Ye' Old Towne

This week started with another snow event. AND it was really cold!

Spring wants to happen!!

I made my way on the warmest day to the area I call Bramblewood, 

the first bridge was washed away by floods...in 1831 and in 1835 the first Steamboat made it's way up the river from Charleston here in the Wateree River.  When the bridge washed they started a ferry service right out there...

And on this day a Belted Kingfisher was resting...

There was three  eastern Bluebirds, seems they are getting ready for nesting.  

And from the back...

I was happy to see a Palm Warbler there,,

And a sneaky Great Egret

And another visitor that I haven't seen as much of this winter is the Yellow Rumped Warbler This one really showed off his yellow patch. 

Birds as a whole have been steeply declined in my area all winter.  I am alarmed that next winter I may see NO BIRDS...how did we come to this?? The only way to understand where we are is to look back and so....

More on the History of Camden: Colonel Joseph Kershaw

The town name changed from  the backcountry settlement of Fredericksburg, to Pine Tree Hill,  and finally to Camden in 1768  in honor of Lord Camden a champion of Colonial Rights.  Joseph Kershaw our founding father,  was born in Yorkshire England,  immigrated to  Charles Towne  in the 1750's with this brothers Ely and William.  Two brothers moved north to this area and  fought for Independence from Britain,  but William  lived out  his years in Charleston as a Loyalist. 

This Bronze stands in one of the Public Squares...

This is Joseph Kershaw (r) with our Patron Saint 
King Haigler, (1700-1763) King of the Catawba tribe.  Kershaw helped broker peace with the tribe to ensure safe passage of whites using the Tribal path moving  the goods to and from the Interior to the Port at Charleston.  Early crops traded were Rice and Indigo!
Indigo for the Royal Blue

The old Opera House and clock tower had a weathervane installed on top in 1826 representing 

King Haigler this is not the original, it's in the City Archives building. This likeness is sort of our town Mascot. 

 Both Joseph and Ely were captured at the battle of Camden and shipped to a Prison of War camp in British Honduras.  Unfortunately Ely died enroute to Bermuda  in 1780 of dysentery at age 38 and was buried there.  While imprisoned Kershaw mortgaged his properties back in South Carolina to raise money for a ship of supplies to be sent to help the Patriots regain lost ground but it was sunk by the British before it arrived.  His son John Kershaw  spent many years selling off his estate to pay off these debts.  Col Joseph  tried to recoup some of his losses, but he was told by the Governor who he wrote to, "sorry you gave of your own free will."   

The Original Courthouse (1826) is now a Welcome Center for Tourists

 Kershaw passed away December 28th, 1791 and is buried about one block from this Courthouse,   in this enclosure with other members of his family.  This land was donated by Kershaw  to the Episcopal Church. 
  Kershaw County was named in his honor that same year,  he had given practically all he had to the cause.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution plaque 

Joseph Kershaw's Burial place 

 An early  Platt showing the names of the Streets and purposed locations of key Town Centers at the time of Kershaw's death in 1791 the cemetery enclosure is located at or near the Letter C.  Now a days the Episcopal church is on the corner of Lyttleton and Laurens streets.   Generations of Kershaws are buried in the old Quaker Cemetery. 

  

I go to the Battle Field area to walk, have biked there and to check out birds...It will undergo a facelift and become a real Historic Landmark.  

Baron DeKalb mentioned in my last post a, German who came here to fight for the cause of the Colony and was wounded at the Battle of Camden died of his wounds and was buried by the Old Oak back on Joseph Kershaws land in town, and was later moved to more prominent resting place in front of the Bethesda Presbyterian Church 

That's the Baron's tomb in front....this building has a dirty secret I will discuss maybe next week?  There is at the very least two sides to every story. 

Most of our  street names are still the same as the original platt of 1791...this is one of our major arteries named for DeKalb at least in the city limits.  I will highlight other streets named for characters from the past history...I hope you find taking a close look at my town and how it came to be interesting. I have some ideas for my next post to recognize Black History Month. 

Fresh n hot.....YUM!!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

April Fool

I really hope you're all dealing with this new world order... I'm not fond of it to be certain!  Yesterday when I pulled into my nearby State Park there was this hand scribbled sign on cardboard sitting in front of a locked gate it said CLOSED TILL APRIL 30th
 REALLY?  I don't like it one bit..

So far the National Wildlife Refuge nearby is still open or it was on Friday  when I was there...they have been doing their prescribed burns as seen in this photo...Looks like it was about 3 weeks ago when they did it.

