maker is certainly fond of spinning and fairly meticulous with her web maintenance.      

By Jennifer Barbour, Naturalist.

Highlights: We went out to Marsh Island Park for painted buntings but only found a crew of young green birds, not the multicolored male.  But we were rewarded with three raptors – an osprey, hawk, and kite – as well as a huge tree full of vireos eating magnolia seeds and grapes.  Willet Pond continued to be pretty slow but it was high tide and we found ourselves among a huge flock of terns, skimmers, gulls, and some shorebirds.  We got nice comparisons between royal, sandwich, forster’s, and least terns; there was also my first great black backed gull of the season – a young bird without the black back – completely dwarfing all the other birds around it except for a single passing pelican.  As we headed back to the clubhouse we found a pectoral sandpiper walking along the edge of the tidal pool!  I think this is the first pectoral sandpiper I have been able to list on our bird reports.  It was banded with a single metal band.  Today also marks the first belted kingfisher of the season for our bird trips, though I have been seeing them regularly over the last week. 

Species: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Mississippi Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Least Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird.

The Snowy Plover was still present today at the east end of  Kiawah.

Despite good rains Friday afternoon and brief showers early Saturday morning, the driving range at the Ocean Course did not have any puddles.  Shorebird numbers and variety on the driving range were much reduced from last weekend.  In addition to the resident Killdeer there were a couple of Spotted Sandpipers, a few Pectoral Sandpipers, and Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Western Sandpipers + Least Sandpipers.

Besides the Snowy Plover, out at Sandy Point there were a total of: 9 Piping Plovers, 3 Wilson’s Plovers, 11 Black-bellied Plovers, 67 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 American Oystercatchers, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 8 Lesser Yellowlegs, 9 Willet, 3 Spotted Sandipers, 18 Whimbrel (high marsh on the way to Sandy Pt.), 2 Marbled Godwit, 15 Ruddy Turnstones, 2 Red Knot, 51 Sanderling, 9  Semipalmated Sandpipers, 32 Least Sandpipers, 20 Western Sandpipers, 6 Dunlin, and 28 Short-billed Dowitchers.

Tern species present were: Black Terns, Common Terns, Gull-billed Terns, Caspian Terns, Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Forster’s Terns and good numbers of Least Terns.  1 immature Reddish Egret was prowling the shallows and I saw a couple of Common Ground-Doves on the hike out to Sandy Point (1 terrestrial and 1 aerial).

A Red-headed Woodpecker in some trees behind the little parking field off the Ocean Course entrance drive was a nice surprise. When I was returning to the car about midday, a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes was half-heartedly pursuing a family of Eastern Bluebirds around the grassy dell where the Ocean Course parking lot used to be (old clubhouse location).

A quick midday check of the wooded trail across from the O.C. entrance yielded an American Restart, a Prairie Warbler, and  a Red-eyed Vireo.

To some, jellies may appear to have no apparent value, but they are, in fact, a very important part of the marine food web. Jellies are carnivores and feed mostly on zooplankton but larger species are capable of capturing and devouring large crustaceans and other marine organisms. Jellies are themselves preyed upon by fish, sea turtles and other marine organisms. Some species, including the mushroom and cannonball jellyfish, are even considered a delicacy by humans.

Now, I’m sure you are thinking about how you can observe these beautiful creatures from a distance. Most species off the southeastern coast of South Carolina are capable of inflicting only mild stings that result in minor discomfort. You probably want to know how to identify those species so that you can steer clear.  Come in to the Nature Center or Discovery Room to discuss with a Naturalist or review previous WAWSI to learn more about the types of local jellies.  Lately, you may have seen a Cannonball Jelly, Sea Nettle Jelly, Moon Jelly, or Portuguese Man-of-War.

I experimented with the Ocean Encounters trip today and began along the base of the Ocean Course driving range, where we herded crowds of sand fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator) and caught a couple too. Along the banks of the shallow saltwater lagoon, I threw the cast net a couple times, at first catching some young shrimp and then generally coming up blank despite seeing many large fish around. So after scanning the lagoon for any visiting alligators and posting a couple of watchers just in case we attempted to seine. Oops! Once we had the net unfurled, I took one step off the firmly packed sand of the bank and promptly sank in to black pluff mud all the way up to my thighs, almost up to my hips!  So seining was out for that pond.  We continued past the lagoon to the ocean and beachcombed as we went, finding a variety of different organisms. The most unusual thing we found along the edge of the water was an unusually large amount of sea anemones.  I looked up this species and it is Nematostella vectensis, one of the only anemones that can survive in marshes and other estuaries because it can bury down in the sand or mud. Believe it or not, this flower-shaped animal can slowly crawl along the ocean bottom in search of better habitats! Ours looked like little round nubs when retracted and when we placed them in water, we were able to observe the tentacles come out and feed. Fish species today were Atlantic Silverside, Striped Killifish, Pinfish, and a yellow-and-black striped fish that I still need to identify.

