The fall migrating shorebirds are now arriving. These birds will be moving through the Lowcountry into November, with birds coming, staying 4 to 6 weeks and then continuing on south to their wintering grounds in South America and beyond. These birds are marathon travelers, following a seasonal urge to move, as old as bird life itself. That they successfully reach the South Carolina coastal region is a saga of survival against the forces of nature and the obstacles of man. These birds follow the Eastern Flyway, one of many global north/south routes. Shorebirds seek marshy breeding habitat that produces a cornucopia of insects and other invertebrates. Tropical storms, drought and predators threaten shorebird survival. But the one thing migratory shorebirds need to survive is fuel to fly, and we have it! Seaside crustaceans, horseshoe crab eggs, and insects.
On my tours we are interested in getting an inside look at the birds' behaviors while here in the Lowcountry from resting to feeding and large groups in syncopated flight patterns to aerial jousting between two or more birds and more.
But when conditions do not allow us to get close and follow along with the Shrimp trawlers then we focus on the shorebirds and Dolphin we can find in the backwater creeks and rivers.
In the early 80"s I had my first experience watching the shrimp boats at work. Since, I have made hundreds of images while onboard or from a boat following behind.
During my fall tours when we can get close we’ll spend from 30 minutes to and hour following the boats. We keep the our boat beside the nets opening. Doing so allows us great photo opportunities as the dolphins breach for air, right beside us. Every few times they come up for air they give us a quick look, eye to eye, and the cameras sing! Again and again they appear briefly and disappear to scurry around inside the net for fish and return back to us with a big blow. All the while the terns, remind us of helicopters and missiles too, as they hover, then dive into the water for a shrimp, missed by the net; and the cameras sing.
When we can get close we will visit them all at the docks for a different type image: scenics of this South Carolina archetype.
