Sampling Savannah National Wildlife Refuge With A short Fall Hike

Date: November 27, 2024

Place: Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Hardeeville, South Carolina

Coordinates: 32.143568, -81.099677

Length: 1.4 miles

Level: easy

 

My family's 2024 Thanksgiving vacation to the southeast was split between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. After four lovely days of hiking and touring in and around Charleston, we drove to Savannah, taking the time to hike at Caw Caw Interpretive Center and in Hunting Island State Park on our way. As it happened, the first hike we went on after moving to Georgia was actually in South Carolina. Our destination for that day was the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, most of which is, in fact, within the borders of South Carolina. 

The Savannah Wildlife Refuge is large and has several units. We went at first to the main area of the refuge and drove around the car loop, stopping whenever we saw interesting birds. The only photo I post here from one of our loop drive stops is of a butterfly, not a bird. I was so unique and beautiful!

Zebra Longwing

We also wanted to go on one of the refuge's hiking trails so we found Raccoon Island Trail, a short trail at the south corner of the loop drive. There was no parking lot there, just a small pullout next to a service road that was barred with a gate. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 

The trailhead was next to a couple of sloughs perpendicular to one another. The one nearest to us had some vegetation islands poking through the water surface. 

Two pond slider turtles and one small alligator sunned themselves on the nearest island. They stayed there, motionless, all the time of our hike. We found them in the same spot when we returned to the car. 

American Alligator and Pond Slider Turtles

A but further up the slough another small alligator was sunning itself in the shallows. These alligators were reasonably small but still I was glad of the distance between me and them. From a safe distance I could even think they were cute.

American Alligator

The trail was past the gate, on the service road, which was a flat dirt road placed on a raised dike. On our right was the other slough, which wasn't very visible from the trail because of the tall, dry vegetation.

Raccoon Island Trail

There were distinct layers of vegetation across the slough. Right by the water were the reeds, all of them dry despite being right in the water. Behind the reeds was a strip of tall bushes which were partially green. behind them was a long row of trees that looked like poplars. These trees were brown - their leaves have turned but didn't fall yet. Behind them and off to the right was a grove of very green trees, apparently evergreen. So many habitats in one place!

We expected to see many animals on that hike, and we weren't disappointed. After the large reptiles intro came the insects turn - there were plenty of butterflies flying around. Quite a few butterflies, considering there was very little bloom there. 

Common Buckeye

Most of the trail was exposed but in the middle there was a grove of large oak trees covered in Spanish moss (which isn't a moss and is definitely not Spanish). 

As expected for this time of year, there was very little bloom. Of the little that did bloom, most was near or right within the grove of trees. Even so, the blooming plants had only a few flowers on them. It wasn't spring, after all. 

Hairypod Cowpea, Vigna luteola

There were more butterflies under the trees as well, or in the case of the photo below - a moth. A very pretty moth, of a kind I wasn't familiar with. I don't think this species is in California.  

Long-tailed Skipper

We also found more reptiles among the trees. Reptiles of the smaller type this time - lizards. Green anole is probably the most common lizard species over there. Or, at least, it was the only type of lizard that we've seen on that trip. 

Green Anole

Green anoles, as it turned out, don't have to be green. When we saw the other lizard on the hike we thought at first that it was a brown anole, which is an introduced species. But the brown lizard turned out to be a green anole too. 

Green Anole

For a short distance we were walking inside a tunnel of large, Spanish Moss-covered oaks. It was a cool day so we didn't need the shade as much but the tree tunnel looked very beautiful. I didn't know how old were these trees but the Spanish moss certainly made them look old. 

On the gravelly trail grew small sprawled plants with tiny, star-like flowers. Normally I would pass them by but these were of the very few blooming plants that I saw on this hike so I made a note of that. 

Florida Pusley, Richardia scrabra

Outside of the grove the marsh flats where the old rice fields used to be extended all the way to the horizon. There, we could see the towering cranes of the Savannah Harbor. 

On the other side we had a clearer view of the slough we were walking along. At this part of the hike the slough looked quiet, without much wildlife stir.

A closer look however, showed that there was certainly some wildlife activity there. On the reeds perched an eastern Phoebe, ready to catch any bug that passed by. 

Eastern Phoebe

It was siesta time in the slough. There were more alligators sunning themselves at the edge of the water. 

American Alligator

A common gallinule stood quietly on a pile of reeds. These birds are usually pretty active, but this, obviously, was a down time for them. 

Common Gallinule

It wasn't down time for us though. We continued to a split in the trail where we had the option to go on straight to the loop road on the other side of the refuge or to curve back and return on the other side of the slough. We had planned to go hiking in another unit of the refuge that day so we chose the second option. 

The slough remained on our right hand side but we had a better view of the water because much of the reeds and weeds were mowed down.

Raccoon Island Trail

We found a few more little wildflowers on our way back. The groomed gravel road seemed a bit more friendly to the little plants, once the tall weeds were trimmed down. 

Verbena

Whenever I see off season blossom, I'm sure to fine representatives of the aster family. Here too I found some. Although I have little hope of identifying its species, I believe this is a groundsel. 

Groundsel

We found some more butterflies here too - a few gulf fritillaries adorned with their bright orange color the otherwise yellowish-gray fall look of the marsh vegetation. 

Gulf Fritillary

There were mounds of soft soil along the trail and although I didn't see any activity on or around them, I avoided tackling them as I walked. 

Anthill

The younger chika however, missed one and accidentally stepped on one. That started a frenzy of activity - the mound turned out to be an anthill and the ants, having their home suddenly collapsed on them, got quickly to do the most important job of all - rescuing their young larvae and pupae and moving them to safety underground. 

We were more careful to not step on these anthills for the remainder of our hike. Having plants sprout and grow right through those mounds didn't, apparently, bother the ants at all. 

Goldenrod

Our view of the marsh to the northeast revealed the remaining shape of former rice fields. Similar to what was done in Caw Caw Interpretive Center, here too the fields were converted into a preserve although the natural marsh water flow hasn't been restored (as far as I know it is still managed by the authorities). 

Along the eastern bank of the slough was a small grove of poplars The poplars are deciduous trees but even this late in November they still had their leaves on, and their leaves were green still. 

We were nearing the end of the slough and of our trail. A bunch of trees there, poplars also, were much further along into their fall turn. Their leaves were completely dry and brown now, although they were still hanging on their trees, waiting for the next storm to be blown down. 

On one branch of one of these poplars perched an anhinga bird, and this was the first time that I could see this unique bird this close and well. The anhinga is a type of a cormorant - they too dive for fish. When they float however, only their necks protrude from the water, leaving their bodies mostly submerged. 

Anhinga

When we reached the end of the trail we saw that the turtles and the alligator that we saw in the beginning were there still, their relative positions only slightly changed. There was a new sunbather in the area though - another turtle came up to the sun. 

Yellow-bellied Slider Turtle

Just before we entered the car, as a delicious desert, a golden eagle came, gliding through the sky above us. 

Golden Eagle

It was a lovely fall hike in the main unit of Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. There were many other trails there but we chose to go for our second hike that day to the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, also within South Carolina.