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Since the weather has been better, Chopper and I have taken a habit of going somewhere for a day hike on Sundays.  This week, we visited Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, near Hilton Head.

I am a sucker for a good live oak canopy.

Tons of birds at Pinckney Island — great blue and little blue herons, snowy, cattle, and great egrets, ibis, moorhens, soras, bluebirds, kingfishers, and more.  The egrets and ibises have staked out one particular pond as their rookery.

Most of these are juvenile white ibis.

White ibis don’t become fully white until they’re out of their juvenile phase.  I love them.  They’re slightly awkward looking birds.

And, as would be expected in a good South Carolina wetlands, alligators of the large and small variety:

I didn’t take the Nikon out in the heavy, rather wet snow we got last night but my cell phone did pretty good.  I’m setting my alarm for early in the morning and I’m hoping to shoot some before everything melts tomorrow.

Chopper and I wandered up to Marion Square, the biggest park in downtown Charleston.  It was gorgeous with the snow coming down like mad.  This had all accumulated in about 45 minutes to an hour.

Me, with the only hat I own and my duck boots.