Huntington Beach

   Today is the last day of the year 2015. Berry and I quietly decided to continue birding in South Carolina. We drove out of Folly Beach and headed north to the little seaside town of Georgetown. The town of Georgetown has some neat shops along its old style front street shopping district. We parked the car and started to walk down the boardwalk. There was a Red Throated Loon (Gavia Stellata) floating and diving in the harbor near the boardwalk. It did not have a red throat, as its name describes. Its “non-breeding plumage” is what it wears when it is not courting. At this time, its white face and white neck are diagnostic. We saw the white face and neck today.

   High up on a pole, standing like a police officer, overseeing everything that happens on the water, the Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus) spread its wings and flew across the cove. The Ospery builds large stick nests in trees or on human-created nesting platforms. The Osprey is the “Sea Eagle” of books and legends and is quite majestic.

   We love seeing the terns. Strafing the surface of the water, staring down at the water to catch sight of a fish, the Forster’s Tern (Sterna Forsteri) flies closer to the water than the Osprey. The Forster’s Tern is a small tern with pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are red and its bill is red, tipped with a splotch of black. In winter, its forehead becomes white and it wears a characteristic black eye mask.

   We took lunch at a seafood place on the boardwalk named The Big Tuna. Garlic clams and the She Crab Bisque and Robert could finally get a salad. We sat at an outside table so we could watch the wildlife. Fortunately, we were just finished eating when it started to sprinkle. Later in the afternoon we stopped on Pawley’s Island and shared an order of Mixed Berry Cobbler with Roasted Banana Ice Cream at the Bistro 271. South Carolina is also fun to eat.

   Down the highway, we came to Huntington Beach State Park. At the Park, we stepped out on the large sandy stretch. I noticed that the sand was white, some of it was tan colored, and some of it was silvery. We walked into the sun and were immediately derided by a Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus Atricilla). It raised its head and cackled in our direction. Its voice really does sounds like human laughter.

We saw a single gray Willet (Tringa Semipalmata) as we walked in the deep sand. On the beach, the owner of a medium sized black dog told us its name was “Cooper”. We both remarked that there seems to be a lot of dogs in this area. People had their dogs at the hotel last night, we have seen them on all the beaches, and it looks like every third person has a dog on a leash. Most of the dogs are well behaved and since we both love dogs, we find it charming. We were enjoying the beautiful weather as well as the dogs.

   Huntington Beach State Park is considered by many to be among the top birding spots in South Carolina. Signs warned of aligators. We saw the snout and eyes of an aligator in the marginal area near the bridge. We took pictures with the IPhone, but they were not in focus. But we did see an aligator today.

We drove over the causeway: to our right was a managed freshwater marsh impoundment known as Mullet Pond, to our left were the tidal salt marshes of Murrells Inlet. We parked at the end of the causeway and walked back across on the sidewalk. I noted that there were five different birds standing in the shallow water all within thirty feet of each other. The five birds were a Wood Stork (Mycteria Americana), a Double Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Auritus), Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula), a Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias), and a Little Blue Heron (Egretta Caerulea).

   We did a lot of walking while at the Park, so when we left it, we were ready to find our hotel and rest before dinner. As we drove into the parking lot of the hotel, there was a telephone line leading to the building. Who would have guessed? We spotted a Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia Decaocto), balancing on said wire. It has a black hyphen on it neck, which makes it look “collared”. This bird is a migrant from Europe.

   We had dinner at a resturant next door to the hotel. Robert had Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and a whole Flounder. Berry had Scallops and Filet. We welcomed in the new year in our hotel room barely able to stay awake, but with a New Year’s kiss. Happy New Year to our family and friends.

Berry and Robert

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia