White Delight- Rare Snowfall Blankets Our Area

 

Local TV meteorologists were predicting it for several days and around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 it began. What began? SNOW! 

This is a very rare occurrence in the Charleston area. 

The last major snowfall we had was seven years ago, Jan. 3-4, 2018. Check out my post from then!

So Tuesday night it began sleeting.  Around 8:30 the temperature dipped to below freezing, and the white stuff started to fall. 

It did not take long to accumulate, covering the No. 15 fairway and green at Coosaw Creek Country Club where we live. 

For Joseph’s fiancée Tamy, just a few days removed from her native Brazil, this was her first encounter with snow. 

She had also never before seen a raccoon. This one came to our porch to eat some cat food we had out for a couple feral cats we have adopted (more or less). 

At daybreak the next morning a winter wonderland is revealed. 

Chill Start to the New Year

 

I was eager to get in an early 2025 nature outing so on Jan. 9 I cleared my schedule and headed south down to the ACE Basin.

It was clear cold day with temperatures in the 39-41 degrees range. I felt it in my hands while walking around looking for birds to photograph. 

I knew the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area might be closed, and it was for periodic hunting. 

But I also knew that I could still check out Mary’s House Pond, which is accessible after parking in the entrance area. 

Having been to Bear Island many times (see this post when we took bicycles out there!), the large pond attracts many birds, especially migratory ones in the winter. 

I would not be disappointed! Tundra Swans were the stars of the show. 

Tundras are North America’s most common swan but you don’t see them too often in the S.C. Lowcountry. They breed in Canada and Alaska and migrate to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts during the winter. 

Here at Bear Island is the only place I have seen this big beauty.