Patriot's Point, eBird Hotspot # 7

For the New Year I have set a goal to visit the Top 50 Birding Hotspots in Charleston ranked on eBird. I will write a blog about the experience, share pictures, share the ebird checklist, and include a map of my effort. Some of the Hotspots on the list are located on private property or require a boat to access. I will focus on the public accessible hotspots. Let's go birding in Charleston!

On New Year's Day I received a rare bird alert that 3 White-winged Doves were observed at Patriot's Point. I quickly decided to make Patriot's Point my first Hotspot visit of the year. Patriot's Point is ranked #7 on ebird with 254 bird species recorded all time. I have not visited Patriot's Point in some time as the habitat has changed overtime with storm destruction and development. I started at the trailhead on Patriot's Point Road near the baseball fields and was immediately greeted by Yellow-rumped Warblers, a very active Downy Woodpecker and a group of squeaky American Robins. The first leg of the trail was fairly quiet until I heard what sounded like a woodpecker drumming on a tree, I looked up and saw a cozy Gray Squirrel peeking out of a hole in a bare tree. Further down the trail I found an active group of song birds mixed in some low brush. I heard short spee calls from a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, continuous chatter from a nearby Ruby-crowned Kinglet and chimp calls from several Song Sparrows. I made a few "phishing" sounds to draw the birds atop the brush and I was graced with an Orange-crowned Warbler and a White-eyed Vireo! I continued down the trail and could hear a large number of birds in the distance. I followed the sound leaving the trail. I crossed a road and peeked through the brushy tree line to discover a muddy work area with a filth of bathing European Starlings and a flock of resting Killdeer. Walking back to the trail I noticed a small falcon perched high in a bare tree, it was an American Kestrel! At this point I have not located the White-winged Doves, they were reported earlier in the morning near the golf course maintenance shed so I continued in that direction. I searched the area only finding 4 Mourning Doves. I decided to move on and explore the last segment of the trail which has some wetland habitat and leads to a harbor Lookout. The wetlands provided several Swamp Sparrows and a vocal Winter Wren. I made it to the end of the trail and walked up the stairs to the harbor Lookout. It was a beautiful view over the marsh and calm harbor. As I scanned the water I could spot a few wintering Horned Grebes, several groups of Buffleheads, and a bunch of Great-crested Cormorants on a sandbar. I missed out on the White-winged Doves but really enjoyed the trip! I recorded 52 different species and 362 individual birds. The trip took 1 hour and I walked 1.3 miles.

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S125136480

As I finished up the Patriot's Point Trip a friend and fellow birder shared with me that a rare Hummingbird was visiting a local nectar feeder. I decided to join Elizabeth & Jonathan to look for the Hummingbird. As soon as I arrived the Rufous Hummingbird was buzzing around the feeder along with a Western Tanager and 6 Baltimore Orioles! This was an incredible finish to an already great day of birding! Thank you to Ms. Alison for allowing us to enjoy her yard feeders!

Happy Birding!

Charles

American Kestrel

Patriots Point Map

Trail Entrance

Gray Squirrel

Trail

Trail Lookout

Lookout View

Fields

White Ibis

Trail Bridge

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Brush

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

White