Pinckney Island – The Hermits' Rest

We said farewell to Hilton Head yesterday, and not a moment too soon, because my heart broke to learn that a sperm whale washed ashore on the beach in front of our condo. That only happens when they are sick. It’s a part of life, as I’ve been reminded, but would be hard to watch.

Enjoy this beautiful plant, Large-flowered Orlaya, instead of anything sad.

We didn’t drive far before our first, more cheerful, stop. I couldn’t miss a visit to the Pinckney Island rookery in spring! It did not disappoint!

Of course, there were many songbirds, grackles, and such, but one huge highlight was seeing baby Great Egrets in their nests being tended by their beautiful parents.

It was great fun to enjoy the bird cacophony and chat with other birders about what we were seeing.

I hope those give you an idea of the crowds.

Many other herons were there, but all the Little Blues insisted on landing deep inside trees. Tricolored ones were much more sociable.

We were delighted when a beautiful Tricolored Heron landed right next to me and proceeded to be endearing for a long time. It even did a butt-wiggle dance. Oh, the cuteness. You’ll just have to suffer through more photos.

The heron was right next to three young alligators. They mutually ignored each other.

I had such a great visit! Between birds I saw and birds I heard, there were 48 species. Here are other highlights.

The staff at the preserve are doing a project to get rid of invasive Chinese tallow trees and thin the understory to prevent devastating fires. They’ve cut down many trees in the first phase. It isn’t pretty but is understandable. I saw funding came from the recent infrastructure bill passed by Congress. I hope the funding isn’t withdrawn mid-project like so many are.

Much larger gator not bothered by pruning

We next drove to the greater High Point, North Carolina area to visit our family members. (Some were unavailable, sadly). The roads were not in great shape, and we followed rain much of the way, but we made it. It was worth it to see Donita and Libba, who couldn’t join me on this trip to Hilton Head.

We had dinner at a very nice restaurant, though it was hard to talk due to people screaming while they ate. Three of us were hard of hearing. But we persevered and laughed a lot. Lee and I also had fun.

This morning I managed to get a 20-minute walk in the neighborhood of our hotel. I found 31 birds and some interesting plants. Let’s see where we go next!

Peach-colored Fly Agaric – *Amanita persicina*

Is anyone reading this? Judging from my stats, few of us are interested in pretty pictures. Well, that’s what you get, my friends, because I’m not wallowing in worry about 2025. I’m going to have as much fun as I can in case I can’t later.

Gonna grab the joy of nature as much as I can. Photo by Lee.

Today was a beautiful day. Of course, because I had to work. But I squeezed in my valuable restorative nature time. I had to, because I have a new camera to play with. Lee got it for my anniversary gift ( and a macro lens for Christmas, lol, the surprise is ruined). I’ve never been good with “real” cameras, but I’m gonna try. I can upload the photos to my phone and share them with Lee, so I’m encouraged.

Look at this tiny spider! And that’s not even with the macro lens.

I took a short walk this morning on the prayer trail to try the camera out, but I got all excited about the birds I was hearing that I was distracted. The owl even showed up on Merlin, and there was some kind of major Pileated Woodpecker discussion that lasted quite a while. But I did try out the camera.

After work there was still some light, thanks to starting at 7 am, so we zipped over to a favorite spot, Pinckney Island Nature Preserve. I didn’t make Lee wait hours for me like I did last time we were here. He had more fun this time, since he got to mess with the camera a lot while I basked in the glory of looking at wading birds with my new binoculars. Oh, the glory of ibises and egrets!

The Ibis pond is one of my favorite spots in this area, and it didn’t disappoint. It was loud, though. The gallinules were making a real racket, with a variety of calls, squeaks, and hoots. I barely heard any of the other water birds. But they were all fun to watch, since there were many family groups.

I did hear and see many songbirds as I walked around the pond. There was even a new one, a group of Palm Warblers. Thanks to the binoculars I was able to easily ID them. They are distinctly marked and have pretty olive bellies. Others were bluebirds, nuthatches, vireos, kinglets, and catbirds. Oh, and there were pretty plants.

I got so involved with birds that I nearly missed this guy. Reptile goal accomplished.

I always enjoy the herons and egrets, so they filled my heart.

Mostly Snowy Egrets. My Little Blue Heron photos didn’t work out.

But where were the ibises of Ibis Pond? They were roaming all over the salt marshes finding tasty snacks. The new camera’s photos of them at a distance weren’t as good as the camera photos. I would need a telephoto lens, which we used to have…but it’s hiding.

All in all, I was holding a lot of equipment, so I’m going to have to make arrangements for everything in the future. But it was fun.

And I had a great dinner at a new restaurant in town that is in a beautiful spot. Lee isn’t fond of food or portions in nice restaurants, but my halibut was perfect, and my fancy drink was tasty and not too sweet.