Audubon’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary covers bottomland hardwood forest, longleaf pine savanna, grassland, and riparian habitats. There have been over 220 bird species recorded here.
On our visit in early September, we tackled two hiking trails and explored the wood stork foraging ponds. It was overcast that day which made for darker photos but nice cool temperatures.
Kathwood Ponds (Wood Stork Foraging Ponds)
The Kathwood Ponds area is down Silver Bluff Road from the visitor center – near where the road changes to pavement. There are three constructed ponds separated by banks. Walking paths make the shape of a figure eight around the ponds.
Late in the summer, water levels are lowered to concentrate fish, tadpoles, and crayfish into smaller pools making them easier to catch. These are regular feeding sites for wood storks, usually late July through September. Other wading birds and shorebirds are present all year long.
There were no wood storks on our visit, but we did see dozens of birds in the water – white ibises, little blue herons, great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, lesser yellowlegs, and killdeer.
While walking around, we heard an alligator bellowing from the third pond, so we chose to make our way back to the front ponds.
We also spotted cloudless sulphur and tiger swallowtail butterflies.
A photo blind and observation deck offer places to sit and enjoy the view.
Silver Bluff Sanctuary Hiking Trails
There are three trails in the sanctuary – each trailhead is accessible from the visitor center parking area. All trails are marked with orange metal posts.
Tanager Trail
We began on the 2-mile Tanager Trail. I would consider it an easy-to-moderate difficulty trail. It travels through both pine and hardwood forests. An information board informed us that native longleaf pine trees can grow for more than 700 years!
Around halfway into the hike, there was a spur trail to a short 90-foot boardwalk through a wet-weather pond. It was dry during our visit but in a different season this would be a beautiful place to rest and enjoy nature.
As it is an Audubon sanctuary, birding was our main draw. We found blue grosbeaks, blue jays, Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, eastern bluebirds, northern cardinals, pileated woodpeckers, pine warblers, red-bellied woodpeckers, summer tanagers, tufted titmice, and white-eyed vireos.
A special surprise was an eastern cottontail! I had not seen a rabbit in over a year so that was exciting. There was also a Carolina anole lizard lazing on a fallen limb.
Other fun finds were wildflowers and butterflies. Flowers and berries included American beautyberry, bush clover, butterfly pea, camphorweed, common mullein, Florida pusley, and hairy small-leaf ticktrefoil.
There were also Palamedes swallowtail and skipper butterflies.
Nuthatch Trail
This 0.75-mile loop starts near the butterfly garden. Nuthatch Trail highlights the longleaf pine ecosystem restoration at the sanctuary. Five large pines inside the loop are painted with two white rings – these are fitted with artificial cavities to attract endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers. Native grasses create a field ideal for birds and butterflies.
This easy trail is also perfect for families. There are numbered interpretive stations for kids along the loop.
In addition to the butterflies mentioned above, we also saw sleepy oranges and vetch looper moths. New flowers included giant ironweed, kidney-leaf rosinweed, and pale meadow beauty.
For bird lovers, I highly recommend Silver Bluff Sanctuary! I will be going back to explore the Quail Trail along the Savannah River and look for new species in different seasons.