Leave this Wondrous Island to the Birds- NYT

[AKR1]

An exceptional piece in today’s NYT on Deveaux Island just south of Charleston having become a major gathering place for tens of thousands of coastal water birds. I think @offshorebirderwould be able to give us his take as it’s right in his backyard if I recall correctly. 
 

Leave This Wondrous Island to the Birds
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/19/opinion/carolina-coast-whimbrel-deveaux.html?referringSource=articleShare

[offshorebirder]

Thanks @AKR1 - this has been all over the local news recently.   I have visited Deveaux Bank many times over the decades for birds surveys and also enjoyment.   Seen some very large shorebird roosts at high tide, but didn't know it was vastly larger after dark. 

 

Deveaux Bank is very tricky to approach in a boat due to shallow sandbars, currents, etc.    Some of my SCDNR pals (like Felicia Sanders who was the subject of the article) jokingly call it the "Deveaux Triangle".   One winter day during bad weather we were lucky not to sink the boat.

 

All 4 South Carolina seabird nesting islands have shorebird roosts similar to this - for example, Marsh Island hosts winter night roosts of a significant percentage of the Atlantic Coast's American Oystercatchers and also Marbled Godwits.   Here is a small fraction of the Oystercatchers and Godwits seen in the daytime on a high tide roost:

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @offshorebirder:

 

Thank you for your informed follow-up comment on @AKR1's post.

 

That loooooong panorama image is impressive.

 

           Tom K.