Drive down to Florida -January 2-4

Bottomland forest, Congaree National Park, SC, Jan 3, 2026

Bottomland forest, Congaree National Park, SC, Jan 3, 2026

 

Cold Harbor Battlefield, Mechanicsville, VA, Jan 2, 2026

I just completed a long drive down to Florida and managed to get in a small amount of birding over the course of three days as I travelled through 11 states with a few being states I have never been to before. I left home early on the 2nd and despite some bouts of snow showers in Pennsylvania I had good driving conditions overall. I wanted to push down into Virginia to visit the Cold Harbor Battlefield before the day ended and I succeeded. I have always wanted to visit this site as it was a battle in which my great, great grandfather Moses fought in. It was a massive waste of humanity as the union threw waves of troops against well entrenched confederates and suffered thousands of casualties for no real purpose. The place seems so peaceful and serene now but one can almost picture the battle as you can still see the remains of trenches among the trees. There was some bird activity which added to the peaceful feel of the spot now. I spent the night outside Petersburg (another battle my above mentioned relative fought in) and then headed out well before dawn with my main destination for the day being Congaree National Park in central South Carolina. 

I started hitting rain near the North Carolina/South Carolina line and the rain continued to some degree for the rest of the day. It was a bit out of the way to get to the park but I wanted to see the park. It is a great example of some intact bottomland, swampy forests and is a location that might have contained some of the last Bachman’s Warblers before its extinction. Despite the rain there were birds around and it was nice to get out and walk for a few miles before continuing by journey south. With the rainy weather forecast to end for the following day I decided to head down to the southern Georgia coast to spend the night so I could get out on Jekyll Island at dawn when the weather was forecast to be better.

Seaside Sparrow, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Seaside Sparrow, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Saltmarsh Sparrow and Seaside Sparrow, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Wood Duck, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Marsh, Jekyll Island, GA, Jan 4, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Masters Tract Stormwater Treatment Facility, Hastings, FL, Jan 4, 2025

On my last day of travel I headed out before dawn to nearby Jekyll Island and spent about four hours exploring various locations both on the island as well as the causeway leading to the island. It was overcast and cool but at least not pouring rain like the day before. My main target for the day was Seaside Sparrow and I happily had lots of luck with the species with multiple individuals seen. This was really the only likely life bird I would be expecting to get on this entire trip (I have somehow missed this species up until now). The Seaside Sparrow became species #2185 for me. The extensive marshes produced lots of other stuff too with many Saltmarsh Sparrows among others. I then started the last leg of the trip with another three hours of driving with a brief detour to a wetland in northern Florida near Hastings. Despite the stop being brief it was a very active spot with lots of photo opportunities. I ended the day with 89 species