Blip Meet Day 3 -- Birding Day

A cold and misty rain day today as we headed toward Hilton Head Island to the Pinckney Island Wildlife area with plans to go to Bluffton for some art gallery sights and lunch at a well know restaurant.   We actually had lunch today!!   It was early eating for us!!  

When we got to Pinckney Island it was misty rain but not really bad so we decided to take a chance to get to the ibis pond..about a mile down the road from the parking area. We pulled out our camera raincoats and started walking.    When we got there..yeah..the rain stopped and the pond was full of ibises, herons, gallinules and some other birds.  The ibis were nesting!!  I managed to catch this momma off her blue eggs..not sharp and clear (I sure wish I had grabbed my tripod from the car, but rain made me not want to carry it! )     I think there were probably close to one hundred birds in this pond!   

When we left there we stopped at the dock where we will catch a ferry ride tomorrow to Daufuskie Island.  I chatted with a retired couple from Pennsylvania who actually live on the island six month of the year.  They have to come to the mainland to get groceries!!     

When we got to Bluffton, there was a soft persistent rain falling..we had to pull out the umbrellas for our walk since we had to get on a waiting list for the Cottage Cafe and Bakery to get a seat for lunch.   We visited an art gallery that featured local artists included photography Kelley  Luikey.  What a great photographer..you can see her work at this website. 

https://naturemuseimagery.smugmug.com/

The food at the Cottage was excellent!   I had spicy grouper tacos.  Grouper is my favorite saltwater fish..does not taste like fish at all.  The others had wonderful sandwiches on homemade bread.   The Cottage is also a bakery..its expertise is wedding cakes..but there were five or six different cakes in the display..we were really good and did not get dessert!

We made one more stop at the Port Royal Sound Maritime Museum.  This museum is set up mostly for kids but we did learn some interesting facts about the eco system of this area.  

As we drove back to the hotel, the rain came again but to the west the sky was actually turning blue!   Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 70F!    We have a boat road on the itinerary and maybe we will see a good sunset tomorrow evening!  

A couple of extras from Pinckney Island.