Birding Plus

Charleston, Savannah, Dahlonega, Atlanta

April 21- May 2, 2015

Tuesday 4/21/15 Lennie, Nancy, and I left San Francisco in the early morning hours, had an uneventful flight to Atlanta, transferred to a flight to Savannah where we arrived around 5:30 PM. We took a taxi into town where we stayed in a Best Western located near the waterfront in the old historic part of Savannah. After settling in we went out to see historic downtown Savannah and to find a place to eat. The town center was rather lively with musicians and other entertainers and people walking around and getting ready to eat. We walked down to the waterfront - and found a promising place to eat dinner. We had asked the taxi if there was any food we should be sure to eat and he said we had to have "lowcountry boil". It would be different in different places but basically it is a mix of potatoes, corn, sausage, fresh fish, and shrimp all cooked together. So we ordered this and a plate of fried green tomatoes. Both were good and we finished is all. We ordered friend green tomatoes several more times and they were always different but this was the first time I ate any that were good. I was told you had to eat them in the south to get good ones. Overall the food was very good and plentiful on this trip but a little hard on my stomach. I think you have to be used to eating so much fried food in order to handle it. After dinner we walked through the busy town center to our motel.

Wednesday 4/22/15 After a nice breakfast in the lobby we met with the concierge to get ideas of things to do. We ended up buying an all day ticket for the trolley tour. It makes a complete circle of the historic Savannah with many stops. You can get on and off any place. We went in almost the complete circle the first round and had a wonderful driver who was very informative and an interesting historian. We lucked out on this because none of the others were any good, just silly. At several stops actors in character would get on and give a brief history of the building or area we were stopped in. Eventually we got off and did a lot of walking. We did go into some museums, a group of the Telfair Museums, Telfair Academy, the Owens-Thomas House, and Jepson Center. We saw the "Bird Girl" statue at the Jepson Museum. After it became "famous" from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" people began to chip off pieces of the corner where it stood in the cemetery so it was moved indoors. We saw a variety of art, historical and modern including Hot Pink, an inflatable sculpture by the Parisian artist Anne Ferrer. We walked many streets and took lots of photos of old homes - many were built 150 or so years ago. Lots of ornate work, lots of trees and other greenery. They are just what we expected it to look like from movies and other photos. We had lunch at a cafe in one of the museums, and later an ice cream at Leopold’s, very good. Took the trolley back to the hotel and cleaned up for dinner. We ate at Zunzis 2, an easy walk and interesting name. Their specialty was roasted chicken, which I had and it was pretty good. They had some really interesting and appealing artwork on the walls and I mentioned it to the bartender and asked about the artist. Turns out she was his wife so we had an interesting talk with him about their work and family. Glad I mentioned it to him.

Thursday 4/23/15 After breakfast Lennie made arrangements to get our rental car and we loaded up and left Savannah, driving north to Charleston, crossing into South Carolina from Georgia adding two more states to my list of states I've seen. (38 so far) We decided to check out Hilton Head Island on the way and also Beaufort and the concierge had suggested we stop at Bluffton so we did all three with differing results. Our first stop was Bluffton and once we found the historical district we drove around the attractive homes and gardens and stopped to visit "The Church of the Cross", built in 1857 it survived the burning of the town in 1863. It was next to the harbor where the troops landed. From here we drove to Hilton Head which was interesting since we had heard about it but it was very exclusive. We wanted to drive to the coast and to the light house but every time we found a road that went to the water it was gated with either no entrance allowed and $20 for a day pass. Finally we decided to blow this area and go on to the next. All I remember of Hilton Head is highways with lots of green trees along it and shopping centers with every brand named store you would expect in any suburb. Next we went on to Beaufort, the second oldest city in South Carolina. It is along the Intracoastal Waterway. It has a long history with the beginnings of the United States since its 1711 founding. We stopped at the Arsenal which was built in 1798 which is now the visitors center and from there we went on a walking tour of the homes and area near the waterfront park and marina. They have painted mermaid statures throughout the town and we found one of them wearing a knitted outfit. In addition to hosting three military institutions Beaufort has been used in many films, including Forrest Gump. Eventually we left and drove to Charleston where we had almost no trouble finding our hotel, the Embassy Suites in the original home of the Citadel Military College. It was built as a fort in 1758 and has been considerably remodeled. It was a lovely place to stay, next to Marion Square and a short walk or trolley ride to historic downtown or the shopping/dining area. Best of all we arrived in time for the complementary drinks and appetizers that were served every night. After checking in we sat down to snacks and drinks and discussed dinner plans. After talking to a helpful clerk at the check in counter we walked a short distance to a nearby alley and found a perfect dinner spot and enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Coast Bar and Grill, which is in a former warehouse. So far we have met many friendly people on our trip and Charleston is no exception, very polite but also friendly.

