Santee Delta WMA - West, SC - 05 Mar 2026

This morning Jack, Janet, Ken and I drove south of Georgetown to the Santee Delta Wildlife Managment Area (West). Our plan was to walk the dikes and look for an American Black Duck among the (mostly) Mottled Ducks that call the marsh their home. The challenge with ABDU and Mottled Duck is that the former is rare (but regular) here while the latter is very similar in appearance but not as dark, slightly smaller, and have speculum w/o white borders. 

Skies were clear, but temps were a bit cool (50F); it would heat up by late morning (75F). We arrived about 8:30 am and found the entrance gate to the WMA closed, so we parked and walked the trail next to the highway until we reached the woods where birds could start to be heard. Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, and Yellow-rumped Warblers kept us busy until we could reach the dikes.

Our first marsh birds came in the form of scattered flocks of White Ibis (both adult and browner juveniles). They were just far enough away and obscured by vegetation to make photographing difficult.

A nearby Alligator was barely visible in the low light and soon sunk below the surface. Others would announce their sudden departure with a loud splash.

Eastern Phoebe were abundant this morning. Ken mentioned that they'd soon be leaving and be replaced by Eastern Wood-Pewees. But not today.

We walked with the rising Sun to our left and wooded river to our right. The activity was mostly in the marsh to our left but lighting discouraged any decent photography. This White Ibis was barely visible through the tree branches.

A White-eyed Vireo announced its presence and soon was visible for a few photographs in the trees to our right.

As we walked the dikes ducks began flushing from the marsh to our left. Severely backlit and far away it was difficult to ID them until they flew around and back toward us. These were the first Mottled Ducks I could get the camera on. Note the dark brown bodies and white wing linings.

On closer inspection the dark body is a mix of brown and black streaks. Mottled Ducks also have a black spot at the gape of their bill, like this bird in front. Also note the lack of white border on the blue speculum on the wing. The bill is uniform yellow-to-green that helps to differentiate from female Mallard that are lighter overall but have orange/black bills.

The rear bird has a greener bill, but the white border on the anterior of the speculum makes this a suspected Mallard x Mottled Duck hybrid.

A female Mallard and Northern Pintail shortly thereafter.

Note the broad white borders on the speculum of this pair of female and male Mallard.

We'd also see distant flocks of Gadwall. Note the small white patch at the base of the wing (American Wigeon show a larger white patch on the upper portion of the wing).

Female Mallard with three Mottled Ducks in flight.

A few Wood Ducks could be heard screaming while flushing from the marsh. This pair landed in the canal to our left far ahead of where we were walking.

A few Song Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows scattered from the underbrush to our right but rarely stopped long enough to pose. This Song Sparrow posed momentarily.

White Ibis transitioning into adult all-white plumage.

My first Killdeer of the trip. We'd flush several as we walked the dike.

If these two birds weren't so similar in size I'd be attempted to call one of then an American Black Duck. But I believe them both to be Mottled Duck. Jack and Ken would later see an American Black Duck flush with a flock of Mottled Ducks and ID it based on its darker and larger size relative to the flock in front of it.

We'd pass a Barn Owl box that was active (according to wildlife officials) but saw no movement, so we kept walking. A few Wilson's Snipe would scatter from the marsh along with Green-winged Teal and Blue-winged Teal. As we headed back north along the SW corner of the loop we could hear Red-shouldered Hawks calling from the marsh. Ken finally spotted a pair soaring high overhead.

The east portion of the dike was sandwiched between more wooded "swamp" forest. Flocks of White Ibis were peppering the trees ahead of us and occasionally one would wait until the last moment to take flight ahead of us.

Someone had reported a Reddish Egret earlier but we suspect it was a Little Blue Heron like this one that shows reddish coloration in the head.

Another Red-shouldered Hawk appeared overhead and was carrying a small snake. Perhaps as a courtship present?

We'd manage a few last minute ducks in flight. Most were Gadwall (note the reddish patch on the forewing).

And white patch next to the speculum.

A pair of American Wigeon were spotted in this flock of Gadwall. Note the bird in the bottom right corner with the large white patch on the shoulder.

After walking better than 3 miles were were exhausted and hot. The group was close to 50 spp. for the morning and Jack threatened that we couldn't leave until we hit at least 50 birds. Luckily, we picked up last-minute birds like Wood Stork, Bald Eagle, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Eastern Bluebird (along with the American Black Duck). 

A nice "rarity" came in the form of a pair of Winter Wrens that Ken spotted along the far bank to our right. The little skulkers kept flushing and flying short distances but wouldn't show long enough to get bins on then, We saw enough of then to ID wren from sparrow, but had to work hard to finally separate Winter Wren from Carolina Wren.

We returned to the jeep and headed back to Debordieu Colony to pick up Robin and get lunch at Brookgreen Gardens.

Santee Delta WMA--West (fall and winter restricted access), Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Mar 5, 2026 8:19 AM - 11:18 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.323 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Pt sunny, calm, 65-70F
52 species (+1 other taxa)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)  4
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  7
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors)  24
Gadwall (Mareca strepera)  13
American Wigeon (Mareca americana)  1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  24
American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)  1     Flock of mottled duck was a single black duck that was larger than the rest.
Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula)  14
Mallard/Mottled Duck (Anas platyrhynchos/fulvigula)  1
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)  1
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)  1
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)  3
American Coot (Fulica americana)  2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  3
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)  4
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  2
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)  2
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)  1
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  2
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)  32
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)  2
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)  1
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  18
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  7
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  2
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)  3
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  7
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  2
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  9
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  8
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)  1
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus)  1
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)  2
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  2
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  23
Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  10
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  3
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  3
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  9
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  5
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  35
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)  14
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  16
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  8

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S306196058

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

We returned to the house in Debordieu and dropped Ken off at his car. A Roseate Spoonbill had been hanging around the golf course the past few weeks, and Ken decided he would go look for it before heading home. He'd later report finding it exactly where Jack suggested he look. I still hadn't seen it, yet but would try looking for it tomorrow. In the meantime we were headed to Brookgreen Gardens to get lunch and check out the new Orchid Garden and Wildlife Gallery (Art of Ezra Tucker)

Janet received a call that pest control was coming to the house to spray for ants, so we only had enough time to eat lunch and literally walk through the Purdy Center and Art Gallery to get back in the house in time to meet them.

We'd get back to the house 30 minutes late but the contractors had not arrived, yet. Robin and I decided to go for a walk to the ocean and would soon be joined by the Volkers and Cocoa. I set up the scope and scanned the ocean and found rafts of Common Loons and Red-throated Loons swimming out from shore. Unfortunately they were too far to even digiscope, but I managed one photo of a presumed Red-throated Loon that showed more white on the throat than the nearby Common Loons that showed more pronounced white squares on the back and black collar.

Debordieu/Ocean Shoreline, Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Mar 5, 2026 3:00 PM - 3:40 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, 70F, Calm, Jack and Janet Volker, Robin Jourdan
6 species

Black Scoter (Melanitta americana)  3
Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  16
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)  12
Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)  8     Basic plumage. Swimming in groups near Common Loons that are larger and heavier looking. Thin neck and upturned head and bill shows much more white on neck than nearby Common Loons.
Common Loon (Gavia immer)  12

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S306301783

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

We returned to the house and rested a bit before heading toward Pawley's Island and the Raw Bar to have Grouper Tacos for dinner. Skies were supposed to be cloudy tonight so I took down the scope setup and put it away for the remainder of the trip. 

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Hastee Point to look for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, King Rails and American Bitterns.