Yawkey Island Preserve - 06 Dec 2024
Jack and Janet got us tickets for a private tour of Yawkey Island Wildlife Center in southern Georgetown Co., SC. The 24,000 acre wildlife preserve and ecological study area is considered "one of the most outstanding grants to wildlife conservation efforts in North America". This morning Jack, his friend Richard Costa, Ken Davis and I would be visiting the wildlife center with the hopes of seeing thousands of waterfowl and southern pine forest birds.
Temperature was a cold, breezy, 34F. We were lucky to be driving in a tour bus today.
We met Richard and Ken at the parking lot of the marina where we'd take a 100' pontoon ride to the island. There we'd meet Shannon, our tour guide for the day. After a brief introduction to the preserve we boarded the tour bus with 6 other people and headed out around the ponds, canals, salt marsh and long-leaf pine forest.
In short the ducks were not there. A few scattered dozen of Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall and a pair of Mottled Duck were all we saw. The thousands of ducks were presumed to have been pushed south by the cold snap and winds.
Still, we managed to find some Sedge Wrens along the dikes of the ponds we walked and caught a dozen Wilson Snipe in flight.
We stopped by another pond and had extreme back-lit views of a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers, Glossy Ibis, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, and a half-dozen Long-billed Dowitchers. Swamp Sparrows chipped in the cattails lining the shoreline.
Yawkey Wildlife Center--Cat Island ISS Site (Restricted Access), Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Dec 6, 2024 9:09 AM - 2:17 PM
Protocol: Traveling
31.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Jack Volker, Ken Davis, Rich Moser, me
50 species
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 180
Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) 23
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 90
Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula) 2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 55
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Sora (Porzana carolina) 1
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) 27
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 80
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) 30 Tight flock of dowitchers feeding next to presumed SBDO. Larger, bulkier dowitchers on steroids appeared more bloated than SBDOs nearby. Pics
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) 15
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 8
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 19
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) 2
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 42
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 20
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 4
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 14
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) 3
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) 8
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 21
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) 23
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 13
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) 4
Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) 9
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 4
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 8
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 7
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 31
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 11
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 22
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 2
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 9
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 3
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) 1
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) 6
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) 3
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 36
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) 23
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 3
Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) 75
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 2
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We returned to the cars around 2 pm and started heading back toward home. A Western Kingbird and Loggerhead Shrike was reported by Ken at the Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Comple on his way down this morning, so we stopped by to look for them on the way home. We'd find the Loggerhead Shrike easily enough at the entrance to the marina but failed to find the kingbird. We'd look for it again tomorrow...
Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex, Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Dec 6, 2024 2:50 PM - 3:05 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.3 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear, cold, 40F
4 species
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) 1
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 1
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) 3
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We then drove over to East Bay Park and found another Loggerhead Shrike.
With that we headed back to the house to pick up Janet and head into Murrell's Inlet for dinner.
East Bay Park, Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Dec 6, 2024 3:08 PM - 3:23 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.4 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Clear, cold, 40F
1 species
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
