Birding Charleston Guides

Experience the incredible Purple Martin roost at Lake Murray, where hundreds of thousands of birds gather over Bomb Island before beginning their fall migration.

As the humid Summer heat continues here in the Low Country I have been birding less often. Twice this July I ventured out during the evening to enjoy slightly more comfortable temperatures and a different perspective as most of my birding trips occur during the morning hours. On both evening explorations I visited my favorite Charleston birding location, Fort Moultrie National Historic Park located on beautiful Sullivan's Island. Fort Moultrie and the Sullivan's Island Nature

The "West" end of the West Ashley Greenway is a beautiful spot to appreciate nature especially birds! The former railway intersects the majestic tidal marsh providing an ever changing wetland landscape. This thriving ecosystem provides sanctuary and food for a great variety of birds. During the summer months two very colorful and intriguing birds are attracted to this special location. The Painted Bunting and Roseate Spoonbill are always exciting to spot along this final stre

Every Spring I take a unique trip into the Francis Marion National Forest at night. I am searching for two very interesting nocturnal birds in the nightjar family. These two birds are named after the song that they sing, the Chuck-will's-widow and the Eastern Whip-poor-will. I arrived in the forest about 30 minutes before sunset to get a good look at the habitat and listen for any songbirds before darkness sets in. As I was exploring the forest I heard several singers includi

“Opening Day” at the Santee Coastal Reserve is like Christmas morning for birders!

Fall Migration is upon us and I decided to explore one of the best hotspots for songbird migration, West Ashley Park. This large park encompasses over 260 acres and has amazing habitat for wildlife and birds! The park has miles of trails that walk through mature and diverse woodlands, wetlands, along waterways, and even a wooded island. You can spend hours walking the seemly endless trails of this park that is conveniently located in West Ashley. West Ashley Park is eBird hot

This sandy inlet is a popular feeding area for all kinds of wildlife especially birds! Beachwalker County Park is eBird Hotspot #26

The Santee Coastal Reserve Wildlife Management Area is ranked #1 on eBird with 275 species of birds recorded. The reserve covers 24,000 acres with an amazing variety of habitats for all types of wildlife to flourish. Habitats include diverse forests, freshwater, brackish and tidal wetlands, two barrier islands, agricultural fields, old rice impoundments, intracoastal waterway, and the Santee River Delta. The Longleaf Pine Forest is home to 2 of only 15 birds that are fully en

I participate in two Christmas Bird Counts each December and the second Count is the Santee CBC. My father and I cover the St. Paul Territory which includes some Lake Marion inlets, open farm land, swamps, roadside brush and several wooded areas. Overall we typically cover 15-20 miles by car and foot counting each bird we find. The early morning began with severe thunderstorms followed by light rain. The storm radar began to clear up around 8:45am, so we headed out. We start

I had the unique privilege to explore an undeveloped barrier island “Murphy Island” in Charleston County this past week. This Island is managed by the South Carolina Department of Nature Resources and is designated for duck hunting during the winter season. The Christmas Bird Count has permission to count the birds on this special day. The Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds performed annually by volunteers and administered by the National Audubon Society. The cold mor

I had the opportunity to bird on my family’s property in rural South Carolina over Thanksgiving. The land is adjacent to farm fields and a large portion of the property was cultivated a couple years back. This area has grow back into a thick brush with several open areas of native grasses and some wetlands. This area now provides a great habitat for birds especially wintering sparrows. I started my exploration from the house and headed down the trail past the cows and chicken

I headed out to Sullivan's Island, SC on this rainy and windy morning to look for any shorebirds and gulls seeking refuge from the large Hurricane moving across Florida. As I walked toward the beach on the south side of Sullivan's Island I quickly realized that there was No beach! The surge from the Hurricane, high tide and moon phase combined to make the highest ocean water level I have seen at this location! I decided to try further up the island to find any exposed area of

I poured a hot cup of coffee on a cool October morning. I sat on my back patio and enjoyed all of the different birds foraging along the trees, brush and feeders. As the sun creep along the trees and across the lower brush, the birds became more active and covered the backyard. The "locals" Carolina Wrens, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and Northern Cardinals foraged throughout the yard and feeders. Over the course of the morning I had 5 woodpecker species, Pileated, Red

I had a great morning birding Pitt Street Bridge! It was a beautiful overcast morning with a temperature in the high 60's. I was welcomed by an active flock of White Ibis feeding on the mud flats. A group of Least Sandpiper joined the feeding group along with a couple of American Oyster Catchers in some shallow water. As I walked toward the bridge I heard a low tup call and sure enough several Seaside Sparrows were visible atop the marsh grass. These sparrows can be very har