Twice a year, in time for spring and fall migration along the Atlantic flyway, Road Scholar offers a bird-watching program in the Low Country of South Carolina.  Base camp for this adventure was Palm Key, a cluster of 20 cottages nestled on a 350-acre island surrounded by marshes along the Broad River.   It is a very secluded location,  but still within an easy drive to the ACE Basin and some of the best birding in the state. And we DID see birds, lots of them - over 200 species, most of whom were not even a little bit interested in posing for pictures.  

 

The Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto (ACE) Basin represents one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the east coast of the United States.  It is located in the southernmost tip of South Carolina, covering parts of five counties.  It consists of one million acres of diverse habitats, including pine and hardwood uplands, forested wetlands, fresh, brackish and salt water tidal marshes, barrier islands and beaches.  The basin provides invaluable habitat for an incredible diversity of plants and animals, including several endangered species. 

In the mid-1700s, tidal swamps bordering low country rivers were cleared and diked for rice culture.  After the rice culture declined in the late 1800s, wealthy sportsmen purchased many of the plantations as hunting retreats.  The new owners successfully managed the former rice fields and adjacent upland areas for a wide range of wildlife, and this tradition of land stewardship has continued as these rice fields are now protected under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. 

The ACE Basin Project was launched in 1988 as a collaborative effort of Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, the SC Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and private landowners.  Today, many other groups have joined the coalition’s mission to maintain the natural character of the basin by promoting wise resource management on private lands and protecting strategic tracts by conservation agencies.  The rich history of the region is also being protected; historic and cultural landmarks such as old plantation homes, forts, cemeteries and churches are being preserved through the ACE Basin Project. 

 The ACE Basin has been designated as a world class ecosystem under the Nature Conservancy’s Last Great Places program.  It’s a world class place to spend a week in early spring ... here are some of the highlights …

FISH HAUL CREEK PARK (Beaufort County) is one of three public parks on the north end of Hilton Head Island.  It consists of four major natural habitats:  maritime forest, salt marsh and creeks, beach dunes and scrub, and tidal flats (the Port Royal Flats).  The maritime forest is dominated by large live oaks, some hundreds of years old, and loaded with warblers and vireos during migration.  There is a short boardwalk into the marsh, but the best birding is along the beach and on the mud flats.  

PINCKNEY ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (Beaufort County), established in 1975, is one of seven refuges administered under the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex.  It was once part of the plantation of Major General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a prominent SC lawyer who was a commander during the Revolutionary War, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and a presidential candidate.  Nearly two-thirds of the 4000-acre refuge consists of salt marsh and tidal creeks; the remainder is a collection of islands of all sizes and shapes.  Pinckney Island is the largest of the islands and hammocks in the refuge. The Pinckney family developed the islands into a plantation for production of long-staple Sea Island cotton, but few traces of the old plantation exist.  Today the islands contain habitats of forestland, brushland, fallow fields, salt marsh and freshwater ponds.  Pinckney NWR is also archaeologically rich, with 115 prehistoric and historic sites identified; humans have occupied this area since 5000 BC.  

The FRAMPON PLANTATION HOUSE property was part of an original King's Grant to the Frampton family in the 1700s. In 1865, General Sherman's troops burned the plantation house and all the farm buildings that stood on this site. In 1868, John Frampton rebuilt the present farmhouse and continued to work the land for many years.  Today the house is the Lowcountry Visitor's Center and Museum, which has restored the old farmhouse and preserved the magnificent old oaks that frame the building, as well as the Civil War earthworks in the backyard (erected by Robert E. Lee's troops in defense of the important railroad supply line for the Confederacy from Savannah to Charleston).   

A CLOSER LOOK AT RAPTORS was provided by Lila Arnold, Director of Lowcountry Raptors, a rescue and educational organization.  Birds maintained here are non-releasable due to serious injuries, but they still make great educators.  Captain Andy is a red-tailed hawk found down on the highway after being hit by a car.  He had severe head trauma and lost his left eye.  Breezy is a barred owl who fell from his nest over 60 feet above onto the bank of a river.  He was partially submerged, received a broken leg and was partially blind due to severe head trauma.   These two birds (and four others back at the ranch) now spend their days helping the human part of our community learn to value, understand, and honor the role of wildlife in preserving the natural and cultural heritage of the Lowcountry. 

 

SAVANNAH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE borders the Savannah River in both South Carolina and Georgia; was established in 1927 as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.  The Savannah River is the lifeblood of the refuge, which consists of nearly 30,000 acres of freshwater marshes, tidal rivers and creeks, and bottomland hardwoods. By 1850, as many as 13 rice plantations were located along the Savannah River on land now within the refuge boundaries.  The current 6,000 acres of freshwater impoundments (dike-enclosed pools), now managed for migratory waterfowl and wading birds, were once rice fields dating back to the mid-1700s.  Many of the dikes used today were built on the original planation dikes constructed during the rice culture era. 

