After a trip to Fripp Island, S.C., I am looking forward to another fall migration season after plenty of evidence that migration is already underway. I had birding opportunities from Aug. 16-Aug. 19 to look for birds on a barrier island. David Thometz and my parents also took part in some of the birding, which was primarily done in early morning and evening hours because of the intense heat and humidity. I saw a total of 80 species. Wading birds were well represented. I saw Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Wood Stork, Glossy Ibis and White Ibis. The highlights were the three Glossy Ibis seen on two different days as well as numerous Wood Storks. In addition, I saw a flock of White Ibis numbering at least 70 individuals, all immature birds. Shorebirds, often found on sandbars, included Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Wilson's Plover, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Red Knot and Dowitcher species. The Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plovers numbered in the hundreds. Other coastal specialties included Brown Pelican, Osprey, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Black Skimmer, Least Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern and Black Tern. I saw dozens of Least Terns mingled with Black Terns on two different offshore sandbars. I've kept records of my trips to Fripp Island since early 1990s, and Black Tern represents a new species for the overall total I've seen at this location. I've seen Least Terns here in the past, but never in such high numbers. I also saw Clapper Rails, Fish Crows, Boat-tailed Grackles and Painted Buntings. Passerine songbird migrants were not extremely abundant, except for Prairie Warblers. Other warblers included Blackburnian Warbler, American Redstart, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler and Pine Warbler. Other passerine migrants included Red-eyed Vireo and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. A tangle of Trumpet Vine yielded Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Of course, I looked forward to returning home and looking for migrants. The best I have managed so far, however, has been a Wood Thrush. Bryan Stevens, Hampton, Carter Co., TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================