This refuge does not cater to the wading or waterfowl birds, they keep the water level too high...and I think all the burning causes run off that changes the PH of the water.  That is MY theory.   The do cater to the Red Cockaded Woodpecker tho...and they have been very successful in bringing back their habitat and increasing their numbers. I saw 4 on this day in three different locations of the refuge.  

The burning plays a large roll in this habitat restoration.  

These woodpeckers live in family groups much like Bluebirds look for the broad white cheek patch when trying to ID them and they sound a lot like White Breasted Nuthatch with a chattery sound.  The video came out better than the still since he would never be still so check out the video.  

Martin's Lake 

The yellow Jasmine has bloomed, it is our  State Flower.

This Pileated Woodpecker was at the edge of the yard this morning, My tulips  made it, and I cut my grass for the first time this week in 2020...

I took my coffee out on the screen porch this morning to sit with the dogs after they ate  so Casey could go about his morning routine while I watched him from my seat, he has been having some very big challenges lately....and I thought I saw something really fast go zooming by.  So later I hung my hummingbird feeder! NOW I've seen a male Ruby Throated feeding at it all afternoon. 

welcome home little friend, Im sure this bird was born right here in my yard 

The lettuce is almost big enough to eat.  Im trying to keep the squirrels away from it, I moved the spinach under my new safety box... but this pot is way too heavy to lift.

And the spring onions are getting ready to join that salad! I have them under a wire cage to try and keep critters out! I built this box outta some of Mom's Ramp wood.  That's why it's a little odd blueprint wise as it is re-purposed.  

Since all the State managed parks are currently closed I have to depend on my roadside nature spots...I checked on the beaver pond, and he has added a bit of fresh stuff...to the dam, kinda sloppy looking but hey it's also re-purposed!

A Belted Kingfisher was hunting close to the dam, 

I checked on the Eagle chick he is still hanging out at the nest and there was one adult in the area possibly a parent come to check on him...he leaves the nest and does his own thing I missed his flight as I was busy phishing some Black and White Warblers and Ruby Crowned Kinglets out of the trees.  They stayed back in the shadows but this Tufted Titmouse came out. 

Found more Savannah Sparrow roadside.  

And some Eastern Towhee showed an interest in me.  A female and a male.  

We had a rain day but the morning was okay so I went out early...to see if the Riverside County Park was open, it was!!  The Twenty Five Mile Creek was in flood stage again not as much as before but moving swift and muddy.  I'm checking for the Northern Waterthrush to return. I had some good interaction with a Ruby Crowned Kinglet.  He seems to have a weird toe. 

And this really "angry bird" looking Blue Grey Gnatcatcher was really mad at me for being too close to his patch!

I had to do chores...had some big pine limbs to cut up and take to the dump, then I washed my van it was so dirty!   While out there working I spotted this Brown Thrasher up high singing his heart out!  

A home video for your viewing pleasure.



I watch free movies on Tubi.  They stream fast there may be an ad or two but free is free!  The other night I saw a John Travolta flick I have never seen, it was a good thriller...Domestic Disturbance.  Also watched one with Demi Moore that was set in a beautiful seaside cottage...also a thriller/drama, called Half Light it had a twist for sure.  Both were entertaining.  Hope you got things to keep you busy while we are under these orders to stay clear of each other.  Now if they say we have to stay indoors....
HOUSTON we got a problem!!  

Now for some serious talk:  I'm down to 2 rolls of TP and one half of a roll in the van for those emergencies when one is miles from a bathroom.  So My backup plan is I have a few boxes of Kleenex and that should go about a month, after that must get creative!! I've read on various blogs and seen on You Tubes all sorts of advice.  My Granny had the Sears n Roebuck catalog in her outhouse...but Sears did away with that and put it online! There is this Harbor Freight catalog but it has a glossy finish--- ut-oh! What y'all gonna do? Those same people who bought up all the TP and are hording it, also bought rifles and shotguns to keep it.  I was clueless about the whole buy out that was happening as I am the last one to know anything!  Trump should of tossed us some TP. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Keystone Species

It was 79 degrees!  It was an amazingly beautiful day as the humidity was only 39%.  I worked outside gathering up what I hope will be the last wood pile I will need.  I find the recently fallen trees, or ones that are about to fall and that is what I use...I don't cut a tree UNLESS it's a hazard, has grown in  a spot that it can not fit, or is so deformed it will be a hazard.  

