In case you missed
'Tis the Season: My CBC no. 1: McClellanville -- Murphy Island -- Part 1, you may want to backtrack to read about how our morning progressed as our three teams traversed Murphy Island to count the birds. You will also find links to help you understand where & what Murphy Island is. Below is a Google Map that I drew which will help you understand our three teams' routes. Clicking the link below the map will also give you more detail.
View Murphy Island 2011 CBC routes in a larger map
Where I left off in Part 1,
Team 1, (myself and Chris Marsh) had just met up with Team 2 (John Cox and Roger Smith) at our designated rendez-vous point in the oceanside woods. After eating lunch, losing the jackets, and recounting our morning birding anecdotes, we continued through the woods in a southwesterly direction towards the southwest end of the island. As we continued through the woods, we found the area to be particularly quiet -- until Chris played, from time to time, a recording of an Eastern Screech Owl. Our count compiler's hope was that we would bring out an Ovenbird. Alas, no Ovenbirds -- but many other species responded! The recording brought out Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Orange-Crowned Warblers, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Black-and-White Warblers, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Golden-Crowned Kinglets, Pine Warblers, Northern Cardinals, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creepers, Blue-Headed Vireo, Carolina Chickadees and Carolina Wrens! Wow! And we consistently had Eastern Screech Owls respond to the recording as well! I am sorry to say that I could not get any photos of those little wigglers! They were constantly moving about trying to locate that bothersome "Eastern Screech Owl!"
Unfortunately, we had plenty of marsh mosquitoes, too. The cooler temperatures had limited their numbers some, I am sure. The temperature in the early morning had been in the low 40s but by afternoon the temperature was in the high 50s -- low 60s. Nonetheless, I had prepared in advance by dousing myself thoroughly in bug spray before the day's adventures began. I also kept myself covered as much as possible to avoid their bites. Generally, due to my precautionary preparations, their buzzing was the most annoying part. And yet, the nuisance of the little stingers did not detract from my enjoyment of the wild and beautiful maritime forest. I am, however, rather annoyed with myself that I did not take a photo of my teammates birding along the path. Sadly, the only photo from the woods is this photo of the "blob" -- an interesting fungus growing in the crook of a live oak.
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| The "blob" -- a fungus in a live oak -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
So when did I begin the clickety-click again? Ah! We exited the woods onto the southwestern dike and came upon the large flocks of ducks and Snow Geese, which we had heard when we were still in the woods!
Clickety-click! As we moved down the dike we frequently stopped to count the different flocks of ducks and geese as they approached us or as they lifted up out of the water at our approach! This was my favorite part of this count!
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| Flock of Northern Pintails -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC | |
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| Northern Pintails and Northern Shovelers -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Snow Geese at a distance -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Northern Pintails and Snow Goose -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Northern Shovelers -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Snow Geese -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Snow Geese -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Snow Geese -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
We quickly realized that the majority of the Snow Geese were Blue Phase. Last year, I remember seeing more White Phase....
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| Snow Geese -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Snow Goose -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
After flying towards us and then turning, many of the geese settled down into a close-by pond.
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| Snow Geese -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
As we progressed along the causeway, we pushed along in the marsh grasses on either side several Song Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows and Palm Warblers. On the dike, we eventually flushed some Herring Gulls, Ring-Billed Gulls and Double-Crested Cormorants who had been leisurely sunning themselves.
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| Palm Warbler -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Although the Blue-Winged Teal were not prominent in numbers, they certainly provided some terrific flyby shots!
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| Blue-Winged Teal -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Blue-Winged Teal -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Blue-Winged Teal -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Other great flybys included a Northern Harrier and a Black-Crowned Night Heron!
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| Northern Harrier -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Black-Crowned Night Heron -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Now those were the birds we were seeing on the dike and off to the right. Ahead of us on the left, we had noticed a large mixed flock of Green-Winged Teal and Northern Shovelers. As we approached, these ducks would flush, then circle back and settle down in the same spot as before ... until we were truly too close for their comfort.
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| Green-Winged Teal and Northern Shoveler in lift-off -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Green-winged Team and Northern Shovelers incoming -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Green-winged Teal touchdaow -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
We arrived at the last leg of our birding expedition where we would turn right and parallel the Intracoastal Waterway as we returned to the dock. On the corner, we had good looks at a Belted Kingfisher and a Common Loon.
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| Male Belted Kingfisher -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Common Loon -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
We knew that
Team 3, Craig Richard and Carl, had completed their route due to Carl's attempts to reach us by phone. Cell coverage exists minimally. Earlier, due to a 2 minute conversation before the call was dropped, I knew that they were making good progress, Later, as expected, our cell phones, one by one, were shutting down, the batteries having been wasted all day by trying to process the only signal available -- analog! Finally, Carl was able to reach John, the one person who still had a live phone to tell us they had completed their circuit and were waiting for us at the dock. John told them we were just 20 minutes out. In reality, it was more like an hour. But we were not there to count minutes, we were there to count birds! After we made our turn, we still found more Green-Winged Teal and Northern Shovelers in smaller flocks as well as more Palm Warblers, Northern Cardinals, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Yellow-Rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers.
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| Green-Winged Teal -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
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| Green-Winged Teal and Northern Shoveler -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Just before we finished our route, I found this cute little fellow in a wooded area.
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| Opossum -- Murphy Island -- December 18, 2011 -- McClellanville CBC |
Wow! It was quite the fabulous day! After 9.5 hours of birding, we returned to the boat landing at 4:30 a tired, but happy group. Our duck and geese numbers were a bit down from last year. Still what a thrill to see these fairly large flocks of various species of duck as well as the Snow Geese living well and safely (we hope) in this refuge! I personally had counted 84 bird species. I believe my and Chris' total count was actually a few species more but I only entered my personal numbers into my personal lists and I do not remember our full tally. I also know that Carl and Craig got a few ocean birds that we had missed. Carl and I did not attend the countdown dinner since I had another early morning count the next day. So after the group picture (Grazie a Carl), we exchanged contact information, talked of our future potential CBCs to come, and bid each other "Happy Birding!" and off we went!
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| The 2011 Murphy Island Team: From left to right: Cathy & Carl Miller, Roger Smith, John Cox, Chris Marsh, Craig Richard -- Photo by Carl Miller |
And so I wish to express a Big Thank You to the guys, my teammates, for a great day and for helping me to become a better birder!
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