Pawleys Island
Robin Carter
Directions
Turn east from US 17 about 22 miles south of Myrtle Beach or 12 miles north of Georgetown. There are two causeways to the island. It is easy to go out to the island using one causeway and return to the mainland using the other. The inlet park is at the south end of the island.
Birds to look for
Surf Scoter (w), Black Scoter (w), Hooded Merganser (w), Red-breasted Merganser (w), Red-throated Loon (w), Common Loon (w), Horned Grebe (w), Northern Gannet (w), Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Osprey, Clapper Rail, Black-bellied Plover (m, w), Semipalmated Plover (m, w), American Oystercatcher, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper (m, w), Ruddy Turnstone (m, w), Red Knot (m, w), Sanderling (m, w), Semipalmated Sandpiper (m), Western Sandpiper (m, w), Least Sandpiper (m, w), Dunlin (m, w), Short-billed Dowitcher (m, w), Laughing Gull, Bonaparte's Gull (w), Ring-billed Gull (w), Herring Gull (w), Great Black-backed Gull (w), Caspian Tern (m, w), Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern (m, s), Forster's Tern, Black Skimmer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, Boat-tailed Grackle.
Description
Pawley's Island is worth a visit if you have plenty of time, or if you are not physically capable of walking to the jetty at Huntington Beach State Park. The small park at the south end of the island is only about 200 yards from an inlet. This park is very crowded during the summer beach season, but has few birds then, anyway. Rarities seen on Pawley's Island include Gray Kingbird.
There is a second small park on the island, located on the salt marsh at the end of the north causeway. It's not much, but it will give you a safe place to park while you overlook the salt marsh and creek.