June 13, 2012 Hunnington Beach St. Park, South Carolina

In June I enjoyed some time just south of Myrtle Beach. There Hunnington Beach State Park is always my favorite spot for birding. Many birds not listed but of particular interest include a painted bunting and a brown booby. The painted bunting was at a feeding station. The brown booby is a more interesting story. After spending the better part of a morning birding I was running out of time but I decided to visit the jetty located at the north end of the park. Someone directed me toward the jetty but I quickly observed that the distance to actually walk there was going to prohibit me from actually stepping foot on the jetty. As I returned to my car with binoculars harnessed to my chest I met a couple also with binoculars and several really nice cameras. Us birders kind of stand out among the beach goers so we struck up a short conversation. They too were pressed for time but wanted to visit the jetty where it had been rummored a brown booby had been seen. Now you know you are talking to a birder when that statement is not followed by a multitude of one-liners. I stated that would be a first for me. The gentleman indicated he had seen them before just not in North America. Anyway, I could not find the time to turn and seek the bird of a life time, but I did note that our fishing plans the next day did include the water around the jetty. To make a long story short from our pontoon boat the next day I did observe two large flying birds, one brown, the other with distinct markings that would indicate a brown booby. I had maybe 20 seconds of viewing time. The adult definitely had the white to black "belly" markings of a brown booby. I have made every attempt to find another bird of that size with that distinct black to white transition on the breast of the bird. I am 95% sure that I saw a brown booby. Some other birds: Blue gray knatcatchers,Carolina wren,Mocking bird,Carolina chickadee, Boat Tailed Grackles,Brandts, cormorant,double crested cormorant,Great egrets,Little blue herons, Tricolored herons,Great blues, Red Shouldered Hawks,Red winged black birds,Anhigas, Wood stork and multiple gulls.