WILDLIFE ON KIAWAH ISLAND
RECENT WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS AND INFORMATION
21 Beachwalker Drive
Kiawah Island, SC 29455
(843) 768-9166
* May 12, 2013 – Loggerhead Turtle nesting season has officially begun! Kiawah recorded the first Loggerhead Turtle nest in the state today. Check back for updates throughout the season.....
* May 9, 2013 – We found our 2nd bobcat den of the year today! Bobcat 450 had 1 male kitten in a den on Captain Sam's spit. The kitten was approximately 4 weeks old and weighed just under 2 pounds. Picture in slideshow to right.
* May 7, 2013 – Town Council approved new regulations for pets on the beach today. Pets are now prohibited from entering critical habitat areas on each end of the island. View map of the new regulations.
* April 30, 2013 – A male Wood Duck was seen this afternoon on the pond at Ocean Oaks. Wood Ducks are fairly rare on Kiawah and are typically found in wooded, freshwater swamps and ponds. What made this sighting even more unusual was the fact that the Wood Duck was standing on top of a Yellow-bellied Slider turtle. See picture in slideshow to right.
* April 3, 2013 – We found our 1st bobcat den of the year today! Bobcat 700 had 1 female kitten in a den close to Windswept Villas. The kitten was approximately 10 days old. Picture in slideshow to right.
* April 2, 2013 – The location map for Coyote 100 is now available for viewing by clicking here. Enjoy!
* February 20, 2013 – We caught our first coyote today near the Ocean Course Golf Course (picture to right). This adult male coyote (31 lbs, 11 oz) was fitted with Collar 100 and released. We plan to trap and collar one more coyote this winter as part of a new study to determine home range size, travel patterns, and habitat use of coyotes on the island.
* February 13, 2013 – We saw quite a few neat birds today on the island. A stop at Willet Pond produced 9 Ring-necked ducks (rarely seen on Kiawah), 75 scaup (mostly Lessers, but a few Greaters), and 85 Redheads (the largest flock we have seen). We also saw 3 Great Black-backed Gulls at Captain Sam's Inlet (the first we have seen this winter). Red Knots are still present in large numbers and today were roosting near Captain Sam's Inlet.
* February 6, 2013 – Bobcat Trapping Update. We have captured 10 bobcats so far and have now put out all 6 of the Bobcat GPS collars for 2013. Visit the 2013 Bobcat Page for more details and to view the tracking maps for all 6 cats. For more information on the Bobcat GPS Study, click here.
* February 6, 2013 – Biologists spotted a group of more than a 1,000
Red Knots today on the beach near The Beach Club. Numbers of Red Knots on the beachfront will increase dramatically in the next
few months as these migrants work their way up the coast to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Please keep your distance from these
birds and do not walk or run through these flocks. Never allow dogs to chase these birds. Disturbance of these birds prevents them
from feeding and forces them to expend unnecessary energy, which may result in their deaths. Red Knots are an imperiled species and
numbers have dropped substantially in the last 20 years. They are currently being evaluated for listing under the Federal Endangered
Species Act.
* January 31, 2013 – Bobcat trapping for the 2013 Bobcat GPS Study began on January 28. Trapping has gone very well and we have captured 6 different bobcats to date. Four of these were fitted with GPS collars. All 6 of the cats caught so far have been captured previously, including several originally tagged as kittens. To view pictures and details on each of these bobcats, visit the 2013 Bobcat Page. For more information on the Bobcat GPS Study, click here.