A Hoot of a Paddle–Thursday–May 3, 2012

Today we planned to paddle one of our favorite places The Waccamaw Wildlife Management Refuge.  It is very close to Huntington Beach and the access at Enterprise Landing is great.  The only thing you need to manage is the timing.  This is a tidal paddle.  To paddle with the tides into the Refuge and return to the landing with the tides, you need to put in about 2 hours before high tide.  This morning that meant getting on the river by 8:30.

We are morning folks, so that is not an issue. We arrived at Enterprise Landing and were on the river just a few minutes after 8:30.  Now lets just hope Nancy figured the tides correctly;o))

Enterprise Landing on the Intercoastal Waterway

The Intercoastal Waterway

We paddle directly across the waterway to enter

the National Wildlife Refuge

We had just begun to paddle into the refuge

when Nancy said she saw a big brown blob

head into the trees on her right. 

So over we paddled….

Our first view of the brown blob…

a Barred Owl !!!

A FIRST for us :o))

We paddled closer... 

The owl just stared at us!!

We really thought it would fly as we paddled closer.

However, it didn't move.

We were as close as we could get

and all it did was look down.

Amazing!! 

We hung around for quite some time,

hoping it would fly so we could see that.

It wasn't ready to go anywhere;o(

Eventually, we headed on our way further up the waterway.

It is a beautiful paddle with great old trees and Spanish Moss.

One thing we love about this paddle at this time of the year is

seeing all the Osprey nests.  We saw about 6-7 and we won't post all

the photos....Just some of our favorites:o))

Momma Osprey was on the nest and Dad was standing guard.

When we got close,

he took off in an attempt

to divert our attention to a different location.

It worked!!

Beautiful Bird

Just as beautiful were the views along the waterway!!

Water Hyacinths

Their color was spectacular!!

We continued our paddle with the tide.

So far, so good...the tide is with us!!

To appreciate this next photo, you have to imagine

the wonderful silence and solitude we were experiencing.

Just us,

the scenery,

the birds

 and

THE TITANIC!!

As we came around the corner

there she was headed right at us;o((

I'll spare you the photos of her

two, just as large, traveling companions!!

However, as soon as they were out of sight and sound range,

we had the waterway back!!

A couple hours into our paddle, as if on Que,

the tides changed and we headed back towards the landing.

We tucked in amongst the trees to enjoy a little lunch.

Large Turtle catching some rays!

As we came upon this pair,
we thought it was mom on the nest
and
dad standing guard...

However, as we got closer,
Dad took off to finish his lunch.

Mom was left to defend the nest.;-(

She was more than up to the task
and made it clear we should move on!!

Once we were at a safe distance,

she settled back on the nest :o))

Osprey lay their eggs from mid April to early May in this area of the country. It takes 35-40 days for them to hatch.  That means there should be chicks in the nest about June through early July.  Hopefully,  we can get back out here then to see the little ones!!

Arriving back at Enterprise Landing

What a wonderful paddle we had today. 

Perfect weather, amazing wildlife, beautiful scenery

and

PERFECT TIDES!!!