Icy Morning

Winter arrived in the Lowcountry with a vengeance this year, but it has brought along with it a quiet beauty to the River Walk. In this photo, a neighbor captures a thin layer of ice in the canal, often left suspended as the tide recedes.

Egrets and ibis are regular visitors to our canal, and the landscaping crew is doing an excellent job maintaining the River Walk. It’s a wonderful place for a little quiet meditation as the day begins. Bundle up and enjoy Ricefields at its finest!

Seen from the RiverWalk a few years ago. Unfortunately, this nest fell during a storm and was not rebuilt.

Osprey have been seen returning to their nests, a sure sign that Spring is not far behind. Two long-time nests are visible from the deck at the river, and observing them is a fine way to spend a pleasant almost-Spring morning.

A neighbor reported spotting a bald eagle soaring low over the river, always a thrilling sight. Fortunately, their presence continues to grow stronger in our area. The season’s first alligator was seen sunning on the RiverWalk during one of the recent warm afternoons. Deer tracks have also been found in abundance. The River Walk has become a popular place!

On February 13th, Ricefields awoke to approximately 5″ of snow, the first measurable snowfall in over 10 years! It was a rare treat, and numerous shoe prints present on an early hike were clear evidence of the RiverWalk’s popularity. The snow, marsh grass and creeks blended together to create a magnificent vista, backed up by a row to tall, snow-covered trees. It was truly a glorious morning.

More photographs can be seen in the Ricefields Photo Album.

Pileated Woodpecker

A cool but sunny and calm morning offered a glorious opportunity for a stroll along the River Walk. A pair of large Pileated Woodpeckers were using a tall dead tree for a drum, playing a loud beat for whoever was around to listen. With their bright colors and starkly shaped heads, it’s easy to imagine them as characters created for the Ice Age movies, but their beauty was the main feature in a magnificent morning along the river.

Unfortunately, they defied all efforts at photography before flying away, so a photo borrowed from the Internet will have to do.

Winter slipped back in, riding the coat tails of a calm, crisp morning, perfect for a quiet stroll along the RiverWalk. Most of the wildlife seems to have settled in for the winter, but there are plenty of birds for company. A Great Egret has been a regular morning companion, as it searches for breakfast along the shallows. A pair of loons seem to enjoy spending the winter in our area, and can be seen most mornings playing hide-and-seek in the cold water of the canal.

Hunters are reporting a good season, and they can still be heard all along the river. It must surely be a cold ride back to the boat landing.

Commerce on the River

It was a working river this morning, a rare sight any more. The Intracoastal Waterway was originally conceived to provide a reliable, sheltered course for maritime commercial traffic. Recreational use quickly offered a bonus benefit to communities along the ICW. Unfortunately, for many years the federal government has failed to adequately fund required dredging, ignoring its own laws that require a minimum 12′ channel be maintained. Shoals caused by silting conditions have been particularly bad in the Carolinas and Georgia, forcing both commercial and larger recreational sailors to choose offshore routes.

This problem worsened drastically in the past decade, with the federal government refusing to consider recreational use to justify dredging funds, despite the large amount of revenue generated by private boaters. Undredged portions had already forced much of the commercial traffic to move offshore, so the prospects of losing the ICW altogether has become a very real risk. Learn more…

Fortunately, there may be some hope for the future. A large chunk of stimulus funds were authorized in 2009 for reviving the waterway. The commercial benefits are obvious, but if you talk to folks at the marinas and restaurants in Georgetown, the benefits are much broader. Besides, it would be a shame to lose the opportunity to enjoy the sight of fine boats traveling up and down our river from faraway places.

Winter has arrived at the river with a vengeance. Along the canal edges, the surface froze last night at the high tide line, then left a suspended lacework of ice as the tide slowly receded. Pretty to see, hard to photograph. The songbirds remained busy, for all appearances oblivous to the weather. I wish I had their passion for this weather.

Peaceful Morning on the Waccamaw

At least for a little while, there was peace on the river this morning. No wind, no hunters, no Snowbirds cruising South. Only a few redbirds whistling in the bushes and a marsh hen clucking in the background. The sky displayed a dozen shades of blue, far beyond the camera’s ability to capture. No finer place to start the day.

Easing along in the fog

This morning’s sailors ghosted cautiously along, wrapped in a blanket of white cloud, with fog horns reaching out every few minutes. The Nautical Wheelers are continuing to migrate Southward down the river, but traffic has slowed significantly from a few weeks ago. The Florida marinas must surely be getting busy with the arrival of all of their wintertime residents.

The River Walk on a warm, foggy morning is the perfect place to find a few moments of peaceful solitude, before being consumed by the day’s demands.