Sunday, August 2, 2015

Santee Coastal Reserve Part II

Last Monday I had a very nice "staycation" outing back to the Santee Coastal Reserve Wildlife Management Area north of McClellanville, S.C.

It was warm day and very buggy along some pathways along the 24,000 acre nature site. But my friend Beverly Donald and I came away with some excellent photographs. The clouds were gorgeous, enhancing wide shots like the ones below.
Love this photo!



Billowing clouds above the reserve's boardwalk trail
Two Roseate Spoonbills flew over the boardwalk- what a neat site to see!
At the beginning of our visit to the Santee WMA, Beverly and I took pictures of each other on the rice trunk display in front of the office/welcome center. 
Beverly Donald (below) is the superintendent of the magnificent and historic Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. I have written two books about this most beautiful and interesting place! See book details elsewhere on this blog. 

Here are some of the birds I photographed on this visit:
Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Green Heron- note the very large claws!
Same Green Heron- this is one of my favorite birds! 

Female Red-winged Blackbird- interestingly, we didn't see any of the distinctive male Red-wingers
Eastern Kingbird
Waterman at work
On the trail, alligators definitely have the right of way! 
There are ruins of an old plantation house at the Santee Coastal Reserve WMA that I have yet to see. Also, there is a trail (six or seven miles roundtrip we are told) that leads to the Intracoastal Waterway that also needs to be explored- but I'll wait for cooler weather and fewer bugs (hopefully) for that excursion. 






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