Birding Beaufort

12/14/2024

Christmas Bird Count Day 1! 🎄🦅 📸 still thawing out 🥶🤣 & sorting through photos, but the sunrise I was treated to this morning was remarkable! The sunrise looked like a heart ❤️ in between the palmettos.

The Audubon CBC is the nation’s longest-running community science bird project that fuels Audubon’s work throughout the year. The Christmas Bird Count occurs December 14 to January 5 every season. Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt.” They would choose sides and go afield with their guns—whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won. Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.

12/13/2024

The masked berry 🫐bandits are back!!! We’re seeing large flocks of Cedar Waxwings foraging on berries!!!

Have you spotted any of these beautiful birds yet?

12/11/2024

The Friends of Port Royal Cypress Wetlands is THRILLED that Shellring Ale Works is crafting a special beer 🍺 for Cypress Wetlands! For each beer pour, Shellring is donating $1.00 to FOPRCW! 🤩

To “tap” into this amazing opportunity, we are pleased to announce our “Speaker Series” to be held each month at Shellring. It kicks off on January 22, 2025, with Dr. Andy Jones!!! We have AMAZING speakers lined up in February, March, and April, too!

We are going to also have a Silent Auction as well! So much excitement, and so much to experience & it’s an amazing way to support The FOPRCW & our friends at Shellring Ale Works!

12/09/2024

The weekend birding diaries. 🦆Started off with 🥶 mornings & American White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans & ended with a great find of Canvasback & a “Gray Ghost” Northern Harrier. 🦆

EBird is the global tool used by birders worldwide to report species sighting’s & locations. While it helps birders find their target species, it is actually used to help track the health/population of species, migration patterns, etc. To date in 2024, I’ve seen 233 species in Beaufort County. I had to take some time off to help my hubby recover from back surgery in May/June, but it’s still a great year so far.

Birded yesterday with my pals Jonathan, Steven & Phillip (we missed you Andy 😢). We currently are the Top 4 in BC. We have a group text string (Jake, Andy, Steven, Jonathan & myself). We laugh, we plan outings. We have formed bonds with Phillip, Rose, Tony in BC. I always turn to Craig & Pam in Charleston for advice. What I love most is the relationships formed between my local birders & state birders. While it’s semi competitive, we want EVERYONE to see the bird species out there!!!

That’s the true joy of birding, is being able to high five 🖐️ or hug 🤗 each other when we see something together, or can congratulate each other in group texts. To me, there’s nothing like birding! 🦢🪶🦉🦅🦆

12/07/2024

Thank you to our wonderful friends at Gay Fish Company for hosting Free Photos 📸 with Santa today! We told Santa 🎅 how grateful we are to bring the Joy of Birding to everyone in Beaufort & The Lowcountry.

We couldn’t ask for anything more as we are truly blessed; from meeting people from all over the world to educating young birders, 1st time birders & more. We look forward to many more adventures to come 🎄🦅🦉🐦‍⬛🦆

Thank you Cyndy, Miss Faye & the crew at GFC! Can’t wait to eat some local shrimp 🦐 tonight for dinner 🤩

12/05/2024

We understand that shorebird identification can be intimidating, especially at this time of the year, when they all morph into shades of brown & gray. On our walk today, we captured 3 different species that are often confused by people.

When we started learning about shorebirds, our good friend Dr. Al Segars, gave us the best advice. Try to find one shorebird species, get familiar with the size of the bird & the bill shape. That can help you eliminate other species as you move ahead with identification.

Here are photos of a Sanderling, a Dunlin & a Western Sandpiper for your reference. 🤩🌊🐦

12/05/2024

Chilly 🥶 but lots of bird activity. The cold temps, will stun fish 🐟 , so it becomes easy pickings for birds, especially American White Pelicans. They don’t dive for food, but swim in teams & scoop them up. 🤍🤩📸

12/03/2024

In the spirit of the holidays, we have chosen some winners from our contest & have one exciting announcement to make!
It was difficult to choose one winner, so we will offer free tours to the following people:
and Janine O’Connell & Jamie Parish from Facebook. All other entrants will receive a free Wings Over Beaufort sunshirt. 🥰🐦🎉

John & I are truly grateful for your support & we have a lot of REALLY exciting things planned. Like REALLY exciting……but here’s at least one we can announce now, which is that we will be holding our “Wings Over Beaufort” birding festival September 23-26, 2025 🐦🎉🙏
We are still plotting our official agenda, but after the success of our first festival, we are going to really be focusing on some truly amazing opportunities for our guests. 🐦🤩📸
Please email us @ [email protected] to claim your prizes. 🎉

12/02/2024

Well our Elf is apparently a birder 🤣 Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a free birding tour with us! Winners will be announced tomorrow, see our previous post for details 🥰

