Out in Charleston Harbor a nesting sand bar, Crab Bank, is coming back to life. For years this has been a nesting place for Pelican, Skimmers, Oyster Catchers, and many other sea birds.
The sand was eroded from the wake of big and small ships, finally Hurricane Irma in 2017 finished the job.
December 2021 Crab Bank was officially finished with a restoration returning 35 acres of nesting area. The Coastal Expedition Foundation, Coastal Conservation League, and the Army Corp. of Engineers recreated the bank while the harbor was dredged and deepened.
Below are a few shots taken as we circled the bank with Coastal Expedition, we were looking for baby Black Skimmers. The Skimmers are the first birds to return. We did see a few tiny heads, but the distance and bad weather kept me from getting anything to publish.
First image is a Brown Pelican resting on the sand. They are breeding close by on an island historical site. It’s expected Pelicans will return when they need more space.
Black Skimmers nesting on the Crab Bank.
Another group of locals have moved back. These are Royal Terns.
Taken while circling around the Crab Bank, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
Note; Replenishing the small sand bars and barrier islands is an ongoing process. Many of the photographs of young Pelicans on this web site were previously taken at Bird Key, just off the coast south of Charleston. Bird Key is lost and no longer a viable nesting site.
I’m so glad to hear about this habitat recreation. If birds have a site that they like, then they will of course come back for more. Nature and the weather don’t always do birds a favour, and it’s good to know that people are aware of this and doing something to help.
It’s a never ending battle, and certainly getting worse. Off the southern US coast are a line of barrier islands protecting the mainland. Some large, with a population, others small and filled with wildlife. Weather naturally erodes them, the tides always pushing the sand south, actually slowly moving the islands. Of course climate change, and man, screwed up the system.
We visit the small islands when possible, great photography ! This site has a good number of articles from them. I hope people pay attention to what we have, and may lose.
I was brought up in a place called Hull in East Yorkshire. Our main river is the HUmber which has about one fifth of the rain that falls over England flowing out to sea. Navigation on this rive is a nightmare because of the sand banks which are forever changing and the pilots are up to date on all these changes and can guide shipping through.
At the embouchure of the river Humber is a place called Spurn point. Spurn Point has be hcanging so much ove the years because of sand moving down the coast. The East Yorkshire coast has been plagued by coastal erosion for centuries, because of the chalk cliffs that fall into the sea and the sand that moves down the coast. All along the cost you will see massive wooden stakes to try and stem this flow of sand. Sometimes Nature just doesn’t care about what man does and acts according to its own will. Tides and currents are powerful things and you just have to let nature take its course. I would say look it up but I don’t want to sound like a gen Z trying to be mean and condescending. I would say look it up, because it is an amazing subject and fascinating. And it’s also abot Yrkshire which as every Yorkshireman knows is God’s own county.
Thanks, and I will
You never know. You might end up by being as interested as I am!
Very heartening to hear that this nesting area has been restored. That handsome pelican looks impressed 😊
It took plenty of work, money raised, and is on going. Unfortunately we lost 2 other, and bigger, Pelican rookeries. I know you have seen my past young Pelican posts. That entire island, Bird Key, is gone. Another, just as important place also damaged but some work has started there.
Coastal Expeditions (the group I usually make these trips with) has been active for years helping the refresh work. They took us yesterday to visit an old government fort in the harbor. Pelicans are nesting there!
good to hear of the successes. These birds depend upon them.
I think about 70% of South Carolinas Brown Pelicans nest around here. That means no room for error. Doesn’t take much to tip the scale the wrong way. Spoonbills are a good example. They need ‘ankle’ deep water to fish successfully. Water and swamps are high all this spring / summer. Rare to find Spoonbills lately.