The 117th CBC in South Carolina

This summary is dedicated to the late Donna J. Slyce, originator and long-time compiler of the Lake Wateree CBC, a count which she once described as having the worst winter weather of any South Carolina count.  Deep snow, freezing rain and low temperatures were not unusual for this count.  It is also dedicated to Julie A. Hovis, compiler of the Pinewood CBC who retired last year and moved out west. Julie, best wishes for the future. 

There were 27 Christmas Bird Counts in South Carolina during the 2016-17 count period.  Forty percent had feeder watchers and 78% did some owling.  Participant levels varied: 13% had 71 or more participants; 30% 20 to 41 participants; 29% 10 to 19 participants and 22% nine or fewer.  Two factors influenced this year's counts: 1) Hurricane Matthew and 2) the warm weather.  Access to many birding areas were either closed or limited.  Many rice field dikes were breached, beaches were severely eroded, and there were large areas with downed trees, debris, and washed out roads.  These factors made birding in many areas difficult resulting in fewer species and individual birds being detected.  Likewise the unseasonably warm weather reduced the number of species and individuals found on counts because of the lack of winter visitors.  Many waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls, terns, hawks and sparrows were especially scarce this winter, and the warm weather did not produce any half-hardy species to take up the slack.  Irruptive species were not particularly widespread or prevalent: Red-breasted Nuthatch were found on 44% of the counts; Pine Siskin on 33% and Purple Finch on 37%.   Sharp-shinned Hawk, Eastern Screech-Owl, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Brown Thrasher, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eye Junco, Eastern Meadowlark, Brown-headed Cowbird and House Sparrow occurred in low numbers if they were tallied at all.  McClellanville had the highest coastal count with 160 species.  The highest Coastal Plains-Sandhill count was the Santee N.W.R. CBC with 132, while the top Piedmont-Mount count was Clemson with 96 species.

This year there were nine coastal counts.  Four recently re-introduced Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were seen on the Ace Basin (152 species) CBC.  Morning fog and all day light rain hampered this count's efforts.  Despite this there were 19 new highs including American Bittern, Roseate Spoonbill, Brown Creeper and Seaside Sparrow.  Osprey, Sanderling, Brown Thrasher, and Rusty Blackbird were among the seven new lows.  Charleston (139) had an especially low species total compared to last year.  Waterfowl were scarce as were Royal Tern, Merlin, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Vesper Sparrow.  The Hilton Head Count (130) had a record numbers of Anhinga and Baltimore Oriole.  A Reddish Egret was noteworthy.  There were nine new lows including some waterfowl, Wild Turkey, and Northern Harrier.  A well-described Pacific Loon and a continuing Black Guillemot were unique to the Litchfield-Pawleys Island (158) count. Among the nine lows there were Canada Goose, Mallard, and thankfully Brown-headed Cowbird.  Lowcountry (119) had an encouraging 26 Piping Plovers.  Also there were 31 new highs including 209 Wood Storks and 16 Spotted Sandpipers.  Fourteen new lows included several waterfowl and shorebirds, Eurasian Collared-Doves, and Chipping Sparrows.  Fog and warm temperatures hampered the McClellanville (160) count. The fog obscured the ocean all day as well as hampered visibility of the rivers, barrier islands and salt marsh for most of the day and reduced the species and individual numbers.  There were 21 new lows and only five new highs.  A photographed male Wilson's Warbler was notable.  In its 5^th year, Sea Is (158) had an amazing 56 new highs including Common Ground-Dove; but 22 new lows including Rock Pigeon, many waterfowl, and American Bittern. Wimbrel was new there. Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were unique to Sun City-Okatie (127).  Besides the duck there were six additional highs including Nelson's and Seaside sparrows.  Also there were 12 new lows including Canada Goose, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Savannah, Song, and Swamp sparrows.  Winyah Bay (157) had 29 lows including only a single Piping Plover and 16 new highs including five waterfowl species and encouragingly American Kestrel and Peregrine.

