Field Trip: Beginning Shorebird ID at Fish Haul Beach Park

(Member registration opens 9/7; nonmembers on 9/14)

Join Wendy Dickes, member of  the shorebird survey team, to work on Shorebird ID. This field trip is best for beginning and intermediate birders wishing to hone basic shorebird identification skills. We will look at bills and feet, observe postures, watch behaviors, discuss plumage changes and migration, etc. We will have at least one spotting scope available, to help everyone see the key features. 

Note the unusual time, to allow the tide to ebb from high:  Tide tables indicate a high tide around  6:40 a.m. We will set up on the beach, to start searching near the high tide line. Then we will follow the tide out, possibly getting our feet wet and sandy, as do the birds. Afterward, those interested can walk over to the boardwalk toward Barker Field, and the extension over the marsh.

Fish Haul Beach Park (120 Mitchellville Rd, Hilton Head) has restrooms in the parking lot.  We will walk in sand as well as hard surfaces, for about l.5 miles total. Prepare for the weather – it feels cooler on the beach than you might expect if it is windy. If the weather is fine, you might elect to bring lunch and picnic on the beach or in the park. Maybe bring a trash bag, since we like to leave a place cleaner than we find it.

Member tickets at $12.00; nonmembers are $14.00. Limited to 15 people.

Directions: From Hwy 278, take Beach City Road. At the intersection with Dillon Rd, turn left. Then look for the first road right, Mitchellville Rd (currently dirt, but the town plans to pave someday…).  This will lead you to the Fish Haul Beach Park, on the right.