Last fall we thought it would be a great idea to get out of the VA winter for a few days at the Hammock Coast Birding Festival south of Myrtle Beach. Average highs for the first week of February there are 61°F (16°C). We got in Wednesday after a day of white-knuckle driving in the rain, punctuated by sitting in park for about an hour on I-95 near Lumberton, NC. After checking in at the festival HQ and checking in at our Airbnb, we ventured out in the terrible weather to a local joint that would have been walking distance in reasonable weather. We drove. Inlet Crab House and Raw Bar delivered, though, as our dinners were excellent and very reasonably priced. On Wednesday evening we relaxed watching USA Curling at the Olympics.
So how did that winter weather escape plan work out for us? On Thursday morning I found myself standing on a jetty 100 yards out into the Atlantic Ocean at Huntington Beach State Park. It was around freezing with a 25 mph wind blowing on us. The waves crashing against the rocks were dampening us with salt spray. I was peering into my binoculars, searching through the fog looking for Northern Gannets.
100% a great time. I would totally do it again. Although I'd appreciate better weather next time. I have no photos from that morning because, well, isn't it obvious? I added the common loon and razorbill to my life list, though. We saw the gannets; although I had seen them previously, I did not remember just how large those birds are. Watching them dive for fish was spectacular, even in those conditions. On the way back we walked behind the dunes out of the wind, where I found a salt marsh sparrow, also a lifer for me.
After a break for lunch at our Airbnb, we headed back out for our afternoon birding event, looking for red-cockaded woodpeckers at Brookgreen Gardens, directly across the street from the state park. They have about 3000 acres of Long Leaf Pine forest, where about 40 of the worldwide population of 14,000 woodpeckers live. Alas, they were not to be found on our 90-minute tour.
Later that afternoon we attended the festival happy hour and were surprised at how far folks had traveled for this event. I had feared I might be one of a few lone outsiders, but we met people from Wyoming, Utah, AZ, and all over the country. After the happy hour, we stopped at Quigley's Pint and Plate for dinner, where I enjoyed a beer brewed there on the premises and a steak and shrimp dinner. That evening we relaxed in the Airbnb while watching USA Curling.
Friday morning we had a date with ducks. We met up with guide Richard Costa at a pond in the state park, where I saw many ducks, was freezing, and got more than a few lessons in duck identification. (Look at the bill!) The sun came out and the fog lifted just as our session ended at 10 AM. After that we lingered a bit and then headed south, as we had about a 1-hour drive to the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge is run by the SC DNR, although the Yawkey Foundation helps pay the bills. Our guide, DNR Education and Outreach Coordinator Molly McNeill, was fabulous. The refuge is an island in the Intercoastal Waterway. You park and hop on a pontoon boat for a 30-second ride to get there. The refuge features longleaf pine forests, as well as old rice plantation land that is now a series of freshwater and brackish ponds. I had three target birds for the trip.
- Red-cockaded woodpecker
- Roseate spoonbill
- Wood stock
I got all three at the refuge. That's a good day of birding. We got great looks at a bunch of other shorebirds and ducks too.
Note: The woodpeckers only breed in mature longleaf pine trees, which used to cover the SE USA. Today, they only exist in a few places in the SE where the forests are managed specifically to help the birds. Longleaf pine cones need fire to clear out the underbrush to set new seeds. The trees literally depend on fire to reproduce. Fire suppression has been the SOP for years, although now the agencies managing these forests are doing controlled burns to keep the ecosystem healthy.
On Friday evening we attended the festival dinner, where Dr. Patrick McMillan gave a very engaging keynote talk. When we returned to the Airbnb, we...wait for it...watched USA Curling. Hey, I like curling. I joined a league a few years back and quite enjoyed playing the game. However, the league met on Saturday nights, and I didn't enjoy it enough to give up every Saturday night for it.
Saturday morning had us out of the Airbnb by 6:15 AM as we had a 7:30 birding session at the Black River Cypress Preserve. We spent three hours at the preserve, racking up mostly common birds, although a red-headed woodpecker gave us some great extended looks. Saturday afternoon got blustery to go with the barely above freezing temps. We had a boat tour scheduled but decided to skip it due to the weather. Instead, we went back to the state park and did some birding on our own, then went across the highway to Brookgreen to explore the park. We went for a walk and found a river otter enjoying life in a pond. We also went to the small zoo there. I generally avoid zoos, but I guessed correctly that this zoo was rescue-focused, and it was. We got to see a red wolf, one of only 300ish alive in the world. The park is part of the breeding program trying to save the species. They also had several species of owls and a couple of bald eagles that were rescues that could not survive in the wild. We happened to be there as an attendant was giving the owls fresh water, and it was hilarious watching the barn owls do their intimidation dance, which I doubt intimidates anything larger than a rodent. Likewise, the great horned owls cluck and growl, which again lacks a real fear factor when you know the owls can't fly.
After that we had another festival dinner, conveniently located less than a mile from our Airbnb. They gave away a bunch of door prizes. As expected, I won nothing.
Do I even need to tell you how we spent Saturday night?
There were some festival events on Sunday morning, but we had a 5.5-hour drive home if all went well. All went well; the drive was uneventful.
Would we do this festival again? Absolutely. Will we? Who knows? The only reason we wouldn't repeat next year is if we decide to do some other birding festival instead.