Friday 4/24/15 I wanted to see a plantation so we drove north west of historic Charleston to Drayton Hall, the oldest unrestored plantation house in America open to the public. It was built about 1738 by John Drayton and remained in the family for seven generations. It has never been updated with electric lights, plumbing, or central heating so we saw how the building really was when people lived there. It is not furnished and the landscape is also much the same as it was originally. The plantation was for rice and indigo, crops that the African Slaves were familiar with in their home country. Those crops counted for much of the wealth of South Carolina in the beginning. Indigo was a flower that was used for dye. After our visit here we had decided to go to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens which is still owned by Drayton heirs. We didn't go into the house as it is a rebuilt home from the late 1800s after the original one burned and we didn't have time to see everything. We had lunch here and then walked around the informal gardens which date back to around 1680 and then we walked through The Audubon Swamp. This was a lovely experience as it was a healthy and busy swamp. The tupelo tree is the main tree of the swamp and it grows in the water. Some of them are 1000 years old. Also there were a lot of Bald Cypress trees which are one of the area's largest trees. The shallow roots grow up above ground and are called "knees" which make recognizing the cypress tree easy. James Audubon visited this swamp and got several of his specimens here for his drawing. We saw anhingas, egrets, herons here, some courting, some on nests. Plus I watched a Green Anole (lizard) and took good photos of him. We also were able to watch two Prothonotary Warblers fly around a nest with eggs in it. We enjoyed our time here and could have spent more time but it was time to go back to our hotel. We dropped our car off at the rental office and walked back to our hotel. We then walked up to King Street and ate dinner at Virginia's a place known for fried chicken which I enjoyed.

Saturday 4/25/15 Today we walked down to the harbor to take the boat to Fort Sumter. We enjoyed the walk down a residential street with the stately homes and gardens, just like a movie set. This Fort is known for the shots that started the Civil War. We had a pleasant boat ride out to the Fort and then spent some time walking around the Fort. In addition to the views and various buildings we also enjoyed some sea birds. Just about the time we left it started raining so we did get wet but the boat did have a top cover so that helped a bit. Arriving back on land we decided it was just too much rain to enjoy our walking tour so we took the free trolley back to our hotel. We ate lunch on King Street, "Five Loaves Cafe" and then went to the Charleston Museum which was only two blocks from the motel. It was established in 1773 and is considered the nations oldest museum. It was very nicely laid out, you walk in a large circle and the history of Charleston and the Lowcountry is chronological. I could have spent hours there, very interesting. Then back to dinner on King Street at Joe Pasta and back to our hotel.

