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Ecco Tour to Deveaux Bank for Wimbrel Migration...
Each year, nearly 20,000 Wimbrel stop at Deveaux Bank here in South Carolina to rest and eat their favorite food - fiddler crabs - to get ready for the 2nd leg of their epic migration to the...
Rain Garden planting at Caw Caw...
On May 22nd, 8 CMNA volunteers came out to Caw Caw to help plant native plants for two (2) new rain garden installations.Plants like Joe Pye Weed, Aquatic Milkweed, River Oats, Crimson-eyed Rose...
5th Loggerhead Turtle Nest on Isle of Palms '25...
Thursday, 5/29, the fifth loggerhead turtle nest on Isle of Palms was found by CMNA member, Laura Lovins, and her team mate Holly Barron.The turtle was relatively small - her tracks measured 26...
St. Stephen fish elevator outing...
Our recent outing to the fish elevator at St. Stephen was quite the revelation! First, I never knew there was such a thing, and second, it was quite the tour of the facility, but mostly, the birds...
Birds of Prey Presentation to Williams Elementary School...
On March 4, the Coastal Master Naturalist Association proudly sponsored a Birds of Prey program at Williams Memorial Elementary School in Dorchester District 4. Sixty-nine first graders had the...
Installation of Wood Duck Nesting Boxes...
One project that has been planned for some time came to fruition on January 15th. Under the hard work and guidance of Edsel Taylor, Kristina Wheeler, Colin Hocking, Caroline Heape, and Andrea...
Nemours Wildlife Preserve Winter Tour...
Field trips with the CMNA group carry some of the same excitement for me that I remember from field trips as a young kid, with added benefits that we all have longer attention spans and a passion...
Purple Martin Gourd Raising at John's Island County Park...
On January 29th, CMNA members met at John’s County Island Park to begin a citizen science project on Purple Martins.The park has installed a Purple Martin (or PUMA – acronym) at the park, and CMNA...
Natural History Volunteer Newsletter...
Article reproduced with permission of Caroline Heape. If you'd like to continue receiving newsletters from Caroline, it's simple: VOLUNTEER!Caroline can be contacted at caroline.heape@ccprc.com,...
Purple Haze Showing...
On Thursday, January 9th, CMNA hosted the screening of Zach Steinhauser’s film, “Purple Haze”. The screening was shown at the Charleston Main library on Calhoun St.A little over 50 participants...
The Big Sit 2...
October 5th saw our second annual Big Sit held by Charleston County Parks at James Island County Park, and hosted by park naturalist and our CMNA Board Member, Kristina Wheeler.An enormous thank...
Cane Bay Clean up...
September 28th saw some CMNA volunteers participate in this trash collection effort!Several months ago, it came to my attention that the animal and bird rescue volunteer that covers the Cane Bay...
Land protected forever....
Long-time association member, Edsel Taylor, recently retired and made a lasting decision to have his property protected in perpetuity. Here's his story!
Taking 'Alligator Ambassador' on the road...
In late July, I had a text message from a friend of mine. An inquiry that came about because she'd seen my Facebook posts about my volunteering as an Alligator Ambassador with the Charleston...
Edisto Beach Fossil Hunt...
Quite a crew arrived at Edisto Island beach for our Walk and Talk with paleontologist Ashby Gale!We started with a little show and tell of what we should be looking for, and possibly find. Ashby...
The Alien Worlds Around Us...
I attended a wonderful class on protozoa! (I know what a geek. 😆) It was taught by Dr. Dave Eslinger - a fountain of knowledge and an inspiring teacher! The course was called "Alien Worlds Around...
The Purple Martins of Lake Murray
This week I was very fortunate to receive an invite from one of my photography club members to join him on a visit to Lake Murray to see the annual Purple martin roost.The man made lake was...
Social Evening at Mix....
Well, if you didn't go, you really missed out on a fun evening...of axe throwing!Of course, the evening was much more than that with a chance to catch up with friends and make new ones. However,...
Social evening at Mix
Want to "team up" with...or against....your fellow MNs for some friendly competition axe throwing? Sorry folks....the best way for us to share photos is through a gallery, so send me those pics to...
