Back on the Trail Deep in the ACE Basin

 

Two days before Thanksgiving worked out well for a visit to the ACE Basin, the Lowcountry treasure of vast wilderness and wildlife. 

With the Donnelley and Bear Island state nature preserves closed for seasonal hunting I made the 50-mile drive to the Ernest F. Hollings National Wildlife Refuge, which prohibits hunting.

This refuge near Hollywood and Meggett was established in 1990. It consists of 11,815 acres. The ACE in ACE Basin stands for three rivers- the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto that run and drain through a protected system of 350,000 acres representing one of the largest undeveloped wetland ecosystems remaining on America’s East Coast. Ernest Hollings (1922-2019) of Charleston was a longtime and colorful political figure as a South Carolina governor and U.S. senator. 

Among the features is the Grove Plantation house that was built in 1828 by George Washington Morris (1799-1834), grandson of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The late Federal-style structure is one of the few antebellum mansions in the region to survive the Civil War. Today it serves as offices for U.S. Fish and Wildlife staffers who maintain the vast property. 

The front of the house faces toward the Edisto River. Back then the river was a key mode of transportation and transport so when friends, family, or business associates arrived by boat they would see the front of the home. 

Winter Bird Count

 

Baltimore Orioles 

Christmas Eve became extra joyous when my grape jelly feeder in the backyard was visited throughout the holy day by a few beautiful Baltimore Orioles! 

After snapping some photos through the window, I moved upstairs and quickly and quietly opened a bathroom window that overlooks our array of feeders. 

What a color scheme has this fine feathered fellow! 

Orioles crave the jelly, so I try to it out for them, especially in the fall and winter.

The weather was very chilly on this day, in the upper 20s-low 30s. A knowledgeable friend who owns the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Mt. Pleasant, after I posted some of these photos on Facebook, said the cold temperatures make Orioles and other birds more active (and hungry I reckon). 

Female Baltimore Orioles came by too on this day. I didn’t get any photos of the lady Os. That’s a Pine Warbler in the middle of this pix. 

Here are some more of my special Christmas Eve Orioles! 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge

2012 got off to a healthy, outdoorsy start when Alesia and I visited one of the wonderful wildlife areas in the Charleston area.  The ACE Basin is a vast protected wilderness south of Charleston.  ACE stands for the three rivers that converge here- the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto.  Thousands of acres, many of which were rice fields dating back to the 1700s, are now protected. 

I was excited to see and photograph my first Northern Harrier at this site. A fellow birder we ran into helped with the identification, pointing out the Harrier's owl-like face as a key characteristic.

It's not the best photo, but here's one of the two Bald Eagles we saw at the very end of our Hollings ACE Basin first-time visit. I saw three Bald Eagles yesterday at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens Audubon Swamp.  No photos from that encounter, but did see lots of migrating ducks.  That will be a future posting!

Bobwhite...Bobwhite!  Yes, that's what these birds are. I came upon them even before we got to the refuge entrance.  There they were, on the side of the road.  I stopped the car right next to them and took the above shot.  When I moved up the car a bit and got out, they started to move into the grass and pinestraw. Then we saw a bunch more emerge from both sides of the road. 

We saw maybe 20 Bobwhites, three or four at a time in groups along the road.  They made a whimpering sound, not the eponymous "bob WHITE" call.  Eponymous- Oooh, big word, impressed?

The two birders we met were doing an Audubon count and they were very impressed with our Bobwhite sighting and photos.  I think we got an assist for that one on their bird list.

I got lucky with this American Crow "action" shot! Caw...Caw!

A Snowy Egret perched on a rice field trunk.  It's quite an interesting history lesson at the Hollings refuge and other state wildlife management areas along the South Carolina coast.  You can learn about how these trunks controlled the water levels in the rice fields.  And you can easily envision the slaves toiling hard cultivating the popular "Carolina Gold" brand of rice. 

Snake! The temperature of around 70 was comfortable for us and other critters too to be out and about.

We came across this snake near the old plantation house. It was about two feet long and very beautiful in a snakey kind of way.  Some kind of water snake probably.  My friend Rick believes it to be a type of water snake. 

Glad to have that long lens! I don't think this snake is venomous, but better safe than sorry.

This ACE Basin preserve features a plantation house that dates to 1828.  It is one of only three in this region to have survived the Civil War. The park offices are in the old house.  It was closed on New Year's Day so we looked in the windows.

The walk up to the house is just glorious!

Love the Spanish moss!

Just beautiful out here!

Beauty, education, and exercise- lots to see and do if you're up for the drive and lots of walking.

The Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin is a National Wildlife Refuge located off SC Highway 174 near Adams Run.

Click here for directions and other information: http://www.fws.gov/acebasin/

Already in 2012 I've had this and a few other outstanding nature and bird outings.  Look for upcoming postings from another National Wildlife Refuge, this one near Savannah, from Magnolia Plantation and Gardens near Charleston, and of course, Magnolia Cemetery (subject of my that came out in late 2011).