Sunday 4/26/15 We talked last night about what we wanted to do today. I knew I wanted to do a walking tour of historic Charleston but there were so many things to see and I just had no idea how to do this. So Lennie took the list of places and all the other information and stayed up late and designed a walking tour of old Charleston. It was absolutely wonderful. We took the free trolley to the end of the peninsula and she guided us on an informative tour of many homes with explanations about the designs. We went down some hidden alleys to see places not on the usual tour maps but they gave a special view of life in the town. We saw the Slave Mart and the Court House. We saw some of the many churches with tall steeples that give Charleston the nickname "Holy City". We saw Catfish row where scenes of Porgy and Bess are based on. We saw named place such as Longitude Lane, Rainbow Row, St. Michael's Alley and other famous homes, places that are named in any book you read that takes place in Charleston. When we were exhausted we stopped in a little cafe/bar, "East Bay Meeting House" and asked if we could take a break and we had a lovely cold drink and a cookie and got our second wind. Then we went to the City Market, an enclosed building that has many stalls of all kinds of goods, handmade item, food, souvenirs and so forth. We saw a lot of the sweet grass baskets and as much as I wanted one I just couldn't see paying $200 or more for an heirloom that will out live me! The work was exquisite though. Then went back to the hotel and pickedup Nancy's roommate, Dianne and walked up to King Street and had lunch at Virginia's where we had dinner a previous night. Several had the staple, shrimp and grits. I had tasted it one time and it is pretty good but not my favorite meal, but it is served a lot and is different at each place. We cleaned up and then met the rest of our group. Our Field Guides leader was Jesse Fagan. Another participant was Dianne Toebe from Alaska, and Susanna and Dave Lombardi from Oakland. It was a nice group. We had a drink in the lobby and then walked to the nearby alley and had a nice dinner at a French Restaurant.

Monday 4/27/15 Our birding trip started with a five AM departure, no more of the good Embassy Suites breakfasts, but we did have a good picnic breakfast from the food Jesse bought for us. We drove north of Charleston to the Francis Marion National Forest. It is a mix of swampy cypress-tupelo forest, upland mixed oak forests, and longleaf pine savannah. It is fun to see and be in a different ecosystem than I've been in before. We spent the morning here, walking in the forest and along the I'on Road Swamp Trail. In the 1700 and 1800s this was a thriving rice plantations run by slave labor. It is good to see it now as a wildlife haven for many species. In addition to many birds we also saw snakes and turtles and deer. We had lunch at Mt. Pleasant. Jesse always took us to interesting local cafes for lunch and we had fun trying some of the local food. After lunch we visited the Pitt Street Bridge and Sullivan Island. Along the beach there were a lot of jellyfish, very different from the ones on the West Coast. All the places we went today are filled with history from the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars. It was interesting to read about that history and actually be where it happened. I won't write it all here but a Google search on the names will prove most interesting. Had dinner in the alley near our hotel at a very good Italian restaurant.

Tuesday 4/28/15 Another early morning start at Ace Basin National Wildlife Refuge - about an hour south from Charleston. At least we saw and heard a Barred Owl in the morning dark. We then walked around the refuge, a former rice plantation which is now a bottomland forest and coastal saltmarsh, lots of water birds and lots of water on the road. In fact one area was so wet that I wanted to go back but since that wasn't possible I took off my shoes and walked barefoot in the water because I HATE walking around with wet shoes. Lennie walked through in her shoes and spent the evening blow-drying her wet shoes. But I was rewarded after putting my shoes back on with the sighting of a Sora! The refuge headquarters is in the historic antebellum Grove plantation house, built in 1828 and since restored. We walked through this building while waiting for Jesse to get the car back to pick us up. We had a good lunch at a local deli and then went back to our hotel and walked over to the visitor's center where we got on a small bus for a guided tour of Charleston. It was fun to see the town as a whole and hear some more of the history of the town and various tidbits of information, a nice farewell to Charleston. Tonight we went up to King Street and had a good dinner at a Thai Restaurant.

Wednesday 4/29/15 Today we left our hotel for Folly Island, it was raining. We walked along Folly Beach for a while but the wind and rain were pretty strong. We could see the Morris Island lighthouse in the distance but not clear enough to take a photo of it. Then we went to the "Lost Dog Cafe" for breakfast. It was a very local place with character and delicious food. The rest of our day was taken up with driving northwest to Dahlonega in Georgia. Dahlonega has a history of the gold mining in the early 1800s and it is near the southern end of the Appalachian Trail, also Jesse's brother lives in Dahlonega. In 1838 the U.S. Mint had a branch in Dahlonega, as there was so much gold here. It is a charming town and we had dinner at a very nice restaurant. We stayed at Smith House a nicely restored Inn, in business since 1899. It has been discovered that the dinning area is built on top on a mine and the shaft was found a few years ago and we went down to see it.

