Wednesday, May 27
We awoke to sunny skies, warm and high (100%) humidity (again)...
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| sheesh, this humidity is beginning to be a habit! |
It's a great day for traveling...we've only 123 miles to travel today. We had clear skies until we were about 15 miles south of Santee when the rains came.
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| crossing Lake Marion in the rain... |
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| almost there |
It only rained hard for a few minutes, then it stopped. Then it rained, gently this time. Then it stopped, then it began, then it stopped (you get the picture). It continued this way for most of the afternoon. In between raindrops, the sun shone. I kept looking for a rainbow but I never saw one.
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| our "home" for the summer and autumn |
It's confusing, but the Santee NWR is actually located in Summerton. We will be volunteering at the Santee National Wildlife Refuge until the end of October. We volunteer three days a week from 8 am to 4 pm. Ron and I will take turns in the Visitors Center and doing whatever else is necessary...mowing, maintenance etc. We'll also be doing fun things such as checking the wood duck and blue bird boxes and maintaining trails.
We are actually staying on the refuge (which is awesome!). We're located in a clearing in the woods. There is room for two RV's, but we're the only volunteers for the summer/autumn.
Cooper loves his yard...
We have a short commute to "work"...behind our rig is a trail which leads directly to the visitors center. About a five minute walk...
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| visitors center |
Santee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941. The refuge provides habitat and sanctuary for wildlife displaced by the Santee Cooper hydro-electric project that brought electricity to many rural areas of South Carolina.
The refuge is comprised of four units, Bluff (the unit we're on, as well as the only unit with a visitors center) Dingle Pond, Pine Island and Cuddo. These units lie within the Atlantic Coastal Plain and include approximately 13,000 acres of mixed hardwood and pine forests, freshwater marshes, forested wetlands, waterfowl impoundments, croplands, grassland fields and open water.
Santee NWR is known as one of the best birding areas in South Carolina. This refuge is home to 296 bird species as well as 45 mammals, 54 reptiles (coral snake and cottonmouth snake among others), 35 amphibians and more than 100 fish species. The painted bunting breeds and nests here during the summer months as do many other neo-tropical songbirds.
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| painted bunting (male). comes to our feeder several times each day |
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| female painting bunting. also comes to our feeder several times each day |
A good portion of the refuge is managed, but there are hiking trails available at each of the units. In addition to the managed areas, other portions of the refuge are closed to visitors from November 1 until March 1 to provide sanctuary for wintering waterfowl.
The refuge is located on the north shore of Lake Marion which is the largest lake in South Carolina...
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| view of Lake Marion from the visitors center |
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| another view from the visitors center |
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| one of our visitors to the center... |
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| gardenia bush. pretty isn't it? smells great too! it's located near the visitors center |
Out of the all the displays in the visitors center, I think the visitors enjoy this display the most...
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| what surprise awaits at the top... |
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| a birds-eye view of an osprey nest!! |
We're happy to be here. We're learning many new things and looking forward to learning more!
This area is rich in history. There is so much to explore here locally. We're only about 70 miles from Charleston. We're looking forward to exploring there as well.
Til next time,
Dawn, Ron & Cooper
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