Great Citizen Science Opportunity at Your Fingertips
Fellow Master Naturalists! Here’s a great Citizen Science opportunity that you may not know about. It’s the South Carolina Aquarium’s Citizen Science suite of tools, available online and as a free...
What's going on at Caw Caw?
Been out to Caw Caw recently? If so, you may have noticed some changes, if not, be prepared when you do get out! So what might you see and why?Following several years of unhindered growth, Caw...
Tips on becoming a Statewide Master Naturalist
Ah yes, that beautiful green gem that marks a Statewide Master Naturalist. It seems that for many, myself included, pursuing the Statewide Master Naturalist educational goal appears as a logical...
A little gardening project on IOP...
On Thursday, 3/14/24, a native plant garden installation was completed on Isle of Palms, at the corner of 7th Avenue and Palm Blvd.The idea for the native plant garden was initially developed in...
Need some volunteer hours?
There are a lot of options for you here:https://lowcountrylandtrust.org/special_events/
The Southeastern Bat Expo and...
I had the pleasure of attending the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network and Annual Colloquium on the Conservation of Mammals in the Southeastern United States conference from...
Here's somewhere you need to bee...
The Charleston Area Beekeepers Association (CABA) and the Charleston Parks Conservancy are thrilled to invite you to the highly anticipated 2024 Bee Expo, taking place at Magnolia Park on...
And the award goes to.....
In this season of awards, it's only fitting that Keith McCullough (Natural History Interpretation Coordinator) and Kristina Wheeler (Natural History Interpretation Specialist) were recently...
Thank you garden volunteers!
Despite the potentially inclement weather, several volunteers came out to Caw Caw to do some gardening!A HUGE thank you to all of you that participate to make the garden more enjoyable for all of...
The Hammock Coast Bird Festival...
For a few days during the second weekend of February I was fortunate enough to be a guest presenter at the second year of this festival!I was presenting on how to be a better bird photographer,...
Starting the new year ...
January always sees us celebrate the graduation of the Fall Class from the previous year, and conduct our Annual General Association meeting.Although the weather was a little chilly, there was a...
Caw Caw Bioblitz 2023 Results
The Coastal Master Naturalists Association, hosted what we hope is the first of an annual series of bioblitzes on February 5, 2023. Noted author and naturalist Peter Alden was our guest speaker...
Nurdles up close
In addition to reading about our nurdling adventers in Kristina's article (https://www.coastalmasternaturalists.org/articles/136136-nurdle-patrol) I thought it might be interesting to share some...
Christmas Bird Count 2024
December 18th was my day to join Kristina wheeler, Noel Williams, Dave Eslinger, and Tony Panek on our annual trek to Brosnan Forest to participate in the Christmas Bird Count.Brosnan Forest is a...
The Hope Summit
The Hope Summit is a multidisciplinary and intersectional ideas and solutions summit with core thematic tracks that include water quality and plastic pollution, stewardship and citizen science,...
The Big Sit...was a big hit!
October 7th saw Charleston County Parks' Big Sit birding event. Organized by naturalist Kristina Wheeler at James Island County Park, several of our CMNA members volunteered to participate during...
The Caw Caw Interpretive Center's garden gets an upgrade!
Caw Caw Interpretive Center and some Master Naturalist volunteers teamed up with Sharleen Johnson of Native Plants to the People LLC (NPTTP) to install pollinator specific native plants to the big...
Eagle Watch, by the numbers....
Let’s talk numbers. Two. That is the number of eaglets our nesting pair of bald eagles successfully raised this year. I’m sure you already know this information if you read Colin’s wonderful story...
Spring Graduation & Semi-Annual Business meeting
The first weekend in June saw us gather to celebrate our new Master Naturalist graduates! While the weather had turned a little chilly for June, we had a quality turnout for the celebration and...
My last day on Eagle Watch....
Like some others of you, I spent many days at Caw Caw these last several months volunteering to monitor the activity on and around the bald eagle nest there. 'Eagle Watch' started early last...
Getting to Know Debbie Seabrook, 2023 Carl Cole Service Award Recipient
Debbie Seabrook was this year’s recipient of the Carl Cole Service Award for her time and dedication to the Coastal Master Naturalist Association. Most of us know Debbie, but do we really KNOW...
