Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal refuges complex, located between Hilton Head and Bluffton, SC.

Join Lynn Hodgson, Hilton Head Audubon field trip chair and master birder, for a walk to Ibis Pond to study and admire the breeding wading birds, anhingas, grackles, etc. Pinckney consists of about 4,000 acres with 10 miles of trails through maritime forest adjacent to salt marshes, and freshwater ponds with mowed margins for easy viewing. On this field trip, however, we will spend most of our time at Ibis, with binoculars, and cameras, about l/2 mile walk from the parking lot on a gravel road. While Pinckney is a joy any time of year, it is a particularly “happening place” in spring.

Registration is necessary.

Directions: The entrance to Pinckney is on Rte-278 between the 2 bridges that connect Bluffton and Hilton Head SC.  This is a dangerous road with too many cars in a hurry, so be very careful entering and exiting the Refuge. No facilities at Pinckney, but plenty of woods.

Photo: Common Grackle by Darren Smith