Last month, I went camping, kayaking, and hiking in Congaree National Park. Located about half an hour southeast of Columbia, SC, It's one of the least visited national parks in the contiguous United States, but I highly recommend a visit! Much of the park is an old-growth bottomland forest, with some truly massive trees, including baldycypress (Taxodium distichum) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica). The forest floods periodically, such that instead of paddling down the creek (which I did), you can actually paddle through the forest itself. I'd love to go back and experience the forest during a flood.
My first afternoon, I walked the Boardwalk trail loop, which is elevated above the forest floor.
At the Weston Lake Overlook, I saw several yellow-bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta scripta) sunning themselves.
I camped at a lovely site in the Longleaf Campground, and enjoyed my hammock, but was also very thankful for the bug net, given the mosquitoes. As the sun began to set, fireflies emerged, and just sitting back and watching them was quite magical. Congaree National Park is home to one of only three species of synchronous fireflies in North America (Photuris frontalis); the synchronous displays are seen earlier in the season (another reason to return to Congaree in the future), but I still enjoyed the abundance of other fireflies, especially given that they are in decline due to pesticide use (including mosquito repellent), light pollution, and habitat destruction (one of many reasons to "leave the leaves" and practice other ecologically friendlier gardening methods).
The next morning, I went kayaking with a guided tour. It was a lovely way to see the park, enjoy the calmness of the creek, and see some wildlife.
Our first sighting was this beautiful barred owl (Strix varia), and we saw another later on the trip. (This is just my phone camera, no telephoto!)
We also saw a couple banded watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata; not pictured) and several impressively large brown watersnakes (Nerodia fasciata). Neither species is venemous, and all were simply enjoying the sun.
I wouldn't have known to look for them, but our guide also pointed out several fishing spiders (I think Dolomedes vittatus). They are very well camouflaged on the trees lining the creek, where they hang out when they aren't on the surface of the water, hunting for aquatic insects and fish.
After the tour, I went back to the campground and ate lunch, and then did a long hike starting from the campground and chaining together the Longleaf Trail, Bluff Trail, Firefly Trial, Sims Trail, Weston Lake Trail, and a few bits of the boardwalk again. Congaree is also home to an upland pine forest that is actively managed with prescribed burns.
Longleaf trail
Several sections were still smoldering!
Both forests had lots of woodpeckers, but the pine forest had so many red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), which was a new species for me.
Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
In other ways, though, the two different forest types were drastically different—both visually and in terms of the species seen—which was fun!
The lowland forest is home—in the summer—to prothonotary warblers (Protonotaria citrea). These tiny little birds are named for their bright yellow plumage, which apparently resembles the yellow robes that used to be worn by papal clerks called prothonotaries.
Although the mosquito level was officially only "moderate", I had to keep moving once I was in the lowland forest, otherwise I was surrounded almost instantaneously.
The highlight of the hike was this adorable raccoon (Procyon lotor). Interestingly the word raccoon comes from the Powhatan language, of the Algonquin language family, and is thought to mean "one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands".
I've seen urban and suburban raccoons plenty, but this
was my first time seeing one in a non-human dominated landscape. And
even more excitingly, this raccoon was either fishing or foraging for
invertebrates in the mud.
This family of black vultures (Coragyps atratus) was hanging out in a tree, the one at the bottom left appears to be mid-molt.
I had been told that there were two alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in Weston Lake, and as I rounded the northeastern corner of the lake, I saw first one and then the other. This was the larger one, well over 10 feet long.
And now for some miscellaneous highlights and sightings (see iNat for more). There were lots of skinks (Plestiodon) rustling in the leaf litter...
There were many, many butterflies and dragonflies zipping about the park.
I saw plenty of eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)...
But sadly only got a brief glimpse of a southern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger niger), while I was driving, so there's no photo to show. Just the fun signs on the road into the park.
On my way out of the park, I stopped at the entrance sign, and I saw a flash of blue. It was an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea; well named in both English and Latin).
I went to Congaree National Park to check it off my list while I still live in the southeast, but I may well go back sometime soon!
As my regular blog readers know, it's been a rough year. Mum finished chemo (for now) a couple weeks ago and then had a PET scan to evaluate her progress. So we decided to take a long weekend away to distract ourselves—while we awaited the results—and to try traveling on a small, manageable scale. So we visited the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague, just a three-hour drive away. Although Mum's energy and stamina were still severely limited, we were able to do some walks and drives through the park and saw lots of beautiful ponies, birds, and other wildlife. Success!
Most folks who have heard of Chincoteague probably first heard of it as a kid, reading Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. That was certainly my first exposure, from the same copy Dad had read as a kid too. Anyway, we stayed at Refuge Inn on Chincoteague Island, which is just outside of the combined Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague National Seashore park (which, somewhat confusingly, are both on Assateague Island, just across a bridge). Refuge Inn boasts its own herd of six ponies, as well as a lovely marsh observation deck (from which I heard but couldn't get a good view of several Clapper Rails).
Our first morning in the park, we started with the Lighthouse Trail, a quick 0.25 mi trail leading to the Assateauge Lighthouse, which is the most iconic landmark of the park.
Walking back towards the main road, we saw the most adorable little (~2 in) Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina).
The main road through the park, Beach Road, was lined with blooming Bristle Thistles (Cirsium horridulum).
And from the road itself there were beautiful views of both ponies and birds...
There were many of these spectacular Tricolored Herons (Egretta tricolor) in the park!
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
Great Egret (Ardea alba)
We walked a few of the trails, where I documented various plant species, and we saw a couple of Fowlers Toads (Anaxyrus fowleri).
Off the Woodland Trail, there was a perfect pony overlook.
Although peak tourist season here is in July, for Pony Penning Day, early May was a perfect time to see all the young foals.
It was pretty spectacular how you could look out at the horses...
And then shift your focus and see gorgeous egrets, glossy ibis, and other birds in the foreground.
Now this might sound a little odd, but Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a "Squirrel Sanctuary" (as we read at the visitor's center). Specifically the Delmarva Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) almost went extinct due to deforestation in the rest of Virginia and Maryland. But sometime around 1970, a small population was brought to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and has thrived. We enjoyed seeing them throughout the park (and—of course—calling out "squirrel!" each time).
Although they don't look dramatically different from the very common eastern gray squirrel, these fox squirrels are more silvery, with larger bodies and longer tails.
If you keep driving through the park, you quickly reach the other side of the barrier island, which is home to the Assateague National Seashore. One of the most ubiquitous—and loud—inhabitants is the distinctive Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla).
I always enjoy looking at and photographing birds head on, because they look so goofy!
Mum had a whole conversation with one...
And we noticed it had this cute little way of throwing it's head back after a particular vocalization.
We sat for a while and watched the Willets and Sanderlings skittering back and forth along the waterline with the waves.
Willet (Tringa semipalmata)
Sanderling (Calidris alba), one of the most adorable shorebirds
And of course various other gulls sitting, walking, and soaring along the shore.
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)
Juvenile gulls are notoriously difficult to identify.
Driving back from the seashore, we saw Dunlins, Terns, and various other birds in the Swan Cove Pool.
Dulin (Calidris alpina)
Terns were quite common throughout the park. I think they were mostly Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri), but terns are also rather challenging to identify.
Our last evening, Dad and I took an extra walk on the Marsh Trail around dusk, and I saw my first Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)!
Happily, we learned after the trip that the results from the PET scan were very good, all things considered. We are very thankful.
I saw plenty of eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)...
