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Nature, even in a deep red state [1]

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Date: 2024-06-22  

I had the good fortune to be a resident artist at Lee State Park in South Carolina (Lee County not Robert E.) This is a little gem of a park and worth visiting what seems like the heart of darkness (this is about as political as I’ll get) to see. It’s an old CCC camp and the ecology is relatively intact.

How intact? Well, it has red-bellied mud snakes. These snakes only feed on three toed amphiuna — basically an almost legless aquatic newt. I saw a five foot long snake looking for a place to lay her eggs (you can see the bumps in the body) so there must be plenty of food. She was a little too big to get a good picture, especially as I only had my big telephoto lens.

So without further ado, and to provide relief from doom-scrolling, here are some photos.

There are three species of dragonflies (at least). These eat mosquitos among other little flying critters and I was very glad they hung around the campsite.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

A couple of old friends were there including the red-bellied woodpecker. This one was in a high-bush blueberry and having a good time eating the berries. There were nuthatches and titmice.

The Pewee and White-eyed vireo are new acquaintances.

As is the fishing spider.

There were lots of waterlilies this time of year.

Fishing Spider

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