Thursday 4/30/15 Another early start to the Woody Gap recreation area in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Here we had a breakfast in a very cold and foggy atmosphere. Then we started hiking on the Appalachian Trail. It is such a famous trail it was exciting to be there. David and I had hiked in the northern part of the trail in the Vermont area so now I have been on both the northern and southern part of the trail, just a small bit. We hiked a couple of miles up to Preachers Rock, an overlook with a wonderful view of the Appalachian foothills. The hike up was not too difficult but we walked slowly because we were birding. We took some photos of the view and of us and then started back down which turned out to be hard for me. I had a knee problem that I had never had before and for the rest of the day I was in extreme pain while climbing up or down the trails. I was afraid I had permanent damage but once on the flat I had no more trouble and none since then. Just something I have to be careful about when doing any more hiking. After this we went to the Amacolola Falls, an absolutely beautiful spot with lots of water. I prudently chose not to climb up the stairs but I enjoyed sitting and watching the falls and dreaming of the day when water returns to California. We went back to Dahlonega and went to the local gold museum which was very interesting. This town has a most interesting history. We also saw the 1875 Chestatee River Diving Bell which was pulled from the river in 1981. It had been used to get gold from the river but wasn't too successful and only lasted a year. It is the only surviving diving bell of its kind. Out to dinner and a walk back for a good night's sleep.

Friday 5/1/15 This morning we drove to Vogel State Park and had a pleasant walk there with a few birds and then to Kennesaw Mountain National Historic Battlefield where we walked up the road with some good views of Atlanta. This area is filled with reminders of the battles of the Civil War. We continued on to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia. This was a wonderful area. The museum was very well done and I would have enjoyed more time there. But I was more interested in seeing the childhood home of MLK, which was open today so we were able to go inside. What an emotional experience that was to see his home and neighborhood and the site of his burial in the middle of a pond, and then his church, Ebenezer Baptist. There was a wonderful tile mural at the site that told his story and it is a little overwhelming to see all of this history and to remember it so well. Many emotions and thoughts went through my mind. It is hard to realize that experiences that I have lived with are now history. After this we went to our hotel near the airport and had our final dinner together. We shared "our favorite bird" and other stories of the trip. It was a good trip and I enjoyed it. We left early Saturday morning and had a smooth flight home.

On this trip I saw 123 species of birds (list follows on next page). 4 of those birds were new life birds so it is something like 2861 species on my World list. That also meant that my ABA list is increased by those 4 plus the wood stork, which I had not seen in the states before. So my ABA list is now at 608 species. I also added two states to the list of states I've visited, 38 now.

Bird List

Birds I saw in Charleston

Wood Duck

Mottled Duck

Mallard

Red-breasted Merganser

Wild Turkey

Wood Stork

Double-crested Cormorant

Anhinga

Brown Pelican

Least Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Tricolored Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black Scoter

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Clapper Rail

Sora

Black-necked Stilt

American Oystercatcher

Black-bellied Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Spotted Sandpiper

American Coot

Willet

Lesser Yellowlegs

Whimbrel

Ruddy Turnstone

Least Sandpiper

Laughing Gull

Herring Gull

Least Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Barred Owl

Chuck-will's-widow*

Chimney Swift

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

White-eyed Vireo

Yellow-throated Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Brown-headed Nuthatch*

Marsh Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Eastern Bluebird

Veery

Brown Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Swainson's Warbler*

Sedge Wren

Kentucky Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Hooded Warbler

Northern Parula

Yellow Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Eastern Towhee

Bachman's Sparrow*

Savannah Sparrow

Summer Tanager

Northern Cardinal

Blue Grosbeak

Painted Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Orchard Oriole

House Finch

House Sparrow

Eastern Phoebe

Blue-headed Vireo

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Purple Martin

Cliff Swallow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Carolina Wren

Wood Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Ovenbird

Louisiana Waterthrush

American Redstart

Blackburnian Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Palm Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Scarlet Tanager

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

American Goldfinch

* New Birds for me

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