On April 13, 2013, Jeff and I visited the Francis Biedler Forest, located somewhere towards Ridgeville, SC.When travelling between Charleston and Columbia, I always see a sign for it, and would read about programs that were offered which piqued my interest, so I kinda put it on my bucket list. It's situated in Four Hole Swamp (45,000 acres) and, covering 1,700 acres, it is owned by the National Audobon Society which owns a total of nearly 17,000 acres. A 1.75 mile boardwalk meanders through stands of new-growth trees, courtesy of the destructive force of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, heading back towards the lake then round again so one loops through some of the older, more established trees. It is a swamp- a beautiful, gorgeous blackwater swamp of cypress and tupelo gum trees, (tannin from those trees give the water its dark color), with more cypress knees than I saw at Cypress Gardens. And,many of those older, more established trees are up to 1,000 yrs old - in fact, 4 Hole Swamp has the largest remaining stand of virgin Cypress/Tupelo Gum swamp forest left anywhere in the world!
How to choose which photos? It was difficult- love the refections of the trees in the water- it's practically a mirror! the twisted, hollowed out stumps, looking like homes for gnomes or elves. The bright yellow prothonotary, the swamp's mascot, utilizes the cypress knees for its nest. Luck and timing determines which of the animals in their natural setting will just happen to delight you with their presence. I was extremely fortunate to come across a barred owl as he was chomping away on a crayfish, then turned around for a perfect photo op before deciding to wing his way to a tree behind me, passing only about 3 feet away from my head. Spotted some ibis between the trees, saw a cottonmouth and brown-banded water snake sunning themselves, and came across a juvenile yellow-crested night heron. Only saw one regular turtle! But, did see one big ole snapping turtle scuttling across the bottom of the swamp before coming to rest. I definitely plan to return....
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