Every year, the Audubon Society conducts spring and Christmas bird counts throughout the area.  Dewees has been participating for years, and it is a great way to learn about birds and birding.  Ed and Aaron are very good at birding by ear, and I always learn something new.  You can join the group for an hour or all day.  Andy Harrison wrote up the results of last spring’s count in this month’s issue of The Lesser Squawk, the newsletter of the Charleston Audubon and Natural History Society.  Here’s an excerpt:

Although the species total for the count was down from last year (147) there were still numerous highlights to report.  Honors for highest total among the ten birding parties went to the group on Dewees Island (leader Cathy Miller and her husband Carl, Connie and Robert Drew, Judy and Reggie Fairchild, Edwin Blitch, Gretchen Coll, Aaron Given, and the Director of Environmental Education on Dewees, Lori Sheridan Wilson – who again graciously arranged access to the island for non-residents and the use of golf carts to get around). The Dewees birders saw 71  species, including a Roseate Spoonbill (one of a surprisingly large number of this species to be observed in the Lowcountry this past spring and summer), 1 Common Nighthawk, 5 common Ground Doves and 3 Least Bitterns.

Least Bittern