In the Wake of Many Storms: Exploring Hunting Island State Beach

Date: November 26, 2024
Place: Hunting Island State Beach, Saint Helena Island, South Carolina

Coordinates: 32.343467, -80.461519

Length: 1.4 miles

Level: easy

 

 

That day of our 2024 Thanksgiving vacation in the southeast when we moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia was the warmest day that entire week, and I really wanted to spend some time of it at the beach. We started that day with a lovely hike at Caw Caw Interpretive Center, southwest of Charleston and, after lunch we resumed our drive in the general direction of Savannah. The other place we had planned to stop at was Hunting Island State Beach (which was located in Saint Helena Island, rather than in Hunting Island), where Pappa Quail expected to see more birds and I expected to get some beach time. It was a long, slow drive to get there though, and when we got there there was enough daylight time left for a short hike. The sky was cloudy too, and the wind was strong - not the best conditions for traditional beach time. 

We stopped first at Hunting Island's visitor centers that was more inland on the main island' road to gather information about what can we see where. There was a small pond near the center and we spent some time looking at it.  

On a dead log that protruded from the water perched a couple of turtles. They too had to settle for a cloudy afternoon. A nearby sign warned us about alligators but we saw none. It was fine by me to not see anymore alligators after those we've seen at Caw Caw Interpretive Center earlier that day.

Following the recommendation we got at the Hunting Island visitor center we resumed driving west all the way to the coast and parked at the Hunting Island State Park Nature Center. Already at the parking lot my family borders found the resident woodpecker hanging in the pine trees. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A long deck extended from the nature center out to the estuary channel. We started our exploration with walking out on the deck to see what we could find there. The first thing I found was a sculpture of a huge pair of swamp boots fixed at the near end of the deck 

The birds didn't disappoint - there were quite a few of them around the nature center and the deck area. A large osprey glided in the sky, scouting for fish. 

Osprey

The ocean was calm. It was low tide time, and on the beach were a number of small shorebirds wandering right at the strandline. 

Other groups of shorebirds aggregated farther up the sandy beach. Some of them were standing on one leg, warming up the other inside their belly feathers. They might have been sleeping already. 

Black-bellied Plover

A few gulls perched on the rail if the deck. These gulls were of only two species. One was the east coast species, laughing gull. It didn't laugh at all though. In fact, it looked quite serene. 

Laughing Gull

The other gulls were ring-billed gulls, named after the black stripe on theiur bill. This species is common in the west coast as well. There were several ring-billed gull individuals on the deck. The one in the photo below isn't fully mature yet. as evident by the rust color on its wings. 

Ring-billed Gull

From the deck we also had a nice view of the salt marsh that spanned the flood plain between the beach and the island's terra firma, marked by the line of trees. 

After spending some time on the deck we crossed the parking lot to the trailhead of the trail leading to the little sandbar islet on the east. It was a short trail, short enough for us to complete in the little daylight time left. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The beginning of the trail was right next to a fence that blocked off what looked like small neighborhood houses. The afternoon was getting darker sooner because of the clouds, and once we were under the trees. it got even darker. 

Trail

The trail cut through a forest of a mix of trees which included full size palms, pine trees, oaks, and a few other broad-leaf trees that I didn't recognize. 

We wanted to hike quickly but seeing birds right away had us all pause for the time it took Pappa Quail and the elder chika to identify and photograph the bird. 

Pine Warbler

While my family birders kept their eyes on the tree tops, I kept my eyes on the ground, and so I found cool looking mushrooms. 

I also found a little, red mushroom. Later I found out that that red mushroom caught my chika's eyes as well - apparently she wasn't looking only up. 

We kept going through the vegetation as the trail curved toward the beach. The layered forest closed in on the trail from both sides and large tree boughs arched overt the trail. 

On one such branch I spotted a nice tree mushroom. It was too high for me to get a good photo so I called my elder chika to take an enlarged image of the mushroom with her birding lensed camera. 

The chika didn't settle for the mushroom - on one of the towering pines was a bird. Both the elder chika and Pappa Quail took some time trying to get a decent image of that bird in the pine's high canopy. That bird turned out to be a lifer species for them - a brown-headed nuthatch. 

Brown-headed Nuthatch

There were other birds nearby that were easier to photograph - the woodpeckers weren't as shy as the nuthatch. 

