The LowCountry Birder

Here’s another addition to my N.I.M.B.Y. – “Nature In My Back Yard” – collection of pictures and videos.  I was biking around our neighborhood near Bluffton and saw this handsome Great Blue Heron (is it a male or a female? not sure how to tell with these herons …) heading to a nearby lagoon in search of dinner.  It was no more than 25 feet away from the road, and I happened to have my pocket camera along with me – something I’ve learned to do more often now!

I rode on past, then parked my bike next to a tree and slowly walked back to where I could see him and snapped this shot – a very handsome bird framed by the trees with the lagoon behind him (or her):
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I took this video of a male Anhinga drying out its wings along the Laurel Hill Drive in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on Memorial Day weekend 2010. This road is now closed to all visitors from June 1 to January 2011 for repairs to the water management system that runs under the road in several places.

Anhinga drying out its wings at Savannah NWR

I wanted to get out to the refuge before the road was closed so I could get some good pictures and videos, and I was rewarded for my efforts!

I took a drive out to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on Sunday – I wanted to get in one last visit before the Laurel Hill Drive closed down today (June 1st).  I got some interested videos, including this one of a Tri-colored Heron hunting for his lunch in a lagoon along with an alligator:

Tri-colored Heron and Alligator at Savannah NWR

The alligator was not all that big compared to some of the ones that I’ve seen at Savannah NWR – only about 6 feet long or so.  But the Tri-colored Heron was definitely keeping an eye on him!

I just got the following message from Amy Ochoa, the Refuge Ranger in charge of the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex: Laurel Hill Drive in the Savannah NWR is going to be CLOSED to all visitors starting on June 1st and continuing through the end of the year! Read her full message below for the details.

Laurel Hill Drive is the main route that visitors and birdwatchers take through the refuge’s water impoundment areas, so this is a MAJOR setback for visitors to the Savannah NWR. Ranger Ochoa also noted that the new Visitor Center will remain open during its normal hours throughout the construction project.  (It is a very useful and “user-friendly” place to learn more about the refuge.)  She also told me that “… all the dates of closures and phases of the project are subject to change. We’ll keep our website updated, so you and your users can keep current there: http://www.fws.gov/savannah.”

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A Flight over Hilton Head Island

I just created a new “hub” (an informational page) on HubPages.com with pictures from a flight that I took in a small plane over Hilton Head Island a few years ago – it’s quite a bit different looking down from the sky and seeing things that are usually hidden behind the trees!

My neighbor, who is a licensed pilot, offered to take me up with him in the small plane that he “time-shares” with some other folks.  Although it was a hazy September morning, the view from up in the air was amazing.  And being able to pick out landmarks that I usually drove past, or areas that you can’t see from the roadways, was a real treat.  I thought I’d share my flight experience so you can appreciate the wonderful natural environment that makes Hilton Head Island special to so many people, both residents and visitors (over a million visitors every year!)

Burkes Beach, Folly Field and Port Royal from an airplane

Here’s the link to the hub “A Flight over Hilton Head Island” again: http://hubpages.com/hub/Hilton-Head-Island-Flight