Bird Notes | Enjoying the bird songs during Playcard’s bio-blitz

On March 19, I participated in Playcard Environmental Center’s “bio-blitz,” a 24-hour session of students, teachers and others spent cataloguing biodiversity within the center’s boundaries.

Playcard is a resource of Horry County Schools used for environmental and ecological education with Ben Abercrombie coordinating its efforts. Abercrombie had contacted me to ask if I might participate in their effort this year by helping to find and identify birds at the site, a task which I was happy to be able to assist with.

Arriving at the center shortly before dawn Saturday morning, upon exiting my vehicle I was greeted by the strains of an Eastern bluebird in full song. His vocalizations were accompanied shortly afterward by the songs and calls of other bird species, developing what is known as the dawn chorus. By becoming familiar with bird songs and calls, one can identify the various species present at a location, and the species list began to grow quickly as many local resident and newly arrived migrants, along with lingering winter birds began their day.

\Northern cardinal, mockingbird, chipping and white-throated sparrows were soon accounted for, then the call of a bird that has been absent since last fall was heard, as a newly arrived blue-gray gnatcatcher worked its way through the edge of the forest stand while searching for insect prey. These tiny birds can be fairly common summer residents, especially in vegetated areas near wetlands where there are abundant tiny insects to feed upon.

Shortly afterward, I was joined by Abercrombie and a few others for a walk through the forest and by the swamp border. We added species as we made our way, with another recently arrived migrant, a Northern parula, first heard then seen foraging in the emerging foliage of the forest canopy.

Later we heard fragments of a hermit thrush’s song, then were rewarded with great views as the songster chose an open perch and gave us a performance. Hermit thrush is the only song thrush to overwinter in the U.S., being especially fond of fruits and berries of various plants as well as foraging for available invertebrate prey.

An abundance of American hollies in the forest stand as well as the proximity to wetlands for insect prey helps to make ideal winter habitat for this far northern breeding bird.

We continued our walk, adding more species to the bird list for the bio-blitz, while others were engaged in cataloguing plants, insects, reptiles and other fauna. It was an enjoyable morning to be afield and assisting in increasing our knowledge of the natural communities found in our area. You can learn more about Playcard Environmental Center and its mission here: www.horrycountyschools.net/pages/Horry_County_Schools/Ac2/Playcard_Education_Center.

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 1:08 AM with the headline "Bird Notes | Enjoying the bird songs during Playcard’s bio-blitz."