One of SCWF’s education outreach series is the Palmetto Pro Birder program. The program teaches participants to identify birds in their own backyards and around the state! It is a wonderful way to take on the role of a citizen scientist and teaches individuals about ways to help save birds and the diverse array of habitats that exist in the Palmetto State.

Over Valentine’s weekend, SCWF led a Palmetto Pro Birder module in the ACE Basin (one of the largest wetland ecosystems on the Atlantic Coast located along US17 between Charleston and Hilton Head Island). The 2-day training module on Bear Island was led by retired SCPRT Chief of Resource Management Irvin Pitts. SCWF Habitat Education Manager Jay Keck attended the module and experienced one of our most successful birding trips to date!

The full list of birds spotted (in alphabetical order) is included below:

American Avocet

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Robin

American Wigeon

Anhinga

Bald Eagle

Barred Owl(hooting)

Belted Kingfisher

Black and White Warbler

Black Duck

Black Vulture

Black-Bellied Plover

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

Blue Jay

Blue-Headed Vireo

Blue-Winged Teal

Boat-Tailed Grackle

Bonaparte’s gull

Brown-Headed Nuthatch

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Caspian Tern

Chipping Sparrow

Clapper Rail

Common Gallinule

Common Yellowthroat

Double-Crested Cormorant

Downy Woodpecker

Dunlin

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Towhee

Fish Crow

Forster’s Tern

Gadwall

Glossy Ibis

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Gray Catbird

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Greater Yellowlegs

Green-winged Teal

Ground Dove

Hairy Woodpecker

Hermit Thrush

Herring Gull

Killdeer

Laughing Gull

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Little Blue Heron

Marbled Godwit

Marsh Wren

Mottled Duck

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Harrier

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveler

Osprey

Palm Warbler

Pied-Billed Grebe

Pileated Woodpecker

Pine Warbler

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Tailed Hawk

Red-Winged Blackbird

Ring-Billed Gull

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Savannah Sparrow

Screech Owl

Short-billed Dowitcher

Snowy Egret

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Tree Swallow

Tri-Colored Heron

Tufted Titmouse

Tundra Swan

Turkey Vulture

Vesper Sparrow

White Ibis

White Pelican

White-Breasted Nuthatch

White-Eyed Vireo

White-Throated Sparrow

Willet

Wilson’s Snipe

Wood Duck

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Yellow-Throated Warbler