Again this year I went on the Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions. We left from their HQ on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. All the pictures in this series were taken from a moving boat as we went from Shem Creek, to the refurbished Crab Bank just off Shem Creek and then around Shutes Folly/Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor.

One of the unexpected things I saw was Royal Tern chicks. These terns were one of at least five species that had active nests on the Castle Pinkney property: Brown Pelicans, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Laughing Gulls, Royal Tern.

The edge of the island was covered in blanket flower.

That red thing is trash, probably washed up by the tide as there is no human activity allowed on the island. The Snowy Egret popping out of the brush made me laugh.

The adult Royal Terns were looking around while the chicks were either laying or standing in place in the couple of minutes I had to watch them. It was hot and had been raining.

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, from Shem Creek, to the refurbished Crab Bank just off Shem Creek and then around Shutes Folly/Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor.

June 23, 2024