11/30/2024

🌟 Who wants the chance to win a FREE tour with us? 🌟

In honor of Small Business Saturday, we’re giving away a free birding tour for a party of 4 with Birding Beaufort. 📸🦅🐦

Here’s how you can Enter to Win 🏆🙌🌻🏝️🌅
1) Like this post & follow our page on Instagram & Facebook
2) Share this post with 3 of your friends & followers, using the words “Free Bird” 🐦
3) Tell us in the comments below what birds you’d love to see on our tour & what your ideal place would be to bird in our area!
🦩🦜🕊️🦢🪶🦅🐦‍⬛🦆
4) Go out & shop local to help support our fellow Small Businesses, who make our community so special 🛍️ We’re tagging some of our local businesses in our post 🥰

We will pick one winner on Tuesday for The Free Tour & 3 winners who will receive a free “Wings Over Beaufort” sunshirt!

Let’s get this party started 🙌

11/29/2024

Good Morning ☀️ we hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving 🦃 yesterday! Of course we did some birding before all the cooking 🤣 and it’s always fun seeing American Goldfinches feasting on seeds.

It’s so important to remember to let these flowers stick around instead of pruning immediately. So many birds use them as food sources. The berries on the Palmettos are also used by American Robins, Cedar Waxwings & more, which is one reason we don’t trim ours here at home. 🌴

11/28/2024

Wishing you & your families a very Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving 🍁🦃🍁.

John & I are forever grateful for the support that you have given Birding Beaufort 🥰 🐦🐦‍⬛🦅🦆



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11/26/2024

🤩 Life Bird Alert for me today! What a thrill to see a Western Tanager in my own neighborhood today! 🤩

This bird’s range is definitely not SC, however, a few have been reported in The Lowcountry over the past few years. The western winds we’re having (and will continue to have through Thanksgiving) can definitely make things interesting as far as birds popping up in our area.

I always share my finds with a few of my bird friends (and vice versa). Making connections & friends with fellow birders, has truly been such a great way to learn & enjoy birding. We all want to help each other & give each other the opportunity to see our finds. 🐦‍⬛🐦😊

Thanks to my new bird friend from FL, Frank who shared this experience with me as well.

11/25/2024

We love surprises! 🐦🤩 Thanks to a tip from our good friend Dr. Andy Jones, I was able to view & photograph a few Juvenile Northern Gannets diving off shore yesterday afternoon!!! Adults are snowy white with black wingtips and a crown washed with gold. To see gannets hunting fish is one of North America’s great wildlife spectacles: flocks rain down upon the ocean, blizzardlike, by the thousands, looking like a force of nature. The birds’ excellent vision and vigorous vocalizing when diving helps them catch fish as well as avoid collisions with other diving gannets (All About Birds).

I also got to check up on a few of our banded, wintering Piping Plovers ( #29 was 1st spotted by me and is a 1st year bird banded in Nova Scotia). I didn’t want to scare off the Black Skimmers but I now see, a few are banded. This gives me the opportunity to go back out & get clearer IDs on band numbers though!

11/24/2024

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year 🐦 I went out with my husband & sons yesterday, and to my surprise, we stumbled upon 39 American White Pelicans 🤩 They experienced full bird nerd Jenn, because I pretty much started jumping up & down 🤣

These beautiful birds work in teams to feed. They swim together and feed together. Unlike American Brown Pelicans, they do not dive for food. They are also WAY bigger in size! It’s also a great thing seeing wintering waterfowl. 🤩🥰🦆

11/23/2024

It’s time!!!!!!!! Cedar Waxwings are back 😍 & these are some of the most beautiful, fun birds to watch. Often heard before seen, they forage in flocks canvassing for berries. If you witnessed this, it is truly magnificent.

The Cedar Waxwing is one of the few North American birds that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit alone for several months. ~ All About Birds

11/21/2024

Spanish moss isn’t just a beautiful accessory here in The Lowcountry. It’s essential to birds 🐦 in so many ways! A few main components are for feeding on bugs, camouflaging from predators or threats and utilizing Spanish Moss for nesting 🪺 material.

Spanish Moss is an air plant 🌱(and member of the pineapple 🍍 family) that does not require soil to grow. Instead, it absorbs nutrients and moisture directly from the air through its leaves, making it an exemplary model of adaptation and survival.

Maybe the next time you stop to admire this wonder, you’ll notice a few birds as well! 🤩

11/20/2024

Always an honor to be a guest on The Inner Coastal Podcast for Visit Beaufort, Port Royal, and Sea Islands of SC. This episode focuses on The Cypress Wetlands in Port Royal, an absolute treasure here in The Lowcountry 🐦🦆🐢🐊🌳

Dive into the heart of Beaufort, SC through captivating stories and interviews on The Inner Coastal Podcast. Uncover hidden treasures of Visit Beaufort.