Myrtle Beach Marathon Birding

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation. -- Jeremiah 5:22 Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

Bonaparte`s Gulls frolicking in Atlantic Ocean surf on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Bonaparte`s gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) is a member of the seagull family Laridae found mainly in northern North America. Among the smallest of the gull species. It winters along the coasts of North America, and in the Great Lakes.

My wife and I made a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Leaving work and the kids behind, we had an evening to ourselves to walk along the beach. Strolling hand-in-hand along the shell covered sands, we laughed along with the Laughing Gulls at all the silly Bonaparte’s Gulls frolicking and wave jumping repeatedly. I also spotted some life birds.

Light showers. Cloudy, with a high near 62. South wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. 
Sunrise Today:6:44 am
Sunset Today: 6:11 pm
Daylight Hours: 11 hours, 27 minutes (+2m 3s)
Moon: 18% Waning Crescent

Myrtle Beach is a city and vacation resort on South Carolina Atlantic coast.

The next morning I set out birding with several thousand other people. And this was no normal birding excursion, but Marathon Birding.

No, it isn’t what you’re thinking. Marathon Birding sounds like hour after hour of non-stop, high-speed bird watching and listing for a period longer than most people care to do anything. And no, there weren’t six-thousand people actually birding. My Myrtle Beach Birding Marathon wasn’t a figurative birding marathon, it was literal marathon: twenty-six miles of running.
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Saturday morning I lined up at the starting line of the Myrtle Beach Marathon. At 7 AM, the gun went off and I began that long trip toward a finish line far off in the distance. As the miles wore on, 26.2 of them to be precise, a mental bird list was growing in my head. As my feet began to ache and my quads began to stiffen, repeating a list of birds I had spotted along the journey helped to ease the suffering! Some runners repeat mantras, I repeated a list of birds! ​

Ring Billed Gull on Myrtle Beach seashore

Double-crested Coromorant in Atlantic Ocean Waves

Gull playing in surf at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Bonaparte`s gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia is in seagull family found mainly in northern North America, one of the smallest gull species. It winters along the coasts of North America, and in the Great Lakes. Myrtle Beach, a city and vacation resort on South Carolina’s Atlantic coast, is the hub of the Grand Strand, a 60-mile string of beaches.

Male Bonaparte`s Gulls flying over Atlantic ocean waves

Horned Grebe; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Bonaparte`s Gull frolicking in Atlantic Ocean surf Myrtle Beach

Bonaparte`s Gull over Atlantic Ocean; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Bonaparte`s Gulls frolicking in Atlantic Ocean waves

Bonaparte`s Gull on Myrtle Beach seashore

Ring Billed Gull on Myrtle Beach seashore

Bonaparte`s Gull on Myrtle Beach seashore