Hilton Head, SC 2/7-12/2022

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Fish Haul and Mitchelville Parks; February 10

I was reviewing my notes from 2016 late yesterday, when I read aboout the boardwalks next to Fish Haul Park. So I decided to go there and see what I might find. It started out well. I heard a Marsh Wren and a Blue Jay, and started seeing some good birds from the boardwalks.

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Fish Haul and Mitchelville Parks

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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House Wren

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Gray Catbird

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White-eyed Vireo

And then, mutiple bicyclists starting riding across the boardwalks, including one group of 27. Well, that was the end of birding from these boardwalks, so I headed down to the Fish Haul beach. I had seen some good birds there two days earlier, and now the sun was out.

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Marbled Godwit

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Dunlins

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Dunlin

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Least Sandpiper and Dunlin

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Little Blue Heron

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Little Blue Heron

I had been on the beach less than 10 minutes when a woman walking with a small girl and a leashed dog stopped right behind me. The little girl asked, "What is he doing," and the woman replied, "He's taking pictures of the birds." A moment later, the woman unleashed the dog and yelled to the dog, "Go chase the birds!" The dog obliged, chased all the birds away, and after giving the woman an uncomplimentary look, I left the beach. Unbelievable!

New trip birds:

Blue Jay
Marsh Wren

Coastal Discovery Museum; February 10

I returned to the Coastal Discovery Museum, and saw some good birds there.

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Eastern Phoebe

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Palm Warbler

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Palm Warbler

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Chipping Sparrow

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

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Eastern Bluebird

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White-eyed Vireo

New trip birds:

Palm Warbler
Chipping Sparrow

Audubon Newhall Preserve; February 10

It was still early afternoon, so I decided to try the other new birding site. The Newhall Preserve is a 50 acre site. I had read some reviews, and most of them stated that very few birds had been seen there. I parked my car, and hiked a short distance to a small pond. Two eldery couples (probably mid- to late 80s) were sitting on benches along the pond. I saw a Great Egret there, and then hiked three of the short trails..

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Audubon Newhall Preserve

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Great Egret

I saw very few birds on these trails, and when I got back to the pond, the two couples were no longer there. I heard a loud rustling in the tall and dense vegetation next to the pond, and thought "alligator." I returned to the parking lot where I saw a warning sign about "Big Al" that lived at that pond. I assumed that the elderly couples had left on their own, and weren't with "Big Al" in the vegetation. :-)

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Pinckney Island NWR; Coastal Discovery Museum; February 7
Fish Haul and Mitchelville Parks; Coastal Discovery Museum; February 8
Sea Pines Forest Preserve; February 9
Fish Haul and Mitchelville Parks; Coastal Discovery Museum; Audubon Newhall Preserve; February 10
Pinckney Island NWR; February 11
Hotel area birding; February 12

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