Still in the young Little Blue white stage I found him sitting in a swamp, staring at the water like some free meal would be delivered.
Sorry little guy, those days are over. The good news is probably within 25 feet there’s enough food to feed him for a month.
By now he can hunt on his own. Probably day dreaming about the good old days of Moms free delivery.
So, in the past I have started articles with ‘here is something different’. Well here’s another one. At the least the photo’s are worth scrolling through.
Most of the cabins (tents) in church camp meeting grounds for the yearly revivals have been around a century or more. Repairs are constant but they stay true to their rustic roots. Electricity and water is a pretty new addition. There is still a ‘necessity building’ out back.
On my last visit a few weeks ago I paid special attention to the outdoor cooking and cleaning areas. The creative ways they were fit into small cabins is very interesting.
Below are a few that caught my eye.
Bear Island, ACE Basin.
A view from a dirt road towards the back of Bear Island. We had been walking for a while and had not seen much wildlife at this point. I turned back and shot a few random photographs of the marsh.
The Alligators were a distance down the open water. There are three, one is far and in the reeds. Always interesting scenery.
This is one of many Stork and Spoonbill interactions taken one morning in a rice field at Donnelley wildlife area.
There were a number of times a Wood Stork chased Spoonbills away from the only log in the area. A Roseate Spoonbill would climb on the log, another would push him off, then repeat, finally a Stork snapped. Storks are like calm old men, Spoonbills are clowns.
I think there were so many like this some images were just skipped at random. At least I had color coded these in the PC as to do files.
End of the day, all the visitors had left.
A few photographers stayed late and were wandering around. We were hoping for a colorful sunset. This is the best we had. A storm was passing by off the coast bringing winds and clouds.
Most of us had stocked up on snacks and sweet tea (unsweet tea) curtesy of the plantation and had moved on to their favorite spots to shoot a bit before heading home.
Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina.
One of the locals, a goat at Middleton Plantation farm, ignoring me and the world in general.
However suddenly things changed quickly. Two voices he recognized from the other side of the tall fence. At least one of those voices was sure to have food.
It was basically ‘out of my way’ when he stood on two legs looking over the fence. And yes! One of them had an arm full of fresh straw.
The sounds he made were pitiful. Goat calls confused as to why the hay was not for him. I was standing next to him and he kept looking at me, the hay, then back to me. An ‘Open The Door’ noise started.
Finally I moved away, if he turned his head fast one of those horns would hurt. We did have a pretty nice conversation for a time though.
Taken in the barn yard, Middleton Plantation, Charleston.
This image was shot while passing behind the Middleton Plantation buildings. Before the US Civil War the houses were much larger. The main building of today was actually only a side structure to the big house, maybe the library.
This rice plantation was known to have one of the largest formal gardens in North America. Some of the formal gardens still exist and each spring colorful blossoms and visitors are everywhere.
Note; variations of this photograph have been published multiple times on this site. Each a bit different, this particular was taken as I learned new gear and for comparison to other images.
Looking across old rice fields from an observation tower, that has seen better days… don’t go to the top.
Off on the horizon is a bend in the Ashley River. Downstream is Drayton Hall plantation, one of the few plantations here not burned in the Civil War. A bit further and the river takes you to Charleston, South Carolina.
There are a few open spots of water, most is now hidden in grass and reeds of different colors. Wildlife in and along the marsh here is amazing in numbers and variety.
This tower is still strong up to the second level. The third is gone now.
