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. 

Bear Island WMA- Summer Summit

 

On Wednesday, June 28 I finally made the trek down to Green Pond in the ACE Basin. I had the itch for months and the right day was there so off I went. 

The 12,000-acre Bear Island Wildlife Management Area was the destination. From my house it’s about 45 miles to the left turn off Highway 17 (Bennett's Point Road) then another 15 miles or so to the entrance to the vast nature preserve. 

I received a nice greeting near the gate from this friendly hen that walked up to my car. It seemed to belong to the home situated just outside the preserve.

This had to be an omen that good birding was ahead for me. 

I identified this as a Pedresa Chicken using a bird ID app I'm trying out called Picture Bird.  I open the app, bring in my bird photo and in seconds it tells me the type of bird. This was helpful in this outing to confirm birds I have seen before and to help with identities I was not so sure about. 

Just inside the entrance is a large body of water called Mary’s House Pond.

Past visits have taught me there are usually some large wading birds here. 

And sure enough, I spotted Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. 

I tried out some different photo processing tools in my favorite Snapseed app. 

Special Red Bird Highlights ACE Basin Trek

 

Our trip Saturday, June 26 to the Hollings National Wildlife Refuge didn’t start well. As soon as we parked here a downpour began. Would we have to turn around and go home after the hour-plus drive? 

We took cover and waited for a bit in hopes the rain would cease. And it did before too long. This photo was taken a few hours later after our nearly four-mile hike around the ACE Basin sanctuary. 

A fortunate decision was to begin our walk through these woods that served as a canopy protecting us from rain that continued for several minutes once we got going on the trail. 

Fortunate also because within minutes a red bird caught my eye off to the left. 

At first I thought it was “only” a Northern Cardinal. 

I quickly realized through my camera lens that this was no Cardinal. This is a Summer Tanager. Not your every day bird, though some folks have had them at their backyard feeders, 

One tell is the light-colored Bill. A Cardinal's is black. 

ACE Basin- No Bears but Many Birds and Gators at Bear Island

 

It was good to get out of the house Sunday and make the lengthy drive south to the ACE Basin. The vast protected preserve is worth the drive time because it’s always a great commune with nature. And it’s so quiet out there except for the calls of birds and the grunts of alligators. And we did see lots of both. 

To follow are my photographs that show some of what can be seen at the precious preserve called the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area.

This long road dissects the 12,000-acre undeveloped property. It extends from the entrance straight to the outer limits of Bear Island. 

ACE Basin Birthday Treat!

On Tuesday, August 11 I headed down to the ACE Basin for a getaway on a special day for me, a certain landmark birthday.

A fine dinner that night with Alesia at Hall’s Chophouse and a surprise online get together with my kids and siblings would come later in the day. But by 10:30 a.m. or so I was at the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area located south of Charleston some 65 miles from my house in a place called Green Pond, S.C.

It was a very warm day but it felt good to be again roaming the vast and remote nature preserve once the domain of plantations (and slaves toiling in the rice fields).

To follow are my photographs from this summer outing.

First is featured some of the birds I captured in flight. Seeing a number of the distinctive Swallow-tailed Kites was a highlight. A veritable kettle of kits there was!  That is one of the collective names for Kites. "String" could be a good one too, right?


They and their close relative Mississippi Kite were spotted circling above a field near the lodge structure at Donnelley.

The Cost of Slavery- the Hutchinsons of St. Bartholomew's Parish (Colleton County, S.C.)

Hercules- $750. Hector- $700. Marlborough- $350. Molly- $600. Mary- $300. Betsy- $50.

These "Negroes" were slaves belonging to planter and lawyer Leger Hutchinson, Esq. And these were the values placed on each of them. A document like this truly brings slavery to life and light.

Leger died in 1815 at the young age of 24. He was part of a line of Hutchinsons who owned large rice plantations and hundreds of slaves in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Specifically, Leger was from what was then called St. Bartholomew Parish. Today it is Colleton County.

Remote ACE Basin Cemetery Revisited

Such a remote part of the Lowcountry. But people did live and die there. This week we drove about 40 miles south of Charleston to the ACE Basin, to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, to the Boynton Trail within the vast nature preserve. Its address is barely on the map (or internet) too: Green Pond, S.C.

After more effort than I thought it would take, we found what we were looking to find. A very old cemetery that may have burials going back to the 1700s. There are five visible grave markers here.

