Ninety Six National Historic Site
Robin Carter
Directions
From the intersection of SC 34 and SC 248 in the town of Ninety Six go south on SC 248 for about 2 miles to the Visitors Center on your left (east).
Birds to look for
Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Green-winged Teal (w), Redhead (w), Ring-necked Duck (w), Lesser Scaup (w), Bufflehead (w), Common Goldeneye (w), Hooded Merganser (w), Ruddy Duck (w), Wild Turkey, Pied-billed Grebe (w), Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron (s), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (s), Osprey (s), American Coot (w), Spotted Sandpiper (spring, fall), Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo (s), Yellow-throated Vireo (s), Blue-headed Vireo (w), Red-breasted Nuthatch (w), Brown-headed Nuthatch, Brown Creeper (w), Winter Wren (w), Veery (spring, fall), Gray-cheeked Thrush (spring, fall), Swainson's Thrush (spring, fall), Hermit Thrush (w), Wood Thrush (s), Gray Catbird (s), Cedar Waxwing (w), Blue-winged Warbler (spring, fall), Tennessee Warbler (spring, fall), Nashville Warbler (fall), Northern Parula (s), Yellow Warbler (spring, fall), Chestnut-sided Warbler (spring, fall), Magnolia Warbler (spring, fall), Cape May Warbler (spring, fall), Black-throated Blue Warbler (spring, fall), Yellow-rumped Warbler (w), Black-throated Green Warbler (spring, fall), Blackburnian Warbler (spring, fall), Yellow-throated Warbler (s), Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler (spring, fall), Palm Warbler (spring, fall), Bay-breasted Warbler (fall), Blackpoll Warbler (spring), Cerulean Warbler (spring, fall), Black-and-white Warbler (s), American Redstart (spring, fall), Prothonotary Warbler (s), Worm-eating Warbler (s), Ovenbird (s), Northern Waterthrush (spring, fall), Louisiana Waterthrush (s), Kentucky Warbler (s), Common Yellowthroat (s), Hooded Warbler (s), Wilson's Warbler (spring, fall), Canada Warbler (spring, fall), Yellow-breasted Chat (s), Summer Tanager (s), Scarlet Tanager (spring, fall), Savannah Sparrow (w), Grasshopper Sparrow (s), Fox Sparrow (w), Swamp Sparrow (w), Bobolink (spring), Eastern Meadowlark, Rusty Blackbird (w), Orchard Oriole (s), Baltimore Oriole (spring, fall), Purple Finch (w), House Finch, American Goldfinch
Description
This site has a pleasing mixture of habitats, easily accessible from a good trail system. Habitats include meadows, a lake, mixed oak-hardwood forest, and even a bit of floodplain forest. The lake on the east side of the park (Star Fort Lake) is one of the better spots for wintering ducks in the South Carolina Piedmont. The large meadow adjacent to the lake has Eastern Meadowlarks, nesting Grasshopper Sparrows, and wintering Savannah Sparrows.
The park is very good for migrating warblers. In the fall there are often large numbers of warblers, easily seen, in hackberry trees near the Visitor Center.