As a subscriber to Charleston County Rare Bird Alert (furnished by eBird), Melanie Jerome and I (Judy Morr) recently started seeing reports of a Limpkin in the West Ashley Sienna Place neighborhood. Since neither of us had ever seen this species, we decided to go in search of the bird. From the Rare Bird Alert, we had an address and instructions how to likely see the bird without trespassing on private property. Binoculars and masks in hand, we headed out.
A nice pond was at the designated address. As instructed, we started walking around the pond. As we dodged Canada Goose droppings we saw the Limpkin fly from behind one clump of trees into one of the “island” clumps in the middle of the pond. Success! Wanting a better view, we walked around to the other side of the pond and finally got a great view of the bird sitting on a branch of the tree. We were able to study the bird for some time before returning to Seabrook Island. While at the location, we kept an eBird list and saw a total of 24 species in 54 minutes. Not bad for a 95 degree afternoon.
Last August, Ed and Aija Konrad reported their sighting of a Limpkin near Goose Creek. Their blog gives a better description of the bird’s behaviors and Ed’s great pictures.
Submitted by Judy Morr
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