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. 

Biking to the Intracoastal Waterway

We just had to take advantage of the beautiful weather God blessed us with on Sunday, April 14! So we loaded our bicycles in the SUV and drove north up the coastline. 

Destination: the vast Santee Coastal Reserve located off Highway 17 north of McClellanville. I have visited several times over the years but never took a bike. I did a two-part posting about this wildlife management area back in 2015.

Part I.  Part II. 

This website from South Carolina Trails includes a map of the route we took on our bikes, giving the ride an "easy" rating. I would say it's not exactly easy as you really need to pay attention because the conditions of the path differ from good to a little rough as you go along. 

The goal today was to ride to the Intracoastal Waterway. It’s a few miles from the main parts of the reserve so bikes seemed like a fun and expedient way to get there. The trail, overall, was in good shape except for a few sandy patches. 

Once we got there we saw several vessels plying the waters, including this yacht whose skipper tooted the horn for us.