  

Today I found a Longleaf Pine seedling as they just replanted the clear cut area..So I found a seedling laying in the road I brought it home and planted it! In about 100-150 yrs it will reach maturity!  Some can be 500 yrs old.  It's a Keystone Species...and native to SC  This means we could have Red Cockaded Woodpecker numbers increase as now as much as 40% of pines planted are Longleaf.  These are being planted for a cash crop so they won't be allowed to reach that ripe old age...anyway I planted that one and there's others growing here too.

I took a Sunday Drive to this spot:

Beaver is also a Keystone species for ecosystem development! I did find a scientific paper about the Beaver, it will take hours to read and even more for my under-educated brain to comprehend...but I'm going to try. To me it's only smart to want to increase the size of Riparian areas especially since so much wetland (286 Million acres) has been drained to increase farm acreage, build roads, and subdivisions! 

Can you imagine with a little work and a lot of planning Beaver could actually bring more water to the Deserts.  The Beaver was eradicated due to early settlers having a fur hat on their head.  There was no rules or regs on taking them same as the Buffalo.  Today, on private land they can be hunted year round and on public lands like this place there is a season of Oct 1 - Mar 1  So currently in season! The reintroduction of beaver was a success but not completely. 

I found this lodge! No Beaver around but another River Otter, (above photo) he was very camera shy...

               I hope there is a Beaver sleeping inside this lodge. 

When I was in Canada I saw Muskrat lodges, they have lots of mud in them and grasses and smaller twigs are not finely thatched like a beaver's work  is, it's like a lazy attempt to be like a beaver..lol But I also saw Muskrat out of the water and it's really a cool animal I saw them in Texas, Florida, and Colorado!

you can see the beaver habitat, and the lodge on the right upper before the tree line

I did not find the dam This is a beautiful wetland on the Singleton Creek in the  Wildlife Management area and a hunter could come here and shoot a Beaver in season...and an OTTER too! I found 3 kingfishers in this area, you can see the beaver pond is still somewhat intact maybe his dam is under the bridge I had no way to see under the bridge I was on.  Here is the opposite side.  It is flowing toward me, and then under the bridge, it heads on till it empties into the Wateree Lake.

red-headed woodpecker

There is another road I can take it winds down to where Singleton Creek flows into the Wateree Lake.  So next time I will explore that road. 

This is a huge WMA.  I would avoid it during main deer hunting season tho.  And I  wished for my sisters and their 4 x 4's and all wheel drive vehicles to  continue on the road with as you see it in the distance in that shot above.  I went in as far as the Kiosk which I forgot to get a photo of...I didn't sign in since I was not staying there was one other person in there he signed the log book and said he was hunting squirrel...can you imagine that?  It reminded me of some stories my Mom told us. 

Belted Kingfisher

My Mom's family used to go on hunting camp trips.  They would bring back turkey and squirrel, and camp by the river cooking and warmed by huge campfires.  They slept on a 'bed roll pallet" on the ground.   This game meat was used to feed the family.  The Appalachian women would gather star grass or peel shiny haw bark, which was a medicinal remedy for women who were prone to miscarry their babies  

It was the bark of the Black Haw tree with a shiny black color, known to the mountain people as "Shiny Haw." My mom spoke often of time spent with Grandmother Dovie, riding her horse Dixie down into the "hollers" to gather medicinal plants for trade with the "traveling store."

Anyone who can afford a vehicle to drive way back into these woods in 2020  does not need to kill a squirrel for food!  Even if you're homeless you can go to the Food Bank and get food free of charge.  My Mom's family would all crowd  into an old T-model with kids riding the running boards, or walking behind. 

What would turtles do without this Beaver Pond to live in? They need slow water and not the swift current of the creek.  I thought of Mom's camp trips while I watched this water slowly creep by.



... way on the other side of the pond a Great Blue Heron was also hunting...the beaver has created the perfect ecosystem...there is room for  Otter, Kingfisher, and Heron and they are finding food.  Snags provide perfect nesting cavities and  insects/worms for the Red Headed Woodpecker...and where there is small prey there must be a bird of prey to help keep that in check...

 

a red-tailed hawk

Shy River Otter swims back and forth

On the way I pass a few lake access points so I cruised down one, and found a Common Loon swimming around...that was fun, not a bird I see often. 

Spring is here in between we will have more cold snaps for sure..it will be interesting to see just how hot it will get this summer around the World. 

Don't forget to participate in the Backyard Bird Count coming up Feb 14-17.  All you do is keep a list of the birds you see in your backyard in a 15 minute time frame...Find out more by clicking the link. 

Till next week...I'm taking life  day by day. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.