He had his movie camera and had just taken photos of a
pair of roseate spoonbills he had seen in Blue Heron Pond.
We hurried back to the Tower, but they were gone. They
reappeared the next day in Killdeer Pond and I managed
to get photos. From that day forward, Bob and I exchanged
almost daily emails on where the spoonbills could be found.
The number of reported sightings also grew—from one or
two to five, then eight, and finally as many as twelve.
Every day we expected that they would be gone, but week
after week they were still here working the shallow ponds,
sometimes alone, sometimes with wood storks or egrets. I
took more than 450 photographs before they finally left in
WINTER/SPRING 2016 • VOLUME 35
late September, just before the rains came to Kiawah and
the rest of the Low Country. My last photo was taken on the
23rd of September. Their tenure extended over three separate
months—July, August, and September.
We still don’t know why they came so far up from Florida
and why they stayed so long. Perhaps it is a further indication
of climate change, or maybe the growth of the Florida
population has them looking for a more suitable habitat to
support their growing numbers. The story we would like to
believe, however, is that like us they have now discovered how
wonderful Kiawah is and will be back next summer. NK
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