Great Egret
As advertised, it was raining all morning and into the early afternoon. I thought that my birding on this trip was over, and spent that time working on my photos. But around 2 p.m., the rain stopped and the sun came out. I decided to walk along the beach and sand dunes near the hotel.
Great Egret
Herring Gull
I got to a beach access boardwalk over the dunes and decided to take a look from there. At first, I saw a few sparrows.
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
And then it got really interesting. An Orange-crowned Warbler showed up. There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and then a Hermit Thrush wanted to see what was going on.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
And then, my last and 77th avian species of the trip popped up. It was a Prairie Warbler! My fifth warbler species of the new year is rare in South Carolina during the winter months.
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler
I ended up with 77 confirmed avian species, and 5 unconfirmed avian species. Here's my confirmed species list:
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Wood Stork
Tundra Swan
Mute Swan
Black Scoter
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
American Coot
Common Gallinule
Black-bellied Plover
Sanderling
Willet
Dunlin
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Ring-billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
House Finch