Low Country

It was Tuesday Morning when I got up early and tossed my already prepared lunchables into the cooler for a ride to Bear Island.  It closes on Nov 1st till Feb 8th. Encompassing the entire migrant duck season...so annoying, especially since they hold HUNTS during this time but birders are not allowed in.  Im wondering why haven't we lobbied the DNR to get Special Birding Days?? Birders are so passive sometimes.  Hunters buy a license they buy these tags...so I guess we need to put our money where our mouth is?  We need to form our own lobby I guess?? ABA listen up we need more access!

Sun rising above the cotton fields

Anyways I drove the 3 hrs to find the WMA closed to a special 3 day hunt..they never close on week days but this time they did! Damn. So I flagged down one of the workers, he said yes they don't normally but after this week it goes back to weekends...Some of the arriving ducks will end up dead in the back of a pick up truck.  ANGER

I was only able to scan Mary's Pond which is roadside...a few mostly Mottled Duck some possible Blue winged Teal female in there...I could not get good light on them...and I saw two female Gadwall among them. A few Yellowlegs waded in the shallows...

Same worker told me Donnelley was open it's the sister site which is much more forest they hunt there too and soon both areas will be closed but open to special hunts.   There is a fishing canal on the way to Bear's Island and I always stop there to see what's hanging around, lots of Common Gallinule, or Moorhen as I still call them.   They were weaving in and out of this this Marsh Grass. 

Also present was Snowy Egret, Tri Colored Heron, and Little Blue Heron...

Up in the trees the awesome sounds of the boat tailed grackles brightened my mood as who can't enjoy that?  The ruckus will make you smile no matter if you did get turned away at the gate. 

 the fishing canals

they have  a way of sounding like a train wreck...

After this I drove back about 11 miles to Donnelley...and spent the rest of the afternoon there...

 I was ready to find a spot to eat  lunch so I found a table on the grounds of the "lodge" 

Potato salad under a moss covered live  oak tree...

This Carolina Wren was not happy about me being there....invader alert. 

After that I started my tour by locking the van and walking the road by the rice trunks..me and my shadow (for Eileen) with all the gators, this is why there's not as much birdlife in Donnelley, in the water at least...

each one of those little things in the water is a gator 6 in this shot

This SAFE tree gets a lot of use...

Tri colored Heron, 2 Gr Egrets, a Rosette Spoonbill, 

Farther back on one of the little islands I spotted an immature Black Crowned Night Heron...

And overhead some Wood Stork checking for a good spot to land...

The Great Blue didn't seem bothered he waded out in spite of the flotilla of gators

In the back where it was safer a few American Coots, Common Gallinule, Pied Billed Grebe and two Northern Shovelers were feeding....one male

lone male...

Maybe if I stand really still she won't see me..,

Gr Blue Heron

Great Egret

After leaving this area I was more in the forest and came upon a few fields...and this stand of Wild Canna Lily, or Indian Shot   Do you know where the name came from?  The seeds look like the pellets of shotgun.  

Butterflies enjoyed these I never knew butterfly liked Canna...and so do frogs!

Green Tree Frog

I took one short hike the skeeters were really bad...but I found this Zebra Longwing so happy I did endure the onslaught of bites to see this..he looks like he is worse for wear also...

Saw Palmetto 

Nurse log

Canna under the Live Oak..

Spanish Moss

One of the many canals 

The new Blogger takes twice as long to make a post and it's all over the place, my little icon normally here at the end disappeared and Im not even going to try to get it back in this post....so just pretend it's here with it's points going on the 4 directions of My Life, My Art, My Journey!! 

Hope you enjoyed this peek at some of the Low Country of SC.

PEACE..

Every day is a new Adventure.

Go Fly A Kite!

I found this cool machine so I ordered one! It's a handy charging unit for 110 electric things, has Power sockets for DC charging, and it has USB charging, it will jump a dead battery, and it will inflate a tire, and it's rechargeable. When it will not charge you can buy replacement battery for it around $60.  SO this is cheaper than a 100 watt solar system I was considering and I will get about the same results. So one is on the way I'll have to let you know how it goes.  I got it from Amazon.  I really don't want to attach solar panels to my van since I'm not traveling all the time...this I can carry when I need it and when I don't it can store in the shed. Although it is a great emergency tool also. Check it out here DieHard

I Had a day trip on the 9th...Like I mentioned I'm keeping my eye on the ebird alerts just in case something interesting pops up that I can go hunt for....but this one I actually found on Birding in SC Facebook group I follow, a guy posted some awesome shots he took at Bear Island.  I have posted about Bear Island WMA  (wildlife management area) maybe a few times before on this blog.  It's about 2 1/2 hrs south down the dreaded I-95 to the Low Country.  I kinda decided to go last minute.  AND amazing we've had a couple days of lower humidity so it was windows down all the way south!