Highlights: While we didn’t get anything particularly unusual today – we were shooting for the rare snowy plover and other uncommon shorebirds – we got a nice assortment of birds.  I love seeing the black-bellied plovers and ruddy turnstones in breeding plumage.  We also got very close looks at some red knots. Black terns were probably the highlight of the day, though they were a little too far off in the distance to appreciate properly. Tricolored herons of all ages were extremely abundant today. Common ground doves were also widely dispersed over our birding route, more so than any time I’ve gone out. A Mississippi Kite was sitting on a dead tree directly in front of the van as we finished the trip, looking a little unkempt due to the rain, and sat there long enough to get some good looks at this dapper little raptor.

Species: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Mississippi Kite, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, probably other peep species that I missed, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Black Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird.

This giant snail is the largest species found in American waters, and is certainly one of the largest gastropods in the world.  The length of the shell can reach two feet, and its soft body parts are a very bright orange.  P. Giagantea is carnivorous predatory and feeds on whelk, tulip snails, and hermit crabs.  It is also known to be cannibalistic and will eat smaller animals of its own kind. 

Needless to say, the three year old triplets were very excited and quite proud about this rare find on Kiawah Island.  As we were returning the horse conch back to the river, we all looked up to see that the bald eagles had finally returned to Kiawah Island as one hovered above Inlet Cove, and then finally made its way to its nest on Andell Island. 

By Brad Schmoll, Naturalist

Squid are both utterly bizarre and very beautiful creatures that few people encounter in the wild, so I get very excited to have the chance to show one off.  When we catch a little squid in our seine net on a Pluff Mud Paddle or Ocean Encounters, there are a few things we like to point out to guests – the ability to change color in less than a second, the ability to squirt out ink to confuse predators, and the jet-propelled backwards swimming motion it makes when we return it to the water.  We also like to caution guests to watch their fingers when holding it – even a two inch long squid can deliver a suprisingly painful little pinch with its hard beak!   

Captures:
3/9/2010 – Longboat Key – North, Florida.
Resightings:
4/27/2010 – Honeymoon Island State Park – North, Florida.
5/18/2010 – St. George Island State Park, Florida.

Special thanks to the Giduz family for sharing this information!

But the really neat shorebird spectacle was the driving range at the Ocean Course (southeastern corner of Kiawah).  Despite a lack of standing water, it had good numbers and variety – even after 9am.  31 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, 1 UPLAND SANDPIPER, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, all three regular ‘Peep’ species, lots of Semipalmated Plovers, and 22 Black-bellied Plovers.  Two Ruddy Turnstones feeding on shortgrass turf was a funny sight – one was still in alternate plumage.  I saw a COMMON GROUND-DOVE come hop-flying out of the dunes and feed for a while at the edge of the driving range – not sure if it was eating seeds or bugs.  30+ Killdeer were the bully boys of the scene.  7 Spotted Sandpipers foraged and chased each other on the driving range turf at the far end from the golfers – right up against the shore of the small tidal cove beyond.

Other neat birds included Loggerhead Shrike, Prairie and Yellow Warblers, and an Eastern Wood-Pewee.

The False Angelwing (Petricola pholadiformis) is similar in appearance to the Angelwing but with a more simple design. Both the Fallen and False Angelwings reach just 3″ in length, so if you find one larger like the shell pictured, you’re pretty safe in assuming it is the original Angelwing. The animal that makes and lives in the angelwing shell is edible, though they can burrow quite deep and can be difficult to find alive.

There is no common name for Epeolus zonatus, but with such a dramatic color scheme they certainly deserve one. A limited flight season and distribution makes this species occasionally hard to track down. While the species has no common name, the family does: the cuckoo bees, a nest parasite of other bees – similar to our brown cowbirds. The female lays her eggs in the nests of other bees and allows them to raise the young.

By Naturalist Sarah Ernst

Butterflies: Fiery Skipper, Phaon Crescent, Palamedes Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulphur, and Gulf Fritillary

Dragonflies: Female and male Needham’s Skimmers (male pictured), male Eastern Amberwings, female Eastern Pondhawk

Locations: Night Heron Park, Mingo Point, Sea Marsh Drive, The Preserve, Falcon Point, Osprey Point, Willet Pond

Notes: We did a lot of birding by van today and covered some places I don’t usually visit on my bird tours.  Highlights were a male bluebird perched within 6 feet of us, a female/juvenile painted bunting taking a bath in a birdbath, and a clapper rail flying right in front of the van in front of Ibis Pond.  I think this is only the second or third time I’ve seen a clapper rail on a Back Island Birding tour – heard, plenty of times, but rarely seen.

