The 28 Christmas Bird Counts in South Carolina during 2015-16 set a record high. Two factors influenced this year’s counts: 1) the record October rains, and 2) the unusually warm weather. Access to many birding areas were closed because of the rains with roads and bridges washed out and areas flooded. This resulted in fewer birds being seen. Likewise the unseasonably warm weather during the count period meant that many winter visitors especially waterfowl and sparrows had not arrived. Unfortunately the warm weather did not produce any half-hardy or lingering summer residents. There were few irruptive species. Pine Siskins were found on 48 % of the counts, Purple Finches on 37 % and Red-breasted Nuthatches on 15%.. Continued population declines were seen in American Black Duck, Northern Bobwhite, American Kestrel, Loggerhead Shrike, Field Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird. Additionally Killdeer, Eastern Screech-Owl, Gray Catbird, and Brown Thrasher numbers seemed lower this season. Two coastal counts had Western Grebes, a first for SC CBCs; and four had Roseate Spoonbills, a species increasing in SC. Coastal McClellanville had a record high of 178 species. The highest Coastal Plains-Sandhills count was the Santee N.W.R. with 124 species, while the top Piedmont-Mountain Count was the Lake Wateree (87) count.
There were nine coastal counts. The recently re-introduced Red-cockaded Woodpeckers again were seen this year on the ACE Basin (153) CBC. This count has high numbers of Spotted Sandpipers and Marsh Wrens. Notable were Northern Bobwhite and Roseate Spoonbill. A remarkable Western Grebe off Bulls Island was the best bird on the Charleston (152) count. Also new were Roseate Spoonbill and Barn Swallow. A record number of Piping Plovers (11) was good news. Hilton Head (142) had a new high for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds but new lows for Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Sedge Wren, and Saltmarsh Sparrow. Litchfield-Pawleys Island (157) also had a Western Grebe and a count week Roseate Spoonbill. Of the six high counts that of Red-cockaded Woodpecker (38) was noteworthy. The six record lows included the endangered Piping Plover. The Low Country (122) CBC had four new species: Cattle Egret, American Woodcock, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Gray Catbird; 19 record counts including four American Kestrels; but 14 new lows including Sharp-shinned Hawk and Rock Pigeon. New for the McClellanville (178) count was Roseate Spoonbill. Black-crowned Night-Heron, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Black-and-white Warbler had new highs. There were 17 new lows including declining species like American Black Duck, Canvasback, and Field and Vesper sparrows. In its 4th year, Sea Is (158) had four new species: Hairy Woodpecker, Peregrine Falcon, a late Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Winter Wren. Notable was an Ipswich race Savannah Sparrow. There were 21 new highs including nine Roseate Spoonbills and a remarkable 57 Bald Eagles. There were 34 lows including Common Ground-Dove (4), Brown Thrasher, and American Kestrel. New for the Sun City-Okatie (110) count were Gadwall, American Wigeon, and Red-throated Loon. Among the 10 new highs were a remarkable 56 Bald Eagles. Ten new lows included the declining Loggerhead Shrike. Among the ten new birds found on the Winyah Bay (168) CBC were eight Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, a Brant, a Sandhill Crane, and a remarkable four Barn Owls. There were eight new highs including eight Roseate Spoonbills, two Snow Geese, and 16 House Sparrows, the last a difficult to find species in coastal South Carolina.
Ten counts were held in the Coastal Plains and Sandhills regions. Northern Pintail was new for the Aiken (79) CBC which had seven new lows including an encouraging one Brown-headed Cowbird. Common Loon and Bonaparte's Gull were new for the Carolina Sandhills N.W.R. (74), and two House Wrens was a new high. The count also had seven new lows including Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks, and Eastern Screech and Great Horned owls. High river levels and few ponds because of the flooding reduced access to participants of the Columbia (76) count. Two Osprey were a record high and an encouraging trend. New lows were reached for Hooded Merganser, Cooper Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, and Rock Pigeon. Columbia had one Purple Finch and one Pine Siskin.. Species total for the Congaree National Park (94) count were impacted by high flood waters making many good areas unreachable. New for the count was a juvenile Golden Eagle, a pair of Buffleheads, and a Common Gallinule which responded to a playback of its calls. The count had near national highs of Pileated Woodpeckers (87) and Barred Owls (32). The Barred Owl count would have been higher if Brad Dalton had known about the Bluff Road washout and detour. The Four-Hole Swamp (100) count had two new species: King Rail and Boat-tailed Grackle which is unusual inland. Among the ten new highs were a remarkable 828 Black Vultures, 19 Bald Eagles, eight Hairy Woodpeckers, and 46 Vesper Sparrows, an encouraging number for this declining species. Among the 11 new lows was the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker (5). Lower Saluda (78) had cloudy weather which reduced participant ability to see gulls on the lake; this along with the warm weather and the lack of access to one of the better waterfowl spots reduced the total species and resulted in 33 new species lows and only four new highs. A first for the Pee Dee (91) count were 15 Cattle Egrets. A group of 41 Wilson's Snipe were also new as were 12 Snowy Egrets. Record counts of 27 Eurasian Collared-Doves and six Bald Eagles were notable.. The Pinewood (77) count suffered from delays and detours from closed bridges and washed out roads. This resulted in less effort owling, fewer species and 23 new lows. Only Canada Goose and American Crow reached record highs and Sedge Wren was the only new species. All day clouds, wind and light rain greatly reduce the species count of the Santee N.W.R. (124) CBC. There were 13 new lows but only one new high, Common Loon. A Boat-tailed Grackle represented only the 3rd appearance of this coastal species on the Santee count. The Savannah River Site (109) count experienced warm weather and high winds which made bird detection difficult. There were 20 new lows and waterfowl numbers were down and declining because of an outbreak of Hydrillia sp. on the lakes. The best bird was a Forester's Tern. The lack of participants having access to this restricted site is also a problem.
There were eight Piedmont counts. The Clemson (85) species count was low not only because of the warm weather but also because of the few participants as the count was held on a Monday. There were ten lows including Bald Eagle but a record number of Eurasian Collared-Doves was encouraging for this species. Clemson had two Red-breasted Nuthatches and 31 Purple Finches but no Pine Siskins. In its 4th year, the Keowee count had nice weather but low numbers of birds with 21 new lows; eight record highs and five new species including Greater White-fronted Goose, Peregrine Falcon, and Vesper Sparrow. Lake Wateree had 87 species which is above average but had fewer than average individuals. New to the count were Northern Pintail and White-eyed Vireo. Other notable species were Wilson's Snipe, Red-breasted and White-breasted nuthatches, and Rusty Blackbird. Eight species had record highs, 13 species record lows and ten species usually recorded were missed. Some of the misses were Rock Pigeon, Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Meadowlark, and Savannah Sparrow. Long Cane (64) had a good sized flock of Fish Crows. Ring-necked Duck was new there. There were record lows of American Coot, Barred Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, and four other species. North Greenville (84) had a unique Common Raven. New were Ross's Goose and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; continuing this year’s trend there were 12 new lows. Rocky River (68) also had a number of new lows (15) and two new species: Horned Grebe and Great Egret. With a month of warm weather and fewer participants, the Spartanburg count had a decade low of 79 species. The best birds were a Bald Eagle, large flocks of American Robins, and an amazing 563 Rusty Blackbirds. York-Rock Hill (62) also experienced a low number of species and eight new low counts.