All Aces in the ACE Basin

One of the many great things about the ACE Basin is that its state and federal nature refuges are almost always open to the intrepid visitor willing to travel to what some may consider the middle of nowhere.

Taken when I arrived (before getting all hot and sweaty)

It had been several months since I trekked to one of the basin’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs ). I found some free time one day recently and with the prospect of soon having to deal with another hurricane (Dorian), I grabbed my camera and bug spray and headed south on Highway 17 to the Hollings National Wildlife Refuge. It’s about an hour drive from my house. 

Fun Bear Island WMA Visit Highlighted by Encounter with Roseate Spoonbills

Bear Island is a vast wildlife refuge comprising 5,385 acres of protected land and waterways

I photographed and videotaped a "bowl" of Roseate Spoonbills in a shallow canal Sunday, March 10, 2019, deep in the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area. This vast preserve is located about 45 miles south of Charleston in the wonderful ACE Basin.

It was the neatest encounter on a day full of bird activity.  I'll post photos later. Here is the video I took, put together on Kizoa, that runs one minute 15 seconds. Photos follow of this unique creature, other birds and scenes from the special place that is the Bear Island WMA.

Roseate Spoonbills

It's clear where the name spoonbill comes from in this photo

ACE Basin Basking!

Fall debuted a few weeks ago but the hot, humid and hurricane weather (thanks to Florence and Michael) continued into October.

Last weekend was significantly cooler and sunny too so on Sunday Alesia and I drove down to the Hollings National Wildlife Refuge in the Lowcountry's beautiful ACE Basin.

Since it was Sunday we had to park a ways away from the old (but restored) Grove Plantation House, which dates to the 1820s. Today it serves as the refuge's office. Check the embedded link for a timeline of the historic structure.

The house and surrounding grounds are interesting photo material by themselves.

Several of my photos, processed his the Snapseed app, follow.

Painted Bunting a Donnelley Delight!

On Sunday, July 23 we braved the Lowcountry heat and humidity and ventured south to the ACE Basin's Donnelley Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

For us, the drive is about 50 miles. Donnelley is located off Highway 17 in the metropolis (ha!) of Green Pond, S.C.

Bear Island Bicycle Bliss!

A recent visit to wonderful Bear Island in the ACE Basin south of Charleston allowed for much more ground to be covered than past visits.  Why?  Bicycles!

Alesia and I threw (not literally!) our bikes in the back of the SUV on a pretty Sunday morning (May 7) and made the hour drive to the wild wilderness of this 12,000 acre sanctuary, which is managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

In 2012 I made a video about Bear Island. It's on my YouTube channel. Click here to check it out.  I also have it embedded at the end of this post.

Botany Bay Beach- Always a Great Getaway!

Still another Charleston-area diamond in the rough is the State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) property called Botany Bay Plantation, which became part of the state system in 2008.

It features hiking trails and a driving tour, but the neatest thing about Botany Bay is its barrier island. A half-mile walk on a well-maintained boardwalk is required to reach the shell-filled boneyard beach. That lengthy walk, plus the remoteness of the the wildlife refuge located off Highway 174 approaching Edisto Island, keeps the crowds down. So when you go to Botany Bay you can be assured plenty of room to relax, explore or both, without the influx of people common at the Charleston area's more popular beaches.

From Highway 174, it's still a few miles of dirt road driving to the Botany Bay entrance. Along the way you will be treated to a beautiful avenue of (live) oak trees.

Botany Bay, I should mention, is in coastal South Carolina's ACE Basin, a vast protected preserve of former rice plantations, rivers, islands and waterways.

Earlier this month I posted pictures from another ACE Basin wildlife area, Bear Island.

Bear Island Bonanza!

Father's Day- June 19, 2016- found this pop headed south of Charleston down Highway 17 to the wonderful ACE Basin. Destination: Bear Island. This is one of the Lowcountry's secret jewels. It is a vast preserve of former rice plantations, woodlands, waterways, barrier and marsh islands that have been protected for visitors and seasonal hunters to enjoy and appreciate.

Alligators!

It is springtime and the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, and the alligators are...menacing.

My recent visits to two of the South Carolina Lowcountry's wildlife areas have been highlighted by my extreme caution with every step when I'm near the old rice fields that are common to these special sanctuaries.

Spring is when the alligators come out of their winter hibernation to soak up the sun, to mate and create little gators, and to feed on the unlucky fish and animals that cross their paths. Don't fall for that charming, toothy gator smile (below), these guys are lethal.