Species List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Clapper Rail, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Boat-tailed Grackle

Beachcombing: Excellent beachcombing conditions continue at the Ocean Course. Several large horseshoe crabs, lots of sand dollar pieces and a couple of whole ones. Lots of live mud snails with some hermit crabs in a variety of snail shells. There were a few rubbery bryzoans, a single sea pork that we split open to see the animal within, and a single mushroom jelly. Some nice specimans of angel wings, knobbed whelks, jingle shells, and Atlantic giant cockles. 
Ocean Fish: The highlight was definitely a small Southern Stingray that the folks on our surf fishing tour had caught. I ran over to put it in our bucket before they tossed it back in the ocean. Everyone got to touch it and admire this strange fish. Seining and casting in the surf was pretty skimpy again today, at least compared to the multitudes of tidal pool fish. We got a single Silverside, a baby calico crab, and some fry (baby fish) too small to identify – basically two big eyes and a tail…

Tidal Pool Fish: A nice large mix of mostly striped killifish and bay anchovies, with some baby bluefish and a few tiny, unidentifiable fry.

Birds: Not much action today other than a few semipalmated plovers, willets, laughing gulls, and least terns. Sadly, we also saw an off-leash dog chase a flock of shorebirds off in the distance. Please do not allow your dog off the lead in the protected shorebird areas on either end of the island – even though most dogs can’t catch the birds, being chased stresses the birds, disrupts their feeding, and is one of the major causes of population decline.

Notes: Awesome day of birding with 52 species – a splendid number for a morning of early August birding. There was a different highlight every place we stopped – at Marsh Island Park we saw a painted bunting male singing. He was backlit, which is normally a great dissapointment because it washes out the color, but he was close enough to us that we could still see his colors and in fact the sunlight shining through his feathers gave him almost a golden tinge. At Osprey Point we watched a green heron fly into a nearby branch, tilt its head as it watched a dragonfly circle around, and then to our amazement the green heron snatched it out of the sky – what reflexes! The heron held it for a while as the dragonfly struggled to get out and then hopped further up the branch, out of sight. At Willet pond we saw a wood stork several times as well as the usual assortment of egrets and herons. Along the edge of the Ocean Course driving range we got incredible looks at a trio of common ground doves and a very approachable loggerhead shrike. Circling around the lagoon and beach, we saw an assortment of shorebirds, terns, gulls, and herons/egrets, the highlight of which was some great looks at black skimmers. As we went back to the van, the wood stork cricled overhead and gave us a very nice farewell look at this impressive but endangered species. 

Species List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Common Moorhen, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Willet, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Seaside Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, House Finch

It is indeed a white-spotted deer. There are a few different types of deer color mutations: piebald (white patches on tan), melanistic (all black), and albino (all white). All told, these mutations only occur in less than 1% of whitetail deer across the country, with piebald the most common of the three, followed by albino, and finally melanistic. A different gene controls each color pattern.

While a white spotting mutation is relatively widespread in mammals, different species of animals have different types of genes. In horse genetics, for example, there are two different genes that will produce a piebald effect, one dominant (tobaino) and one recessive (overo). Some dramatically colored horses even posses both genes (sometime called tovero). So in a horse, you can have two spotted parents produce a solid foal or two solid horses produce a spotted foal!

In deer, apparently, the gene that controls white spotting is recessive, similar to the recessive overo gene in horses. So the piebald gene could have been hidden in the genes of our regular deer for many generations. A solid brown deer that carries the gene has a 50% chance of passing it on to its young.  If both solid brown parents carry the gene, the young has a 25% chance of being piebald, 50% chance of carrying the gene, and a 25% chance of not carrying the gene at all.  If this deer mates with a brown deer, the offspring will probably be all brown unless the mate carries the gene, and even then only 50% of the offspring will be piebald.  The amount of white is apparently random, with some deer showing mostly white and some showing mostly brown, but most about 50-50%.

Opinions vary on whether the piebald gene is linked to any other malformations – perhaps some populations do have link to poor health and perhaps populations some don’t – but ours appear to be pretty healthy.  While the piebald gene would make any deer much more vulnerable to predators as a fawn, once a Kiawah deer makes it to adulthood it has as good of a chance to survive and mate as any other deer.

Written by Naturalist, Sarah Ernst.

Reported by Naturalist, Laura Willhoft.

Without an trained eye or curious mind, it’s easy to overlook these floating, marine animals on our beach as garbage. Blown by winds and pulled by currents, Man-of-Wars drift on the surface of open oceans (aided by a gas-filled float) where they feed on small fish, crustaceans, and plankton using their stinging and feeding tentacles. Not a true jelly, the Portuguese Man-of-War is actually a colony of numerous organisms called polyps (or zooids) that are so specialized they cannot live without each other. Check the beach after storms or windy weather for these fascinating cnidarians.

Written by Naturalist, Will Oakley.