Downy Woodpecker

Spotting the red-bellied woodpecker near the edge of the forest completed our woodpecker tally of that day. Three different species on that one short trail was a nice count. 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

When we reached the edge of the forest the westering sun managed to break through the clouds and the day brightened for a little bit. A short distance ahead was an arched bridge that spanned the slough separating the main Saint Helena Island with the little sandbar island where the beach was. 

When we reached the bridge we saw that it was guarded by a solitary tricolored heron. The heron perched on the bridge's rail and stood its ground bravely until we were nearly on top of it. Only then did it fly away. 

Tricolored Heron

From the bridge we had a much nicer view of the salt marsh and the slough that the bridge spanned. On the northeast (left) the forest marked where the solid ground of Saint Helena Island was. On the east was the sandy edge of the sandbar island we were crossing the bridge to get to. The slough itself was very calm, rippled lightly by the gentle wind. The wind blew waves through the fields of cordgrass that grew in the tide-flooded areas. 

The water was less calm on the southwest side of the bridge. Fish were jumping out of the water, reminding me of the song 'Summertime'. The elder chika managed to capture one of those brief moments when the fish was in the air, jumping near a row of sleeping ducks. 

Jumping fish

We stepped onto the beach. It was very evident that this beach has suffered a number of storms in the past few years. The sky looked like another storm might be on the way, but that wasn't the case. Not yet, anyway. 

The beach was covered with dead wood, most of it was of entire trees. Some of the dead trees were partially in the water, slowly being submerged as the tide was rolling in. 

In more solid places grew living trees. I was surprised to see many live palms on that small sandbar island. Palms need fresh water - I assumed that there was an aquifer there within reach of the palms' roots. 

We wandered along the beach, in between the tree skeletons. My young chika was searching for seashells, my elder chika and Pappa Quail were looking for birds, and I was seeing shapes in the wood, and telltale signs of when and how they were uprooted. 

There were birds about, although not on the beach itself. A tern was hunting in the ocean, diving down into the water and soaring back to the sky with its catch.

Royal Tern

A flight of cormorants passed low above the water. They weren't foraging at the time. I assume they were on their way to their roosting place for the night. 

Double-crested Cormorants

Many of the dead trees were upright - they have grown and died in this place. It is very likely that the dead trees that were down weren't driftwood, that they too were locally grown. My guess was that the island was larger and as the ocean gnawed it away the trees died of the excess salinity they were exposed to. It could be that the storms had washed the trees with too much ocean water, thus killing them. 

An empty nest on a dead tree

The beach was quiet and eerie. It was also getting darker by the minute, and the tide was coming in. It was time to turn around and go back. 

We crossed the bridge to get back to the main island of Saint Helena. It was nice to be once again among living trees. 

At least on this side of the bridge the forest was healthy and thriving. I noticed with satisfaction the presence of numerous young trees there, the next chapter of the forest's story in its understory. 

Young Pine

By the time we returned to the car it was too dark to take nay photos, and when we left the Hunting Island State Beach it was already dark. A couple of hours later we were across the Savannah River, in Georgia. 

 

 

 

Where a Swamp Turned to A Farm was Ceded to the Gators: Hiking at Caw Caw Nature Preserve

 

American Alligator (Brutus)

 

Date: November 26, 2024

Place: Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel, South Carolina

Address: 5200 Savannah Hwy, Ravenel, SC 29470

Length: 2.2 miles

Level: easy

 

 

Last November I flew with my family for a week of vacation in South Carolina and Georgia. I've written here already about our hikes on the first few days near Charleston - at the Audubon's Beidler Forest Preserve, the Huntington Beach bird walk and the South beach walk, and also of the nice river tour that we had which included exploration at the Morris Island. 

The next phase of our trip was planned in the area of Savannah, Georgia. Driving from Charleston to Savannah takes a few hours so naturally, we decided to break the trip with hiking stops on the way. We didn't get too far from Charleston before our first stop came up, which was the Caw Caw Interpretive Center.

The first thing we did when we entered the area was to stop at the visitor center to get information about the place. While we were there the elder chika got busy looking at the local birds that hanged in the nearby trees. Her first photo of a winged critter however, wasn't a bird.

Zebra Longwing

 

A Christmas berry bush by the visitor center attracted local woodpeckers. It cooperated with the camera and the chika got a nice photo of the bird. 

Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

 

After receiving information and a map we started our walk. The area of Caw Caw Interpretive Center wasn't large but the trail system within it was extensive. There were quite a few trail loops we could choose from.  

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 

Eventually we took the most obvious trail, the one that took us northeast through a grove of trees. The trees were largely deciduous, but all of them still had their leaves on.  

The forest floor had burned patches, and the smell of ashes was in the air. A small temporary sign by the trail said that there was no cause for alarm - they were doing prescribed burns to prevent future incidental fires getting out of control. We were a bit nervous when we saw that some of the patches were smoldering still and that no one was there to watch it. 

Among the taller trees were a few dwarf palmettos. I was getting used to seeing these cute little palms all around us. 

Dwarf Palmetto, Sabal Minor

There were birds in the trees too. Not lifer species, but birds that we don't get to see in California. Naturally we stopped to look at them. 

Eastern Phoebe

Birds weren't the only being in the forest of course. I spotted a gray squirrel in the undergrowth. The squirrel was busy munching on something and when he noticed me he skedaddled off. 

Most of the trees we saw in the forested part of Caw Caw were fairly thin, possibly grown after the former rice farm was let to go wild again. I did spot a wide trunk of an apparently dead tree here. That tree might have been dead but its trunk supported smaller bushes that thrived on it as epiphytes. 

Around the curve of the trail we saw a few live flames in the still active management fire. It might have been a management fire all right, but none of the managers were present. The fire was gnawing slowly at a green palm frond. My younger chika wondered if we should turn back and inform the people at the visitor center that the fire there was alive. We thought about it seriously, but then figured that they must know what they were doing, and moved on. 

As we moved on we saw also groves of older trees. These were perhaps the living area of the former farm residents. The older trees had long beards of Spanish moss (which isn't a moss and definitely isn't Spanish) hanging like rags from the branches. 

Caw Caw Interpretive Center used to be a rice farm with periodically flooded fields interspaced with dikes and channels called Quarter Drains. The original swamp forest was cleared with difficult work done by African slaves. The rice fields were also worked by slave labor. 

When the area was made a preserve the dikes and quarter drains were turned to trails. The periodical flooding of the canals and the fields (now of wild grasses) are still managed by people (legally employed, of course). 

Trail

We found more burnt areas as we walked along but there were also more dense forested areas where no prescribed burning was done. The broad-leaved trees were turning colors already, but still had their leaves on.

 We came into another forested area with older trees, and a wide clearing in the middle. This place, according to the sign, was where the slaves resided. Beside the trail were more signs with information about the unique Gullah Geechee culture and language that emerged in the African slave communities in the South. The Gullah descendants are active in preserving their culture and educating the public about it.

Velvety mats of star moss covered the soil below the trees. It was more moist there. It has been a couple of weeks since the last rains, we were told earlier, but the moss looked very lush and healthy. 

I spotted bracket mushrooms high up  the trunk of a dead tree. These fungi are a crucial link in the health of the forest, as is decomposes the dead trees and returns the nutrients to the soil. 

While most of the trees we've seen in that forest were tall and straight, some of them, oaks mainly, spread wide. One oak in particular caught my eye - its twisting trunk and boughs made it look like it was dancing. 

Dancing Oak

The trail curved again. Now we were walking along one of the drainage channels, where my family birders found a little blue heron standing in ambush in the shallow, muddy water. 

Little Blue Heron

Past the drainage channel we reached the area of the former rice fields. We first passed a large quarter drain canal. We stood there for a minute scanning the water but didn't see any birds there, nor alligators. 

A few steps after we crossed one of the dike trails, but we didn't see any wildlife there either, so we continued to the little wood bridge that crossed the next drainage canal. 

A black vulture flew over us and Pappa Quail pointed it to the elder chika - black vultures are an eastern species, and we don't get to see them in California. 

Black Vulture

We paused on the little wood bridge for a while - there were birds in the trees there. At first all we could was to hear them, but then one by one, the elder chika and Pappa Quail spotted them in the trees.  

The first one they spotted didn't stir much excitement - it was a yellow-rumped warbler, a very common species that we see often. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The next little bird that my family birders spotted in the trees above the bridge was a a blue-headed vireo, which was exciting for all of us. 