Even after 300 years of vast technological improvements in other areas, simple, wooden structures known as rice trunks are still the most reliable way to control water levels.  The trunks are about 40 feet long and have movable slats to govern the flow of water - In the winter, the impoundments are flooded to support wintering waterfowl, while during the summer months, the wetlands are managed to grow plants which are flooded again in anticipation of the fall migration.    

GRAHAMVILLE is a crossroads village established about 1800 by the rice planters of St. Luke’s Parish.  It was once a thriving settlement, boasting several stores, three churches, a post office, and the Grahamville Academy.  Most of the buildings in town were burned by Sherman’s troops in 1865; two old churches remain.  The Holy Trinity Episcopal Church began as a chapel-of-ease for planters who made their summer homes in Grahamville; it escaped destruction during the Civil War because it was being used as headquarters for Union troops in the area.  The Euhaw Baptist Church is the second oldest Baptist congregation in the south; it was originally established on Edisto Island in 1686 by Scottish dissenters. 

  

STORIES FROM A LOWCOUNTRY PORCH – After-dinner entertainment and education were provided by Kim Poovey, a local author and historic re-entractress.  She appeared as Miss Emma Victoria Brown, a fine lady who lived in Beaufort before, during and after the Civil War.  Miss Emma spent a lot of time rocking on her front porch … you’d be amazed at the tales that porch could tell.

BEAR ISLAND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA (Colleton County) is located within the boundaries of the ACE Basin and is managed to support a diversity of wildlife species. The 12,000 acres of the management area include marsh impoundments, tidal marshes, woodlands and agricultural lands (to support game species).  There are over 25 miles of dike roads and trails at Bear Island, which is considered to be one of the best birding areas in the state.  

BENNETT’S POINT is a small village just outside of Bear Island, at the end of Bennett’s Point Road, near the mouth of the Ashepoo River.  Here we spotted some Eurasian collared doves, shrimp boats, and a facility for recycling oyster shells.  

 

DONNELLY WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA (Colleton County) includes 8000 acres of wetland and upland habitats; it is part of the overall ACE Basin protection effort.  Most of the acreage here comprises natural pine forest, pin-hardwood forest, pine plantation, hardwood forest, and fields.  Wetlands at Donnelly encompass about 2500 acres distributed throughout the property; these areas are particularly important for wintering and migration habitat for waterfowl.    

 

 

 

 

PRINCE WILLIAM’S PARISH CHURCH RUINS, also known as the Sheldon Church, was built about 1755, burned by British troops during the Revolutionary War, rebuilt in the early 1800s, and burned again at the hands of Union troops during the Civil War.   

Back to Palm Key in time for a magnificent sunset and a big pot of Beaufort Stew – fresh shrimp, smoked sausage, onions, potatoes and corn.  Dee-lish … 

 

SWEETGRASS BASKETS are important part of the history of this part of the world, and Michael Smalls and Dino Badger are modern-day masters of this art.  They make baskets from sweetgrass, a local grass that is soft and pliable, with a fragrance similar to fresh hay.  Other fibers used include longleaf pine needles and strips of sawgrass palmetto.  Sweetgrass basket-making has been part of the South Carolina Low Country for more than 300 years. Brought to the area by West African slaves, basket-making is a traditional art form which has been passed on from generation to generation.  Descendants of slaves from West Africa continue the tradition, and today it is one of the oldest art forms of African origin in the United States.

 

During the days of rice cultivation and the flourishing plantations of the Old South, baskets were in great demand for agricultural purposes. They were used to collect and store vegetables, and staples. A common form which evolved during this era was the winnowing basket (rice basket) called the "fanner." Other agricultural baskets were for grain storage, cotton, fish and shellfish. Functional baskets for everyday living in the home were made by women. Some of these were made for bread, fruits, sewing, clothes, and storage.   

WEBB WILDLIFE CENTER, in Hampton County, is one of the facilities managed by the SC Department of Natural Resources to provide wildlife habitat and opportunities for outdoor recreation.  The center’s nearly 6000 acres encompass upland pine stands that host the elusive red-cockaded woodpecker.  Trees with nests are fairly easy to spot - a hole high up on the trunk, with lots of sap dripping down the side of the tree  ... not to mention the white paint around the base.  

 
  

TILLMAN SAND RIDGE HERITAGE PRESERVE , about one thousand acres in Jasper County, was established to protect South Carolina’s most endangered reptile – the only native tortoise that occurs east of the Mississippi River – the gopher tortoise.  This ancient creature has been around for about 60 million years, but challenges, habitat loss in particular, have made its future uncertain.  

Approximately 150-200 gopher tortoises call this place home; adults can weigh up to 10 pounds, with shells about 10-12 inches long.  DNR land managers conduct annual growing-season prescribed burns necessary to maintain the pine-wiregrass ecosystem on which the tortoises rely.  The result is an open forest characterized by slash and longleaf pines spread wide apart with a low-profile understory of wiregrass.  Gopher tortoise burrows are easy to spot – a somewhat small opening, but surrounded by an apron of soft, loose yellow sand.  We’ll have to wait for warmer weather for these guys to come above ground.