Ocean Seining: We weren’t as lucky with seining in the ocean. The current and wind were very strong which made it difficult to pull the net. We caught a few fish such as Striped Tidal Pools: Mostly minnows. There was also an interesting band of tiny clams. It was about 20 yards long and a yard or two wide in places and concentrated around the tidal pools and the surf. They were so small I thought at first they were just broken down pieces of shells but it turned out to be the whole clam…it was causing quite a low tide smell on the beach.

Birds: We were so enamored with our beachcombing that we forgot to look out for the birds but I did glimpse our usual Laughing Gulls & Brown Pelicans.

Species List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Common Moorhen, Wilson’s Plover, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch

Written by Naturalist, Sarah Ernst.

Female loggerheads in the southeast will typically lay three to five nests, and sometimes more, between mid-May and mid-August. After two months of incubating, the young will hatch sometime between July and October.  Artificial lighting along the beachfront has been blamed for confusing turtle hatchlings and causing them to veer away from their destination, the Atlantic Ocean. By shielding, redirecting, or turning off any lights illuminating the beach or water, residents play a role in the preservation of this species.

Interested in learning more about our loggerhead sea turtles this summer?  Join expert Naturalist, Meg Hoyle, on Kiawah for a complimentary Turtle Talk at the Heron Park Pavilion every Tuesday from 7 pm to 8 pm.  If you’re looking for a new learning adventure this year, check out the Learning Through Loggerheads motorboat excursion to Botany Island on Thursdays from 9 am – 12 pm.  Meg has worked with loggerhead & hawksbill sea turtles in the Caribbean and participated in the longest running loggerhead sea turtle tagging project in the US.  She is also the director of Learning through Loggerheads, a non-profit organization that provides hands on science learning for students through a turtle nest protection project.

Only trained turtle patrol members are permitted to handle sea turtle hatchling.

Written by Naturalist, Jennifer Barbour

Notes: After chasing half a dozen male painted buntings at Mingo and Marsh Island Park, never with a satisfactory view, we finally found one singing with in full light. Lots of females/young around as well.  We had a really great moment at Willet Pond in which there was a Wood Stork, Glossy Ibis, Black-necked Stilt, and Tricolored Heron all in the same spotting scope view. The light was perfect and we could really admire the rich colors of the Glossy. Sanderlings, a spotted sandpiper, and a pair of whimbrels were all a bit of a surprise out on the Ocean Course beach. A gull-billed tern was also a nice find – last year I was able to find them fairly regularly, but this was Back Island Birding’s first 2010 sighting.

Species List: Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite, Common Moorhen, Wilson’s Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Black-necked Stilt, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Whimbrel, Sanderling, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Royal Tern, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, House Finch.

Photo taken on Nature Photography by Jamie Rood.

Beachcombing Highlights: Whelk egg cases with unhatched babies inside; cockle and ark shells that had been eaten by a moon snail; rubbery bryzoans; yellow sea whips; sand dollars; live hermit crab; lots of dead horseshoe crabs – in various stinky stages of being dead! – and a pair of live whelks.

Ocean Fish: We caught a pair of Florida pompano with the cast net, but with the seine net we got something completely different: a small pipefish, two baby whiting, and a mysterious small chubby dark fish that looked like maybe a baby grouper?  Lots of baby calico crabs in the seine net – for every fish, there were at least a dozen baby crabs.

Tidal Pool Fish: Mostly bay anchovy with some killifish

Birds: Willets, American Oystercatchers, Least Terns, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Red-tailed Hawk, and a mockingbird
pair diving at and chasing a pair of crows.

Photo by Jamie Rood, Staff Photographer.

Written by Naturalist and Paddleboard Instructor, Jennifer Barbour

Also present on my butterfly exploration were the red-spotted purple and the spicebush swallowtail – both mimics of the poisonous pipevine swallowtail. Two red admirals were very wary of my presence and flew off quickly. A gray hairstreak was more tolerant but kept to the shade, as did a satyr. My walk concluded with a tiger swallowtail, flying through the woods quite regally and directly, as if it some great event to get to in a hurry. Tiger Swallowtails had a very poor year last year but thankfully more have popped up this year.

Report by Naturalist Sarah Ernst

Reported by Naturalist Sarah Ernst.

Written by Naturalist, Sarah Ernst

Bats, worldwide, make up 20% of all species of mammals. Most species inhabit the tropical and subtropical areas of the world but bats are found on all continents except Antarctica where, to date, no bat fossils have been found. Bats are the only mammal that can truly ‘fly’. Bats are not blind; they actually have quite good eyesight but rely on their system of echolocation to get around. Bats make noises at frequencies too high for human hearing and, by listening to the echoes, can create a sound picture of their environment. Bats in North America are virtually all insectivorous, feeding on a variety of flying insects. Bats benefit humans because many of the insects are harmful or annoying to humans, as we are well aware of here in the lowcountry.

