My first Christmas Bird Count of the season was a favorite one that I have participated in for 4 years now. Leaving the house at 5:15 am on Sunday, December 18, 2011, Carl and I joined our 4 other team members and the count compiler at the gates of the
Santee Coastal Reserve Wildlife Management Area (WMA), just north of McClellanville, SC, for specific instructions on how to cover our territory, Murphy Island.
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| Overview of the Santee Coastal Reserve WMA -- Click here for a larger, more detailed version. |
Murphy Island, a barrier island on the seaward side of the Intracoastal Waterway, is only accessible by boat. It contains multiple impoundments, former rice fields, which are now managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources as a refuge for overwintering waterfowl and other breeding and migratory species. We were divided into 3 teams:
Team 1 -- Chris Marsh and myself;
Team 2 -- John Cox and Roger Smith; and
Team 3 -- Carl and Craig Richard and we were given specific areas to bird. We would travel in 2 boats from the landing on the South Santee River in the main area of the WMA. Chris and I would be dropped off on the front beach to begin birding there and the other 2 teams would continue to the dock on the Intracoastal side of the island where they would begin their separate routes.
View Murphy Island 2011 CBC routes in a larger map
Before leaving the boat landing in the early dawn light, we watched a long line of 155 American White Pelicans fly past us!
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| Heading towards Murphy Island at dawn -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC -- Photo by Carl Miller |
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| Chris on "front" beach just after arriving -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Chris and I disembarked onto the beach and after scanning the mudflats and sandbars for shorebirds (American Oystercatcher, Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings), terns, gulls (including 2 Greater Black-Backed Gulls) and Brown Pelicans, we found our way to the dike which would lead us to Ocean Pond and eventually to our meeting place with Team 2 which was coming up the Central Dike after docking on the Intracoastal side of the island. In the wooded and brushy areas, we began immediately to acquire sparrows (White-Throated, Song, Savannah, Swamp), Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, Marsh Wrens, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and White Ibis.
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| Swamp Sparrow -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Marsh Wren -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Northern Cardinal -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| A talkative & cooperative White Ibis -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Before little time had passed, we began seeing American Coots, Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, Gadwalls, Double-Crested Cormorants, Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teal in the canals along the dike.
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| Gadwall, Blue-Winged Teal, Northern Shovelers -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| American Coot -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Ruddy Ducks and American Coot -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Lesser Scaup -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Before we reached Ocean Pond, we observed a Cooper's Hawk, a young Bald Eagle, Northern Harriers, an Osprey and a few flyovers of Northern Shovelers, Mottled Ducks and Northern Pintails.
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| Cooper's Hawk -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Young Bald Eagle and Mottled Ducks -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Northern Harrier -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Northern Pintail -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Chris Marsh was the expert birder on our team and I became his apprentice. He is quite a patient and passionate teacher. He tried to teach me how to differentiate and thus accurately count through the scope the distant duck species on Ocean Pond. I learned a few distinguishing marks and am trying to retain some of the cool tidbits that he taught me. In the Ocean Pond, we (OK, Chris) identified and counted Ring-Necked Ducks, Gadwalls, Lesser Scaup, Buffleheads, Mallards, Mottled Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Blue-Winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, American Wigeons, Canvasbacks and 1 Redhead Duck. The identification and counting of distant ducks through a scope are skills that take repetition and practice, and a good scope! I look forward to more opportunities to practice these skills again!
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| Expert birder Chris Marsh -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
While Chris counted, I watched for other small birds in the brush and had a continuous conversation with this Gray Catbird.
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| Gray Catbird -- -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Along our path, we found this beautiful Red Admiral butterfly. How wonderful to live in a climate that you can still have butterflys even in mid-December!
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| Red Admiral -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Before we reached our rendez-vous point with Team 2 (aka Roger and John), we veered to the left on a path that led back out to the beach to again, survey the beach. But for us, it was fairly quiet out there.
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| Chris checks out a distant sandbar in the inlet -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Finally, we returned back into the wooded interior of the island to find our fellow "Murphian" birders and to enjoy lunch and exchange count anecdotes. Part 2 of this Christmas Bird Count will continue in the next post with Teams 1 and 2 continuing through the woods on the ocean side of the island and then rounding the southwestern side ... to be posted soon!
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