Myrtle Beach Trip: DAY 5 - Bull Island

For the last day of our AMAZING stay at Myrtle Beach we got up early and headed down to the Francis Marion National Forest near Murrells Inlet SC and caught the Bulls Island Ferry to a barrier island within the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. Our guides, Captain William Christenson MSc, and First Mate Lonnie Ferguson were super fun and very knowledgeable! They'd point out dolphins and birds to our boat and as we disembarked they made sure to let Rick and I know of a photo opportunity for an American Oystercatcher on our way up the pier (last picture.) 

Estuary dolphins from the pier at Garris Landing

We learned from our Captain that the estuary dolphins are the same breed of bottlenose dolphins that live in the ocean off the coast of South Carolina, but the two never really mix.  The estuary dolphins, on average, only reach about 400lbs, while the ocean dolphins average around 700lbs. The estuary dolphins live in pods of only 3-5 animals, while the ocean dolphins travel in pods ten times that size. The ocean and estuary dolphins also have different hunting techniques!

Laughing Gull

Great Egret

Southern Leopard Frog

Redwing Blackbird (f)

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Tri-colored Heron

Blue Grosbeak (f)

Yellow Crowned Night Heron (juv) x4

Little Blue Heron

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

The mosquitos on Bulls island were TERRIBLE!! Every time the trail took us into the trees they descended in a cloud. We couldn't even stop to look for birds. Rick said when I passed through a patch of sunlight he could see the haze following me. Even in long sleeves and pants I was being eaten alive! (And Yes, we brought bug spray. It wasn't enough!)
So to escape the bugs, we headed to the beach (which was directly where EVERYONE ELSE on the boat had headed, Rick and I were the ONLY Birders!)
The Beach was AWESOME! Wonderful Breeze, No bugs, and shells everywhere! We ended up finding 12 sand dollars, 12 conch shells (I'll put those in a separate post), 3 LIVE conch, we watched a Crab SHED ITS SHELL! Rick even saw a sting ray swim by his foot!

Rick with our Seashells on the beach at Bulls Island!

Erin on the beach with our shells at Bulls Island!

But my crowning photographic achievement of the trip came on the 1.5 mile hike back to the dock (The ferry does pick ups at noon and 4pm so you can do a 1/2 day or full day). Rick and I have a book called "Rare and Elusive Birds of North America" and as we were hiking along a dike I saw something rusty colored move in the weeds, so I started snapping pictures.

It was a Least Bittern!
The smallest heron in North America!

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

The Least Bittern doesn't make too much noise, the one I was photographing was completely silent. But when they do call they say "rickrickrickrickrick" which Rick thinks is funny. Least Bitterns also don't really walk on the ground, instead they climb through the tall marsh grass about 1/2way up.

Least Bittern

Our Least Bittern never stuck his face out of the grass for me to get a full picture, but Rick and I were thrilled just to spot him! Most people never get to see this little guy and we got to take his picture!

Worm-eating Warbler

Zebra Longwing

Rick beneath a big beautiful tree on Bull Island

A mother dolphin with calf

We spotted these dolphins on the ferry ride back to Garris Landing and the Captain explained that the ONLY instinctual feeding technique dolphins have is suckling. Everything else is taught to them by other dolphins!

American Oystercatcher

This was the Oystercatcher the Captain and Lonnie pointed out to us so I could grab a picture!

Rick and I were a little sad when our time on Bulls Island came to an end (It's such an amazing place!) but when we got home, Papa had a hot supper of his famous Fried Chicken ready for us!
SO GOOD!
We were so hungry after all our walking we ate an entire chicken and 4 extra drumsticks!
It was a spectacular end to our last day at Myrtle Beach!