Currently, bat populations are facing the greatest threat to bats ever seen which is the white nose syndrome. White nose syndrome (WNS) is a poorly understood malady associated with the deaths of more than a million bats. The condition, named for a distinctive ring of fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of many affected animals, was first identified in a cave in New York in 2006. The mortality rate in some of the caves has exceeded 90 percent. Bats with this malady have been found in caves throughout 9 New England states as well as Canada. The long-term impact of this reduction in bat populations may be an increase in insects, possibly even leading to crop damage or other economic impact. Bats ability to fly, their secretiveness, and their nocturnal habits have contributed to bat folklore, superstition, and fear. You can dispel any of these fears you may have by coming in to the nature center to discuss Bat Biology with one of the Naturalists or go on a nocturnal adventure such as the Night Beach Walk or the Night Exploration.

Written by Naturalist, Marcie Palm

Written by Naturalist, Laura Willhoff

Orchard Oriole photo by Staff Photographer, Jamie Rood.

Recently, we here at the nature center were lucky enough to be able to save one of these majestic creatures. A thoughtful patron came upon a Screech Owl suffering from injuries, from what appeared to be a collision. The lucky owl is now recovering at The Avian Conservation Center (The Center for Birds of Prey) in Awendaw, SC just north of Mt. Pleasant.

The most interesting thing, I think, about a gastropod is their vast range of feeding behaviors. Most species make use of a radula, which is a rasping tongue-like organ in some aspect of their feeding behavior. They include grazers, browsers, suspension feeders, scavengers, and carnivores. Some actually engage in hunting their prey. Some gastropod carnivores even drill holes in their shelled prey, which is why some of you may find shells on the beach with tiny holes drilled in them.
Some exciting gastropods which you may find with or without the animal still alive in them include: Knobbed Whelk, Lightning Whelk, Channeled Whelk, Moon Snail, Banded Tulip, Oyster Drill, Marsh Periwinkles, Baby’s Ear, and Lettered Olives.  Keep your eyes open because even if the actual animal is no longer living in the shell it may be inhabited by our friend the Hermit Crab. If you are interested in finding out more about these animals then sign up for one of our related classes such as Ocean Seining, Ocean Encounters, Pluff Mud Paddle or Jr. Naturalist Marsh Ecology.

Written by Naturalist, Marcie Palm

(1)  Alligators could be searching for that special someone for their mating dance.
(2)  Females may be looking for a safe place to nest and lay her eggs.
(3)  They could be looking for some type of food or nutrient that has been missing in their diet. 
(4)  They are just a little disoriented and got confused…hey, it happens to everyone!
(5)  Some biologists speculate that they are heading to the beaches in search of sea turtle eggs.

If you have any other idea as to why an alligator would head to the beach then come over to the Nature Center to discuss this with one of our Naturalists or if you just want some more info on our friend the gator then sign up for one of our Alligator themed classes.

Written by Naturalist, Marcie Palm

Species: Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Brown Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Painted Bunting, Great-crested Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Parula, (possible)Orchard Oriole, Barn Swallow, Common Nighthawk, Least Tern, Laughing Gull, American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Black-necked Stilt, Common Moorhen, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Clapper Rail, Least Bittern, Osprey, Turkey Vulture, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, American Crow, Blue Jay.

Banded Water Snakes are mid-sized – 24 to 48 inches and have a fairly heavy body. Coloration is variable, with snakes ranging from light brown or reddish to black with darker crossbands. Crossbands are larger on the middle of the back and narrower on the sides. Crossbands may be obscured as the snake darkens with age, and some individuals appear uniformly dark. In addition to crossbands, there are squarish spots at the sides of the belly and a dark stripe from the eye to the angle of the jaw.

Banded Water Snakes are often mistaken for the venomous Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin) as they look quite similar but you may be able to tell the difference based on several characteristics; Basking behavior, Swimming Behavior, Head positioning, Tail Vibration, Pupils and Scale Pattern. The best way to distinguish the two would be to look at their pupils. A Cottonmouth would have an elliptical shape of the pupil while any Water Snake will be round. Contact one of the Naturalists at the Nature Center to discuss the other differences in depth if you come across one of these snakes.

Written by Kiawah Naturalist Marcie Palm. 

Photo by Staff Photographer Jamie Rood

Spending the winter months on the continental shelf, horseshoe crabs have emerged along our shoreline to spawn. Males will hold on to the larger females, ready to fertilize up to 80,000 deposited by females in the intertidal region of the beach. Fish, seashore mammals, and many bird species (red knots especially) feast upon these eggs.

