Over the river ...

After driving over many icy rivers,

through snowy forests

and past burning cars

I eventually arrived at
a place with NO SNOW.


Not an interesting day -- drove straight to Columbia, South Carolina as all the secondary roads were covered with snow and ice and all the cool places were on isolated secondary roads! I decided to record all the wildlife I could see while driving down I95 from Emporia, VA to Florence, SC.. It was a short list: Turkey vultures and crows -- not even any roadkill! (If there were any roadkill, they were probably buried in snow!) Of course the weather was really lousy for most of the day and any self-respecting animal would be out of the wind and trying to stay warm. (Except for the chickadees, of course -- who need to eat or they will die!) I first saw spanish moss just north of Florence, SC and saw my first hill as I approached Columbia, SC.

Notably, the whole area was filled with wetlands! One did not travel far before a pond, swamp or wet forest came into view. Most of these wetlands seemed modified -- low places between fields where, I suspect, the water from the field was drained. There were also many wetlands with shrubs and small trees. I don't think they were pocosins as they did not appear elevated; perhaps they were recently logged? There are a lot of slow moving backwater rivers with extensive flood plains, many still intact and holding water and wildlife. I am coming to believe that if you are into wetlands, the southeast is the place to be.

So a storm has forced me to pass by the entire state of North Carolina. This is really too bad as the eastern part of the state is full of interesting wetlands, red wolves and coastal bays. I must return here soon ... and spend some time.

Tomorrow it is off Congaree National Park, then on towards Charleston. That's when the fun begins!