Birding Fort Moultrie, 70 bird species!

I started the day at sunrise, 7:10am. There was a lot of bird activity early, mostly Gray Catbirds with scattered flocks of Indigo Buntings buzzing overhead. A group of sparrows caught my attention as they perched in a lone tree located on the corner of a field. To my surprise they were Clay-colored Sparrows, 3 of them! Clay-Colored Sparrows are an uncommon visitor from the central United States during migration, so this was unique encounter. I continued walking the field edge and tree-line and eventually into the interior of the forest. I found some active warblers including American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Palm Warbler. It was a vert good day for Raptors with 8 species observed! They included Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, Red Tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Copper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, and American Kestrel. The Merlin had caught a field mouse and carried it away for breakfast. I had a couple first of the Fall season birds, these birds will spend the winter here in the Charleston areas, a Blue-headed Vireo and a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. I also was lucky enough to encounter a bright and colorful Corn Snake crossing a path between the field and trees. It was a good day, I observed 70 different bird species and over 360 individual birds.

Happy Birding! -Charles