The Springtime is an exciting time to go birding in Charleston, SC! Migration is underway and a great variety of birds visit the Lowcountry to refuel during their long trip north. Many of these birds will stay in the Lowcountry for the warmer months to breed. This April I focused on finding and experiencing songbirds! These small birds have incredible vocals and brilliant colors. Over the course of this month I have encountered and enjoyed nearly 60 different species of songbirds! Listen to the spectacular sounds of these songbirds at the Santee Coastal Reserve. Maybe the most iconic eastern ..read more

Every Spring I take a unique trip into the Francis Marion National Forest at night. I am searching for two very interesting nocturnal birds in the nightjar family. These two birds are named after the song that they sing, the Chuck-will's-widow and the Eastern Whip-poor-will. I arrived in the forest about 30 minutes before sunset to get a good look at the habitat and listen for any songbirds before darkness sets in. As I was exploring the forest I heard several singers including Pine Warblers, Carolina Wrens, Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves, a Yellow-throated Warbler and a few others! I al ..read more

The Santee Coastal Reserve is an amazing 24,000 acre property located North of McClellanville and managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The Cape Trail section of this massive property has former rice fields that are now managed for waterfowl. During late fall into winter the Cape Trail area and Murphy Island offer one of the most diverse duck hunting locations along the East Coast. In February when hunting season concludes the Cape Trail opens to the public providing a great opportunity to see the ducks before they migrate North. “Opening Day” at the Santee Coastal Res ..read more

I love birding Charleston in January! There is such a wide variety of bird species that visit Charleston during the winter. January also starts a new year which means that all the bird lists from the previous year reset. So every bird common or not is super exciting to find and record!  So far it has been an exciting January finding 128 birds species in only the first two weeks! I have visited some awesome locations around Charleston in search of birds. One of my first stops, my favorite birding hotspot, was Fort Moultrie National Historical Park. Fort Moultrie as expected had a wonderful ..read more

I have recently partnered with the Charleston Parks Conservancy and we co-host Birding events at different Charleston Parks. This partnership has encouraged me to explore parks that I have never birded before! Carr Richardson Park is a new Charleston Park that opened this past February. This small park offers a vast tidal marsh habitat, wooded habitat and a brushy perimeter. The wonderful park also boasts long views of the Ashley River, Ravenel Bridge, and the Citadel. This park is not yet ranked on eBird but has an amazing variety of habitats with lots of different bird species! I visited th ..read more

This October I focused a majority of my birding at my favorite Charleston birding hotspot, Fort Moultrie National Historical Park! My goal was to find migrating birds and share my exploration with you all. Fort Moultrie National Park is eBird Hotspot #4 with 274 bird species recorded. Migration season is an exciting time to get outside and go birding. Birds are very active and we get to experience birds that are not typically in the Charleston area during the rest of the year. This fall migration was filled with a variety of super cool birds! On the first day of October I headed out to the f ..read more

Fall Migration is upon us and I decided to explore one of the best hotspots for songbird migration, West Ashley Park. This large park encompasses over 260 acres and has amazing habitat for wildlife and birds! The park has miles of trails that walk through mature and diverse woodlands, wetlands, along waterways, and even a wooded island. You can spend hours walking the seemly endless trails of this park that is conveniently located in West Ashley. West Ashley Park is eBird hotspot #43 with 166 bird species recorded! I exited the car and was greeted by 9 White Ibis looking for food on the muddy ..read more

I explored a beautiful small park in the heart of Mount Pleasant called the Marsh View Trail. This lovely park offers a short wooded trail that leads into a maritime habitat and a vast open salt marsh. There is also a dog park and a beautiful pollinator garden that was being cared for by a group of super nice ladies during my visit. The Marsh View Trail has moved into eBird Hotspot #50 with 157 bird species recorded! The first leg of the trail has a variety of thick vegetation which can be good for a variety of birds that prefer these tangles to hide and forage. This area was somewhat quiet h ..read more

I spent a pleasant September morning birding the James Island County Park. I began the day exploring the new fishing dock which offers wonderful long views of the beautiful salt marsh. I then walked the entirety of the green and orange trails. It was a peaceful walk and nearly every park-goer I passed smiled and said good morning. James Island County Park is eBird Hotspot #20 with 210 bird species recorded! As I headed to the fishing dock I immediately heard several songbirds including Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice. I looked for the happy singers and caught a flash of bright yellow ..read more

My 3 kiddos and I explored Charleston’s Beachwalker County Park this past Sunday. Beachwalker Park is a beautiful public beach located on Kiawah Island. We birded the whole beach but we focused on the south end of Kiawah Island where Captain Sams Creek and the Kiawah River enter the Atlantic Ocean. This sandy inlet is a popular feeding area for all kinds of wildlife especially birds! The sand flats, sand bars and tidal pools attract a variety of birds at lower tides. Beachwalker County Park is eBird Hotspot #26 with 201 bird species recorded! We timed our Kiawah Island trip to arrive about an ..read more