On July 10, Carrie and I woke up at my brother's house in Savannah, GA. After breakfast, we drove to Tybee Island with only one target bird in mind--Painted Bunting. This beautiful bird would be a lifer for both of us if we could find it. On our way to the island we saw some birds (shorebirds and terns) on the edge of the water across the highway from the entrance to Fort Pulaski, but we elected not to stop because we wanted to focus on our target bird and we thought our best chance would be at Tybee Island.
Once we were on the island, we started our search at the Sally Pearce Nature Trail. After a diligent search of the small trail, we heard a couple of Painted Buntings, but did not see one.
Next we went to the North Beach hoping to find a Painted Bunting in the thickets of Wax Myrtle around the dunes. Wax Myrtle is a shrub favored by Painted Buntings. Unfortunately, we did not see or hear any Painted Buntings. We did see several Loggerhead Shrikes around the parking lot including both the one shown below and the one in the photo at the beginning of this post.
The only birds on the beach were Boat-tailed Grackles and a few scraggly looking gulls.
A little disappointed, we decided to lift our spirits by having lunch at one of my favorite seafood restaurants, which happened to be located on the island--the Crab Shack. In the outside eating area, the fans blow the insects away and there is a trash can in the middle of the table, making it convenient to dispose of the shells when eating crab, shrimp, etc.
The owners also have a collection of parrots in a room next to the gift shop and live alligators in a pool in front of the restaurant, but don't worry! The big gator that startles you when you walk around the corner is fake.
After lunch we still had one place to look for Painted Buntings--Fort Pulaski. When we got to the entrance, we pulled off on the side of the highway across from the entrance, hoping to see the birds we had noticed on the way to Tybee, but the tide was up and the birds were all gone. As we drove down the street to turn around, however, we saw this Clapper Rail run across the road. We stopped and got out, and Carrie was able to get another quick glimpse before the bird disappeared into the tall grass.
At Fort Pulaski, we hiked the lighthouse trail. When we got to the end of the trail, there was not much there other than the Lighthouse. The tide was up and the water level was very high. There was no mud for shorebirds, gulls, terns, oystercatchers, etc. Again, I was disappointed because when I had hiked this trail in November, 2010, the water level was low, and there were all sorts of birds in the mud around the lighthouse.
My disappointment was short lived, however. On the way back, I heard a male Painted Bunting singing, and then Carrie and I both saw it singing at the top of a tree on the trail. It was backlit so I was not able to get a good photo, but I did photograph this female along the trail.
As we continued, Carrie got a great look at another male up close in good light, but by the time I came around the corner, it had flown. Carrie returned to the car, but I tarried, hoping to get a decent photo of a male. As I was about to give up and head back to the car, one dropped down on the trail in front of me and flew into a thicket to the right of the trail. As the bird was preening, it was slow to notice me, and I was quite satisfied to get these photos though the view of the bird was somewhat obstructed.
On the way back to the car, I took a couple of shots of the fort, including this one with a Great Egret in the foreground.
Target bird aquired--mission accomplished! That night Carrie and I had one of the best meals of the year with Jerry and Kim. It was great to spend some time with them after a successful but tiring adventure.
Written and published on October 23, 2012
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