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.