Many of the specimens you find on the beach are molted shells. Their hard armor that keeps them relatively safe from predators must be shed in order for them to grow. Before reaching maturity around 9 years old, a horseshoe crab may molt 17 times!  Unless a loggerhead sea turtle makes lunch out of them, it’s estimated that their lifespan is 20-40 years. There is so much more to know about this ancient creature. Join a Naturalist leading an ocean-related tour and ask about their unique blood and how it’s used in the medical field today.

This is a photograph of our Nature Center glass lizard.

Species List: Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black Vulture, Osprey, Common Moorhen, Wilson’s Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Western or Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Orchard Oriole, House Finch

On Monday morning, Naturalist William Oakley retrieved a Cottonmouth Snake from a property owner’s yard here on Kiawah Island. Upon arrival, William noticed the snake could care less about all the attention he (or she) was receiving, and it did not attempt to bite or slither away while being handled. In his 26 years of visiting and living on Kiawah Island, William is excited to say this was his first venomous snake encounter here.

Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorous), also known as Water Moccasins, are semi-aquatic, venomous  snakes with a reputation for being aggressive, but research has shown that its supposed belligerent nature couldn’t be farther from the truth, and many attacks/bites are provoked.

The Cottonmouth caught on Monday has been relocated on the island close to a pond but far from any homes. If you wish to learn more about snakes, or see a live, captive cottonmouth in person, check out our Nature Center in Night Heron Park.

To learn more about snakes of the southeast, visit the Heron Park Nature Center. View the snakes we have in the center, or join one of our reptile classes to have your questions answered by a Naturalist. Also ask about the next snake feeding and watch how they consume their food!

If you start to become an experienced hairstreak admirer, keep your eyes open for the less common species found on Kiawah: Juniper, Banded, Oak, and White-M Hairstreaks. An excellent butterfly identification book to bring in the field is Butterflies through Binoculars by Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg. He has authored several different guides to the east coast, west coast, and Florida.

Check out our May 16th facebook post (Kiawah Island Nature Program) to see what a gray hairstreak looks like.

Photo by Jamie Rood.

Least terns are beach-nesters, a habitat it shares with Wilson’s plovers, American oystercatchers, and black skimmers. All four can be found nesting in the protected shorebird area next to the Ocean Course Clubhhouse. We humans also like using the same habitat for recreation, so the majority of beach-nesting birds are in decline. Kiawah is home to one of only three remaining least tern beach nesting sites in the entire state. While we encourage observation of this special area with binoculars, please keep out of the nesting area to avoid distressing birds or accidentally stepping on their well-camouflaged eggs and chicks. The leash-free dog area is adjacent to the nesting site, so if you bring your dog, please make sure to restrain it around shorebirds.

Photo by Kiawah resident Paula Feldman.

Photo by Captain Mike Waller

Each year Kiawah Island gets a handful of Green Turtles, like Mingo that lay nests on our beach. Kiawah’s predominant sea turtle is the Loggerhead. Each year from mid-May through mid-August female Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) come ashore and lay their eggs on our beaches. Adult and hatchling turtles make their way back to the ocean by using reflecting light from the moon or white water in the waves to guide them. Flashlights can spook the mother back into the water before she lays her eggs and house lights can attract the hatchlings up into the dunes where survival is unlikely. Please help protect these amazing animals by: 1) not shining flashlights on the beach during nesting season, 2) remember to keep your exterior lights off after 9pm, and 3) do not take flash photos of sea turtles. To learn more, join us on a Night Beach Walk, Turtle Talks or come by the Nature Center located at Night Heron Park.

Photo by Jamie Rood.

Photo of Tim Pifer, Kiawah Island Naturalist, rescuing “Mingo” from the Kiawah River, June 2009.

…we kayaked out into the marsh with some guests in search of our fledgling. We did not hold out much hope of a sighting, because Sophia had seen the fledgling earlier in the day flying near the Kiawah River bridge. Indeed, we found the nest and the nest tree, as well as nearby trees, empty. 
 
But after we paddled under the bridge between Andell and Snake Islands, Sophia spotted our fledgling perched in a tree on the little island just beyond Snake Island. We were able to paddle out and get very close. The attached photo was taken from that vantage point. 
 
After about 10 minutes, our fledgling flew off, first circling the island, then heading over to Andell Island, soaring above it, high in the sky. It flew with astonishing ease and grace, as if it had been flying for a very long time. I have to admit that as soon as the fledgling took to the air, I was so filled with awe and delight that I put my camera down. 
 
Then our fledgling circled above the nest several times, as if working out the best way to make a smooth landing on a big branch to the side of the nest. It remained there for several hours, although we paddled on after about 5 minutes.

Species List: Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Laughing Gull, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orchard Oriole, House Finch. 

Photo by Jennifer Barbour, Kiawah Naturalist 

Photo of Mama Prichard by the Post and Courier.

Photo by Carrie Manson from KICA Lakes Department.

