Date: 1/24/26 9:15 am From: Chris Marsh (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Winter Storm Fern and bird populations in the Carolinas
Chris,
Very interesting!! That was December 25 1989 and was 3 months after
Hurricane Hugo hit SC. Along the northern SC coast (Myrtle Beach->
Charleston) the snow melted quickly but it remained unusually cold through
January. While doing shorebird surveys at Cape Romain NWR, Phil Wilkinson
(SCDNR) and I found multiple dead pelicans with feet webbing and bill
pouches split as result of severe frostbite.
Chris Marsh
Winston-Salem, NC
<cmarshlci...>
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 11:35 AM Christopher Hill <carolinabirds...>
wrote:
> Way back in the day on Carolinabirds I saved a post from Hal Broadfoot,
> relevant now, perhaps. Here it is:
>
>
>
> Subject: frozen birds Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 23:38:34 EST Hal Broadfoot
>
>
>
> CBirders, Eric's query about the frozen plover reminded me of a
>
> mid-to-late-nineteen-eighties CBC on which we found numerous frozen
> birds.
>
> The count was the Southport-Bald Head Island CBC, and I was on one of the
>
> teams counting on Bald Head Island.
>
>
>
> That year, we had a winter storm move through right at Christmas and the
>
> weather remained bitter cold through New Year's. The canals and ponds at
>
> Bald head were all frozen solid. There was about six inches of snow on
> the
>
> ground.
>
>
>
> We found sparrows frozen to branches, a couple of gulls and a pelican that
>
> seemed to have frozen dead in flight and dropped to Earth, and a
> mockingbird
>
> lying on the ground under what I guess was its nighttime roost. Under a
>
> tussock of ornamental grass on the golf course, we found a group of about
> ten
>
> dowitchers frozen in huddle. The dowitchers formed a circle with their
> tails
>
> in the center and their bills pointing out like the spokes of a
> wheel. One
>
> of our group picked up the frozen mass and passed it around intact. For a
>
> while that morning, we had a list of dead species that rivaled the bird
> count
>
> list.
>
>
> [end quote]
>
>
>
> Chris Hill, Ph.D.
> Professor
> Biology Department
> Coastal Carolina University
> Office: Douglas 207H
> (843) 349-2567
> email: <chill...>
>
>
