The Big Sit...was a big hit!

October 7th saw Charleston County Parks' Big Sit birding event. Organized by naturalist Kristina Wheeler at James Island County Park, several of our CMNA members volunteered to participate during the day.
The premise of this Big Sit was to open birding to those that are unable to participate in bird walks, so the location was chosen because of it's accessibility. 
The 'rules' of the Big Sit are to identify as many bird species as possible while staying within a seventeen-foot diameter circle! Our volunteers were there to help with species identification and information, and people were encouraged to drop in for 20 minutes or stick around for hours, and was open to birders of all levels of experience.

Kristina had done a fabulous job of setting up the viewing area, with the help of Noel Williams, and thanks to Christine Magnarella Ray, we had plenty of snacks and water to keep us going.
There were also ID books, binoculars and scopes available.

While the day got off to a slow start, it wasn't long before people began to arrive and it was good to see people new to birding, experts, and those in between getting involved in spotting and identifying birds that we could see and hear.
Indeed, one young man that came with his mom was visually impaired and was learning to ID birds by their calls! 
That certainly gave a feeling of mission accomplished!

So, what was the result? Over a period of 8 hours, 37 species were identified! Scroll all the way down for the complete list! Some of them even made themselves available for a photograph!

Red Shouldered Hawk, sitting on the soon to be illuminated seasonal lights!

Chimney Swift

Tree Swallow

Brown Thrasher that kept us amused all day!

Bald Eagle

Here's the list....some of the usual suspects, but some surprising ones too....and the word from Kristina is that we'll be doing it again next year!

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Bobolink

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)

Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus)

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

Great Blue Heron

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Peregrine Falcon

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Pine Warbler

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)

Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)