Spanish moss on the trees

I arrived about 11:30 am the breeze hung around till about 1:30 then it began to warm up but I still had a nice day out.  Some mosquitoes, and 2 ticks attacked me!  My skin is still crawling!   

At the Kiosk, you sign in and there's a comment card....'More Birding Access Please' was my comment...every time I go here it's locked gates and the reeds are so tall there is no place to view the open water,  the old rice fields...just a wee bit of mowing, maybe a boardwalk...throw us birders a bone please, they cater to the hunters, and yet we birders  get no special treatment. They plow tracks and plant crops to bring in geese, and ducks that over winter here that is for the hunters, because in the fall they close the main gate to anyone except hunters with special permits!  Who knows my comment may help.  It's a fantastic place but the drives are always gated and locked so you don't get to cover as much ground as you'd like.  I took one long hike to find the majority of the waterfowl at the Pecan Tree Road area, hench the ticks! shudder

Eastern Kingbird

The water level is controlled by these canals and wood structures called trunks...

they can open and close them

these roseate spoonbills look like cotton candy up on these posts...

The pink is already beginning to fade as breeding season passes...

a good look at the underside of that awesome spoonbill

The wood storks were feeding even farther away so I was happy when a few flew over me way up high so this is cropped...but it's cool to see the underside too!

Anhinga were scattered here and there and this one flew over me too...see his big webbed feet...

This moorhen,  (common gallinule) came prancing across the road...

Showing off her big green feet!

This shot was quite distant and right out in the bleaching sun, but check it out...I call this Standing Room Only!

L > R We have Royal Tern, Laughing Gull, Forster's Tern, Ring Billed Gull, Great Egret, Ring Billed Gull. 

Saw some Tri-Colored Herons out there too 

There's an ocean of sweet grass here...and if you have ever visited Charleston SC you know the awesome work of the Gullah, descendants of long ago slaves from Africa who settled on the barrier islands of SC.  They have their own language, culture, and they're artisans with great talent passed down through generations. 

Times were that as you drove down to the low country on the old tarmac you would see self made 3 sided roadside stands and in those would be the women weaving their sweet grass baskets and  all displayed for sale. I purchased such a basket many yrs ago...and I still have it.  I imagine you might find a few stands still around, but most artists take their arts n crafts down in the Market Place in Charleston.  That is a fun thing to do if you find yourself footloose in that lovely city.  One that now is becoming overcrowded and heavy with stalled traffic.  

In the above photo do you see just down from center a little rock looking thing in the water?  I did too, so I zoomed in...hello!

Just a young one about 2 ft long, I didn't see any large adults this time...wonder where they were?...another reason I don't like having to wade thru tall sea grass to get to the water's edge to see the birds.

This is one viewing platform on the  refuge...

It's right by the road so I've never seen anything in this area, maybe a Great Blue Heron or some coots on occasion.   It is a beautiful view tho...

One cool thing about trying to see over the grass is seeing all these dragon flies sitting up like pinwheels on the stems....I found 11 in this one photo!  The air was thick with them!

This one caught my eye..especially the red dots on the wing tips...

And the name is even more eye catching, its a Halloween Pennant, (Celithemis Eponina Drury)

Avocet 

These 4 showed up and I can't figure why ebird said it's rare...beause I've never been here without seeing Greater and sometime Lesser Yellow Legs too...hmmm  This is Greater yellow legs in breeding plumage note the barring across the flanks and down onto the belly 

WAY up high had 4 Mississippi Kites...Only one got close enough for a photo...and I had to crop it to even show this to you 

And along with those 4 was the bird I went down to find, it is not rare they do breed here but I had never seen one so now I have...

also a heavy crop of the lifer........Swallow Tailed Kite! 

And what a beauty!!  An amazing flyer!  Easy to see where he got the name...

He swooped...he tucked and dove....

#447

And then swiftly flew far away!  Another day spent out in nature, my Savior!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.