Category Archives: Landscape

Sunrise at Boneyard Beach

It’s an almost 1/2 mile (675 Meter) trek to the beach, most of it through an open marsh with this one dead tree standing at the edge of the walkway.

Sunrise, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area
Sunrise, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area

One small fishing boat cruised back and forth parallel to the beach.

Sunrise at Boneyard Beach, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area
Sunrise at Boneyard Beach, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area

Brown Pelicans and some terns and/or gulls were feeding.

Sunrise at Boneyard Beach, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area
Sunrise at Boneyard Beach, Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area

A few dolphin passed by, too, but alas no photo.

Brown Pelicans Flying at Sunrise
Brown Pelicans Flying at Sunrise

Botany Bay Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 19, 2023

 

Sunrise at Bear Island, Wider Views

A couple more pre-sunrise images of a marsh at Bear Island. I could tell the color wasn’t going to be much so worked on getting the dewy grass in the foreground.  While avoiding a giant ant hill.

Marsh Just Before Sunrise
Marsh Just Before Sunrise

The water was like glass, but there wasn’t much to reflect in it.

Marsh Just Before Sunrise
Marsh Just Before Sunrise

Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 21, 2023

Sunrise at Bear Island

It was a cloudless morning so the sunrise wasn’t spectacular. Other than that the not to be taken for granted fact that sun rose another day. There was a nice orange glow for a few minutes.

An Alligator was out moving around early.

Alligator In Pre-sunrise Glow
Alligator In Pre-sunrise Glow

A Great Blue Heron announced his presence.

Great Blue Heron at Sun Up
Great Blue Heron at Sun Up

The same GBH passed a pair of Tricolored Herons going the other way.

Herons Up Early
Herons Up Early

Just before the sun topped the tree line the orange intensified.

Here Comes The Sun
Here Comes The Sun

Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 21, 2023

Empty Spoonie Tree and Belted Kingfisher

We didn’t see much for birds on Saturday at Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. The Spoonie Tree, so named because Roseate Spoonbills like to perch in it when they are around, had no birds when we arrived.

The Spoonie Tree, No Occupants
The Spoonie Tree, No Occupants

The elusive Kingfisher was in her usual spot on the water control trunk.

Female Belted Kingfisher on Water Control Trunk
Female Belted Kingfisher on Water Control Trunk

However, she relocated to the Spoonie Tree when she noticed us.

Female Belted Kingfisher on Spoonie Tree
Female Belted Kingfisher on Spoonie Tree

A wider view of the Spoonie Tree’s spot in the marsh.

Female Belted Kingfisher on Spoonie Tree
Female Belted Kingfisher on Spoonie Tree

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 21, 2023

Bird Trio In The Spoonie Tree

Three wading birds were hanging out in the Spoonie Tree on Sunday.

Great Egret, Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree
Great Egret, Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree

They took turns on the various branches, occasionally routing one of the others off the tree.

Tricolored Heron in the Spoonie Tree
Tricolored Heron in the Spoonie Tree

They would quickly return and then manage to line themselves up with the one branch left sticking out towards me.

Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree
Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree

The water was high in the pond and only the longer legged Great Egret took a turn in the water.

Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree, Great Egret in the Pond
Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret in the Spoonie Tree, Great Egret in the Pond

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 8, 2023

The Spoonie Tree, August 2023

I’ve been posting about the slow demise of the Spoonie Tree for a couple of years and remain amazed that it is still standing. I took this image on Sunday, before Hurricane Idalia passed by.

The Spoonie Tree, August 27, 2023
The Spoonie Tree, August 27, 2023, occupied by a Great Egret and a Belted Kingfisher

Compare that to this image, taken in April when the water had been let out of the pond. The main limbs are still there but some of the smaller branches are gone and more of the bark has dropped.

The Spoonie Tree, April 2, 2023
The Spoonie Tree, April 2, 2023

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC

Ravenel Bridge, From The Cooper River

The sky looked a bit ominous as we passed under the Ravenel Bridge, but the storm was on its way out. We had just passed under the bridge, this is looking towards Drum Island.

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, US, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. ~ Wikipedia

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Other posts from this adventure 

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023