More birds are visiting Beaufort County’s deserted beaches. What experts want you to know
When Beaufort County beaches were closed to people during coronavirus, the birds moved in.
And in at least one case, they’re not giving up their newfound space without a fight. From Port Royal to Hunting Island, more bird activity has been reported while people and their pets were away.
That makes sense, naturalists say. Shorebirds need rest on a journey thousands of miles to breed. Others seek out areas to nest that are free of predators and where they won’t be disturbed.
For at least a while this spring, South Carolina’s shuttered beaches provided that refuge.
While the Sands Beach in Port Royal was closed for a month to people, vehicles and the golf carts that drive on the sand to the water’s edge, oystercatchers nested. The birds can often be seen flying over Battery Creek but not on the Sands, said Chris Marsh, a Port Royal resident and director of the Lowcountry Institute who has worked with state wildlife officials on shorebird populations.
The birds prefer undeveloped beaches or oyster beds where eggs are protected from land predators like raccoons, he said.
“What was amazing to me is how quickly that bird moved in and set up a nest when the place was closed because of the pandemic,” Marsh said. “It just shows how quickly nature can respond when given a chance. It also shows how sensitive birds are to disturbance.”
When the Sands reopened to people on foot, the bird lashed out at a family with a dog running free off a leash to protect its nest. Volunteers placed signs on the east end of the beach to alert people to the nesting area.
But what was three eggs was down to one and the nest appears to have been abandoned, said Kelley Luikey, a photographer and master naturalist who monitored the nest. She said she hoped the birds could build elsewhere.
“It was a really tough spot,” Luikey said in an email. “While to them it looked fantastic when The Sands was closed, once people were let back on, it was difficult for them to stay on the nest with all of the unleashed dogs and people that didn’t know.”
Marsh believes the spot could become a place for the birds to nest regularly if not for a few people who allow dogs to run free in violation of town rules.
At Hunting Island State Park, an area on the north end of the beach has been a no-dogs-allowed zone in recent years and marked by signs as a shorebird habitat. Red knots who fly thousands of miles to the Arctic to breed are stopping over on the island’s beaches to rest and fatten up.
Volunteers at the park say they have seen more of the birds this spring than recent years.
Kate Hudson, a volunteer who oversees a program to educate visitors on the park’s shorebirds, recently snapped photos of hundreds of the birds that have stopped on the beach.
The shorebird program has been paused amid coronavirus restrictions. When it resumes, volunteers will continue politely telling people and their pets to keep a safe distance.
“They need to stop and feed and rest to make the journey and be successful breeders,” Hudson said. “It’s really important that we leave them alone on the beach.”
Megan Stegmeir, an interpretive park ranger and naturalist on Hunting Island, noted that additional sand from a recent beach renourishment project and efforts to keep dogs and vehicles away from the north end have also made the area more welcoming to birds .
“With people not being on the beach, we’ve seen more shells and more birds just because the birds see people as a predator, the same as dogs,” Stegmeir said. “With the efforts (of) abiding by those rules and not going over there with dogs, that’s helped, too.”