Ten counts were held in the Coastal Plains and Sand Hills regions.  Aiken (82) had two Red-cockaded Woodpeckers from the group of 10 released at Hitchcock Woods in November 2017.  Waterfowl numbers were very low.  Sharp-shinned Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Barred Owl, and Black-and-white Warbler had new lows; there were eight new highs including Brown-headed Cowbird.   New for the Carolina Sandhills N.W.R. (81) was a Virginia Rail and Common Raven (marginal details).  Red-cockaded Woodpecker had a record high (32) as did Eastern Phoebe (28).  There were nine lows including the three owl species, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Dark-eyed Junco, and Mallard.  Columbia (79) had a record high two Bald Eagles, and four new lows: Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, and Purple Finch.  Again with access to Two Rivers Farm, Congaree Swamp (99) was one short of their all record high, and they had record counts of 12 waterfowl species including national highs of Wood Duck (12,119) and Ring-necked Duck (11,000).  There were eight other highs including Bald Eagle (5) and Red-breasted Nuthatch (6); a Greater White-fronted Goose was new.  Despite an all-day light rain Four-hole Swamp had 102 species.  Gadwall and Greater Scaup were new.  There were 12 highs with House Sparrow and Eurasian Collared-Dove bucking their declaring trend; but 12 new lows including Eastern Meadowlark and Brown-headed Cowbird. A female Rufous/Allens Hummingbird and a Painted Bunting were new for the Lower Saluda (88) count.  Sharp-shinned Hawk continues this year’s decline of that species.  There were 13 new highs, of particular interest are the 15 Winter Wrens.  For a 2^nd year, PeeDee (82) had Cattle Egrets. New were four Red-breasted Mergansers found in a pond whose dikes were breached by the hurricane.  Encouraging were 12 Loggerhead Shrikes, the highest number in 10 years, and a record three Osprey.  The Pinewood (71) count suffered from few participants and heavy AM and light PM rain.  Sandhill Crane was new; White-eyed Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, Common Yellowthroat, and White-crowned Sparrows reached new highs; while Wood Duck, Hairy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, and Golden-crowned and Rudy-crowned kinglet numbers were low.  No Brown Thrashers were seen.  Santee N.W.R. (132) CBC had well documented Surf Scoter and Common Merganser.  Fifty-four Sandhill Cranes was a new high and a remarkable number as were the 13 Brown Creepers.   A high for Common Grackle (15,000) was also noteworthy.  Twelve lows included the usual decline species like Loggerhead Shrike and Vesper Sparrow.  Savannah River Site (104) had five new participants.  Golden Eagle was new and is a result of the successful baiting and trail camera efforts at the site and elsewhere.  Five Loggerhead Shrikes were a good count for this declining species.  Other significant results were a Northern Harrier, 10 King and one Virginia rail, three Henslow's Sparrows, and a Bachman's Sparrow.

There were eight Piedmont and Mountain counts.  Clemson (96) had four new highs including a remarkable 42 Brewer's Blackbirds, Greater White-fronted and Snow geese, and Red-breasted Merganser; there were four lows: Ross's Goose (1), Bald Eagle (1), Loggerhead Shrike, and Horned Lark.  In its 5^th year Keowee (86) had heavy rain in the AM and light rain in the PM and warm temperatures. This reduced boating coverage but allowed more time on land which produced 24 highs among which three Common Ravens was notable.  Double-crested Cormorant and Eurasian Collared-Dove were new.  Fifteen new lows included seven waterfowl reflecting the reduced boat time.  Low number of participants and all day rain resulted in 25 new lows for the Lake Wateree (91) count with only five highs.  New were female White-winged and Black scoters.  Long Cane (59) had only two participants but had four highs including a remarkable 321 Killdeer; there were 11 lows including Canada Goose and Eastern Bluebird.  North Greenville (79) experienced light afternoon rain.  There were 13 lows: Canada Goose, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, among others, and six highs: Bonaparte's and Ring-billed gulls, Belted Kingfisher, Brown Creeper, House Wren, and Common Grackle, plus the 3^rd occurrence of a Common Goldeneye there.  Rocky River (63) had 20 new lows; there were three highs: Double-crested Cormorant, Black Vulture, and three Bald Eagles.  Spartenburg (83) had low numbers of Wood Duck and Wild Turkey and no Northern Bobwhite.  These are correlated with increased habitat loss to industrial development.  No Brown-headed Cowbirds were a good thing bur no Eastern Screech-Owls was not.  Three Wilson’s Snipe, Brown Creeper, and Loggerhead Shrike were good finds, as was a Rufus Hummingbird.  An adult male Painted Bunting was the best bird of the count.  An all-day fog plus light ice on roads severely hampered the efforts on the York-Rock Hill (52) count. There were no Turkey Vultures and low numbers of Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Meadowlark, and American Goldfinch.