Species list:
1 American Toad (drift fence)
1 Spadefoot Toad (drift fence)
1 young Black Racer (coverboard)
1 Cotton Rat (coverboard)
2 Ground Skinks (drift fence)
1 beautiful red centipede (drift fence)

When I first started seeing thumb-sized, khaki-colored, empty cocoons on the forest floor this spring, I knew it was time to start looking for the Polyphemus Moth. As it is one of the largest moths in North America, with a wingspan up to five and a half inches, an encounter with a Polyphemus Moth is not one you’re likely to forget.  This individual is actually on the smaller side!  A larger individual that visited my porch a little later was a more camera shy.  Both were male, doing their only adulthood job: finding a female to mate with.  Like most members of the giant silkmoth family (Saturniidae), the Polyphemus has no functional mouthparts; once it pupates, it will never eat again. 

Did you know…Eagle chicks are full grown when they leave the nest at 12 weeks and frequently weigh more than adults.

Before you pick up a baby animal and bring it to the nature center, please give their natural parents a chance to reclaim their young.  Leave the animal as it is or if necessary, move it to a nearby safe spot like under a shrub.  Give the parents enough privacy and time to find their baby: we recommend at least 6 hours.  If you can see the nest that the animal came from, it’s ok to put the baby back in the nest – an experienced, healthy mother will not reject her young, no matter how much they smell of humans!  It is also ok to put the baby on a hot water bottle or heating pad to keep it warm.

If the baby still remains in the same spot after at least 6 hours, give the Nature Center a call and we will give advice and take further steps if necessary to provide care.  If the animal has been obviously injured (open wounds), please call us, though remember that baby birds in particular are awkward little things that can’t fly yet!  To us they appear injured and alone, but it is a normal part of a bird’s life and the parents will continue to feed them even though they are no longer in the nest.

We very much appreciate your concern for Kiawah’s wildlife.  In the last year we been able to rescue everything from a property owner’s lost cat to pelicans with 7-feet wingspans, and even an endangered green sea turtle! 

Notes: The no-see-ums (aka biting midges) did not prevent us from enjoying some decent birding out on the Preserve pond view tower. The Solitary Sandpiper was a big hit, as were the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and the Tri-colored Heron who stood uncomfortably close to a large ‘gator in Blue Heron Pond. Two feathered owlets greeted us at Osprey Point where the small raptors sat patiently in their nest alert to any would-be-predators. Mom (or dad) served as sentry, perched several feet above the nest keeping a watchful eye on the ospreys that also fly around the area. Besides the Great-Horned Owls, the biggest hit had to be the male American Kestrel perched on a fence next to the Ocean Course driving range. As the most brightly-colored falcon in the world, it’s easy to lose focus on other birds in the area and just marvel at this magnificent raptor species. But we moved on and caught glimpses of oystercatchers, a killdeer, an unidentified “peep”, willet, and bluebirds. My favorite birding trip so far.

Species: Osprey, Great Horned Owl, American Kestrel, House Finch, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Mourning Dove, Brown Pelican, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Trasher, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Willet, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Red-winged Blackbird, American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, American Coot, Lesser Scaup, Solitary Sandpiper, Double-Crested Cormorant, Anhinga

This is the 8th year for our Kiawah Island eagles to have an active nest.  So as you might recall, I’ve been naming the chicks alphabetically & ‘H’ is the 8th letter of the order of things with a male name due.  My friend Diana Peterson came up with the perfect choice – Henry VIII.  Previous years had a fledgling by the end of February – so this chick is a late-comer.

Photo by Kiawah resident Paula Feldman.

Species List: Blue-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Wild Turkey, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Clapper Rail, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, American Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, House Finch

Photo by Pam Cohen.

Locations: Turtle Pond, Osprey Point, Falcon Point, Bass Pond

Notes: Our human silhouettes safely hidden in the van, an Eastern Phoebe let us get very close and watch it hunt bugs and drink from a puddle.  Admittedly the phoebe possesses one of our most drab bird plumages, but they are so bold and have so much character that they are a delight to watch.  Despite the wind there were lots of red-tailed hawks out today – my guess was about 6 individuals, with some duplicate sightings.  Red-tailed hawks are monogamous and will defend their nesting territory year-round, but it is the beginning of their nesting season, so they could have been exhibiting more territorial behavior than usual. 

Species List: Hooded Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Moorhen, Caspian Tern, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Grackle sp.

There are also behavioural differences between the two vulture species. Turkey vultures are one of only a few species of native birds in the United States that have a well developed sense of smell; they specialize in soaring low over forests, scenting for animal carcasses half-eaten by predators. These mild-mannered creatures are scavengers upon dead animals and cannot kill live animals; their beaks are so weak that they can’t tear through skin, and their claws are so weak that they can’t even carry a mouse. Despite their ungainly manner on land, they are seldom threatened by predators due to an unpleasant habit of vomiting their most recent meal of carrion upon the intruder. Cars and power lines pose a greater threat to this gentle bird species.

