In 2022, I was able to bird outside the midwest for the first time since 2014 when I became a true “birder”. I had to cancel my spring break plans the previous year because of how few employees there were to work in my absence. This year I was not going to let anything stop me from taking a trip during my kids’ spring break. I asked them where they wanted to go without worrying about what birds I would get to see because they are literally everywhere. The same as the year before, the girls still wanted to go to the beach. I did some internet research to determine which beach to go to. The decision was made based on driving distance, how crowded the beach would be, and nearby attractions that would interest the girls such as climbing, swimming, and mini-golf.
It was an early spring break, early to mid-March and the weather was not looking too good. We were going to stop in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for a couple of nights to cut down on driving time. The first day’s forecast was 17 degrees with snow. We never saw the snow fall from the sky but it was all over the ground once we were a couple of hours down the road. We made it to Gatlinburg, TN that afternoon and it reminded us of Narnia in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was a beautiful winter wonderland. There wasn’t a lot of birds to see or hear the day and a half we spent there but there were some great hiking trails and water features. My wife wouldn’t let my daughters climb on anything but I promised my oldest we would head out here on a longer trip and her and I could hike and climb all of the trails.
The first life bird I had on the trip was an Anhinga in a ditch outside a Cracker Barrel in South Carolina just before crossing onto Hilton Head Island. My wife was the one who spotted it and I spent a good few minutes looking at it making sure it was indeed an Anhinga. We don’t get too many Anhingas in the midwest, only a few rare encounters in the southernmost parts of Illinois in the swamps on the Cache River. I have never been lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.
We finally made it to our rental on the island that night. There were several stray cats from the cat sanctuary around the resort. We had fairly private access to Fish Haul beach on the northern side of the island. We chose the best place on the island to be, in my opinion. After a few days of driving around, we found the southern part to be expensive, crowded, little to no beach access, and just full of touristy fru fru gift shops. Some of the birds that I added to my life list almost immediately on the beach were Brown Pelican, Black Skimmer, Boat-tailed Grackle, White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, and Marbled Godwit. Some other birds that weren’t lifers but still were there in either larger numbers or closer proximity than my previous encounters were Sanderlings, Osprey, Laughing Gulls, Great Black-backed Gull, Dunlin, Little Blue Heron, and a perfectly posed Bald Eagle. The shorebirding was magnificient. On the 2nd day on the beach, I added Red Knot, Wilson’s Plover, Snowy Plover, and Ruddy Turnstone. It seemed every time I looked there were new shorebirds to find. Throughout the day, different people walked the beach. It bothered me to see people walk out on the sandbar and disturb the birds just to get a video of them scattering on their phone. I saw one girl walk out there on her phone never looking up. Not a single bird flushed as she circled the sandbar. Later, I would take a few steps closer with my scope from across the water on the beach and every bird seemed to take off and fly away.
We went to Pinckney National Wildlife Refuge one day and I was able to get a few more life birds there along with just some great wildlife encounters. We didn’t pack any water so we didn’t make it very far. Next time I think I’ll pack a bike. I saw my first Brown-headed Nuthatches. We spent a good amount of time watching fiddler crabs move about and then suddenly flee to their holes. Later on at the beach we would realize that they were everywhere the whole time. There were so many Anhingas there. I think there were at least 20 in a rookery where my daughters were able to see their first wild Alligators. The gallinules made plenty of interesting noises. My wife saw White Ibis that I missed but luckily I saw some later on the beach.
Before we took off back to Tennessee, I wanted to get one last birding encounter on the beach. I attempted to make a movie via digiscope but it didn’t turn out too well. We stayed the night at Pigeon Forge on the way back where we spent all kinds of money. The most interesting thing bird-wise there was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron hanging out by the river in the early morning while I walked before the girls got up. Overall, I think the trip was a success. Everyone had fun and I got to see a good amount of interesting birds without even planning it as a “birding” vacation.