Blue-headed Vireo

While the birders were busy spotting and photographing the birds I passed the time by taking notice of the beautiful fall colors presented by the local wild grape vines. 

Across the bridge we turned on one of the dike trails. In the middle of the trail stood a birding telescope and near it was a local docent who told us that the telescope was trained on a bald eagle's nest. It wasn't the nesting season of course, but the eagles were spotted there on and off. We looked through the telescope but the eagles weren't there. 

Along the dike trail was one of the quarter drain canals. I was surprised to see a little bit of bloom in the tall vegetation that flanked the canal. 

Goldenrod

The bloom wasn't significant by any means, just a few flowers here and there, trying to sneak in one more reproductive cycle before the onset of winter. 

Morning Glory

Clouds gathered ahead and the day darkened a bit, but it didn't look like it would rain. The weather was pretty warm that day, so it was nice to have some shade from the clouds. The wildlife count for the hike was still pretty low. 

Trail

There were no waterfowl in the canals. Not even mallards or coots. I kept searching for alligators, but so far, we didn't see them either, and I wasn't sure if to be relieved or disappointed about that. 

We reached the confluence of the canal with what looked from the map as the Tea Farm Creek that drained all excess water from the former rice flood fields. 

Tea Farm Creek

Another canal came in to meet the creek not far from that point and there were a few more birds there so we stopped again for some time. 

Eastern Phoebe

Even nowadays, all the water flow within Caw Caw Interpretive Center is managed by people. Wood dams with gated chutes that could be opened or closed at will separated one system of canal from another. Behind one of these dams was a great blue heron, standing in ambush for food.  

Great Blue Heron

On the other side of the dam we spotted the first waterfowl of the hike - a solitary pied-billed grebe. The little bird floated peacefully on the water, then all of a sudden it took a dive and disappeared from our view. 

Pied-billed Grebe

We reached another trail junction and had to make a choice - a larger loop through the marsh beyond the Tea Farm Creek or to loop back to the center along the creek itself. On a dead tree near the trail junction was an osprey. The osprey didn't contribute to our dilemma. 

Osprey

Pappa Quail reminded us that we still had quite a bit of driving to do that day, and that we wanted to visit the beach as well, so we decided to continue with the shorter loop along the creek. 

The marsh beyond the Tea Farm Creek

There were more little palmettos near that part of the trail. By that time I no longer paid much attention to them, but a little structure under one of the fronds caught my eye - it looked like a tiny wasp's nest. 

I lingered in the rear and when I caught up with the rest of my family I saw them standing and looking at the other side of the creek - a huge alligator was lying there , half hidden by the reeds. Now, that was exciting! 

Later at the visitor center we were told that this particular individual was a well known male alligator, and he even had a name- they named him Brutus. The docent was very cheerful when she told us how friendly this gator was, and how many times she 'nearly stepped on him while patrolling the preserve'. Honestly, I was relieved to not having to 'almost step' on him. 

American Alligator

We walked slower now, searching for more alligators, especially for alligators that might be hiding on our side of the creek. 

Trail

We did see another alligator. It was lying along a narrow mud bar in the middle of the creek. It was barely visible to the naked eye. 

This one was a much smaller alligator. Perhaps it was one of Brutus's offspring. I don't know if gators eat one another, but they don't seem to hang in groups. 

American Alligator

On our right hand side was the Tea Farm Creek with its alligators, and on our left hand side the marsh extended far up to the forest. This marsh was a tidal salt marsh that was restored to nature from the plantation that it used to be in the 1700's. 

Salt marsh

We crossed the last drainage canal and back inside the forest area. The water was low and very murky. I didn't think there would be alligators in that dinky canal but I didn't risk getting near the water. 

There were quite a few pine trees in that part of the forest and the trail was well shaded. The chikas detected movement in the dry pine needles that covered that part of the trail. They called me to hurry up and catch up with them. They had found a frog. Later it turned out that this wasn't a frog after all, but a southern toad. Still, a pretty cool find. 

Southern Toad

The last bit of our hike we walked through a forest of thin, young-looking deciduous trees mixed with the occasional pine. The clouds were thicker now, and in was dimmer under the trees. 

We finished our hike quickly and went back to the visitor center where the cheerful docent told us about Brutus the big gator. We finished our chat and hurried back to the car. We still had a long drive ahead, but we had to first stop for lunch- the pretty hike made us hungry.