Black vultures, on the other hand, have no sense of smell, so they have to rely upon eyesight to find a carcass. Sometimes they will spot a predator like a bald eagle eating a fish, then arrive to finish off the fish after the bald eagle has had its fill. Other times they will follow a turkey vulture to a carcass, then chase it away once it has landed. While turkey vultures are larger than black vultures, black vultures are more social and aggressive, and this has allowed them to prey upon the occasional sickly or newborn animal. Before we castigate the black vulture for being cruel and evil, however, remember that the bald eagle also eats carrion and has been known to attack weak, newborn animals, or even small pet dogs and cats let unattended in yards. So maybe we can learn to imbue the humble black vulture with the same noblilty that we assign to the magnificant bald eagle!

Eastern Screech owls are monogamous and mate for life.  Listening for their eerie calls to one another – sometimes described as a cross between a ghost and a horse – is the best way to track them down.  Here on Kiawah, we have seen both color phases on our Kiawah Night Exploration: gray and the less common red.  Because they look like miniature great horned owls, some people mistake screech owls for baby owls.  But this charming owl species is fully grown at just around 6-10 inches long.  Though their fluffy feathers give them an impression of weightiness, they weigh in at just half a pound.

Special thanks to local resident Mr. Alexandre for collecting the owl and transporting it to the Nature Center.

Fishing hooks and line left floating in rivers, ponds, and the ocean, are a leading cause of injuries to Brown Pelicans. So when fishing on or around the island, let’s do our best to protect the pelicans (and other animals) by retrieving and properly disposing of any tangled or broken fishing lines and hooks. Monofilament recycle stations can be found throughout the island including inside our Nature Center at Night Heron Park.

Special thanks to the Weiner Family for their efforts to save this pelican’s life.  We hope to have an update from the Center for Birds of Prey soon.

Photo by Jamie Rood

Nesting Osprey Photo by Jamie Rood

Despite their reputation as a spring bird, American Robins are found year-round across almost all of the lower 48 states, but a change in behavior makes them less noticeable. While robins are famous for walking across lawns, pulling up worms and other bugs, in winter they form larger flocks and mainly feed upon berries. They will often flock together with fellow fruit-eatering species like the Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Red-winged Blackbird. Berry trees often have large amounts of berries but can be difficult to locate. A large flock increases the chances fruit will be found. In the summer, their diet switches to insects and it is a better strategy to hunt alone or in small groups. So in summer, you are likely to see many robins but in small numbers. In winter, you are less likely to see robins but when you do, it is in large numbers.

One side effect of large flocks of fruit-eating birds is the byproduct of their fast digestion system. Birds that eat berries pass the seeds frequently, which is a benefit for berry-producing trees and bushes: their seeds are spread far and wide courtesy of the birds. From our perspective down on the ground, winter visitors to Kiawah quickly learn that it’s best not to park your car under a berry-producing tree!

Luckily for this particular loon, a concerned nature lover passing by spotted the bird and remained with it until a Naturalist could pick it up.  Thanks to her prompt action the loon was still in excellent shape. A team of Naturalists, excited by the chance to get a close look at such a shy bird, released it on the Kiawah River, where it can dive, fish, and have enough water for takeoff if needed.  Although no one knows what emotions birds are capable of feeling, to all those watching the bird appeared to be thrilled to be back on the water.  It flapped its wings, preened its feathers, and even let out a few signature wild, eerie calls.

Eastern Gray Squirrels are by far the most frequently seen mammal on Kiawah Island as well as the rest of the East Coast.  They are in the Order of Rodentia, and can grow up to 20 inches long.  They can live just about anywhere where there are large deciduous trees.  Squirrels either live in large holes in trees or in large, messy nests built out of leaves – often mistaken for bird nests.  Squirrels typically have two litters a year, one in spring and one in summer, but here in Kiawah’s subtropical environment they breed and nest year-round as long as there is enough food to support a litter.  A large acorn crop this fall provided ample food to squirrel families.  Their diet is flexible depending on what food is avaliable.  While nuts and acorns are their favorite, they will also eat tree buds, berries, blossoms, seeds, and insects. Squirrels can live to 5 years in the wild but as a prey animal, many young squirrels on Kiawah are taken by bobcats, snakes, and birds of prey.  Although some people view the squirrel as a pest, this species is very helpful in controlling plant populations by feeding on the seeds.  They play an important role in tree proprogation by burying acorns and other nuts for the lean months of winter and early spring.  They will remember to dig up as much as 85% of these, but some they will forget.  Oak trees rely upon this method to help spread their seeds to new locations.  Squirrels are also essential in controlling insect populations since they dine on a high number of many different insect species.

Photograph by Jamie Rood, staff photographer