Your Association Donation $s at Work!
The Charleston County Park and Recreation’s Education team, in partnership with Community Recreation, implemented a series of Junior Naturalists programs for students from E B Ellington in March...
Caw Caw BioBlitz with world-renowned naturalist Peter Alden
February 5th saw the Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel host its first ever BioBlitz, and how amazing to have naturalist and author Peter Alden as our guest! Kudos to Kristina Wheeler, CCPRC...
Thank you for your service!
Two very distinguished volunteers are stepping down from their Board of Director positions, so a huge thank you goes to Debbie Seabrook, this year's recipient of the Carl Cole Service Award, and...
An Adventure in a Cypress Dome
My husband Harold and I took a trip to Everglades National Park in early January. We were primarily going to do some birding, but we were disappointed in the lack of birds compared to what we saw...
The CMNA Annual General Meeting and more!
Our 2023 Annual Meeting for the Coastal Master Naturalist Association was a place of comradery. On Sunday, January 8, the newest class of graduates along with members from over the years gathered...
My first Christmas Bird Count
December 19th saw me on my first ever Christmas Bird Count, and what an experience it was!! It was a very cold start, and we had to wipe down the wooden bench seats of the open air pick-up truck...
Wambaw Tract field trip
On what I'd like to call the "What do we do on Tuesdays now we've graduated?" field trip, we had a very welcome introduction to the expertise of Sharleen Johnson!Other experts joined in too, so...
Volunteer Spotlight: Corinne & David Ramage
Francis Beidler Forest is an 18,000-acre bird and wildlife sanctuary tucked away in Harleyville. It has two parts: 1) the cypress-tupelo hardwood forest and swamp is the world’s largest, virgin...
Fall is in the air....
We usually know that fall is near when the pumpkin spice flavor starts to show up in everything everywhere, but I typically prefer to let Mother Nature show me that the cool, crisp season of fall...
A rare visit to the Dill Sanctuary
If, like me, you'd never heard of the Dill Sanctuary before, then feel free to read on! Owned by The Charleston Museum, the Dill sanctuary is a 580 acre wildlife sanctuary on James Island, and...
Exploring the Redwoods of California
This summer our family spent a week in the North Coast region of California on a mission to explore the ancient California coast redwood groves. California coast redwood trees get their common...
A VERY Early Morning Bird Walk
Many of us have probably been to the early Morning Board Walks at Caw Caw, but what about the VERY early one? I'm talking about a 6.30am start kind of early! Well, one morning this past August,...
Special Encounters
South Carolina is home to 165 species of butterflies. I’ve had several species of these fluttering visitors to my yard over the past few months but one in particular was a special encounter. The...
SC Master Naturalist Advisory Board Retreat
The mission of the South Carolina Master Naturalist Program (SCMNP) is to provide nature-based education that inspires citizen volunteers to promote environmental stewardship within their...
Find your volunteering happy place
For the past several months I have had the pleasure of volunteering for the Charleston County Park and Recreation Natural History Department as a Natural History Interpretive Docent. In the spring...
Day of the Dragon
In May I had the opportunity to participate in the “Day of the Dragon” advanced training which focused on dragonflies and damselflies.The training was hosted by the South Carolina Wildlife...
The World of Phytoplankton
This past month of May, I completed the Master Naturalist program. After being exposed to many topics to practice newfound skills, I decided to pursue more education in the phytoplankton world....
Walk & Talk - Cypress Gardens tour with Gabe Schuler
Saturday, May 21, 2022It was a warm but cloudy day, which made it a perfect morning for our walk through the gardens, the Butterfly House, and Swamparium (eww). Gabe was an enthusiastic and...
Yawkey Wildlife Center
Our second outing in May was to the Yawkey Wildlife Center in Georgetown, SC.It was my first visit to the center, but I will be back! Our guide for the day was Jim Lee, a SCDNR Education and...
Wood Ducks of Four Hole Swamp
On a cool morning in March, I joined fellow Master Naturalist, Edsel Taylor, at his bottomland forest property in Ridgeville, adjacent to Four Holes Swamp.For almost two decades, he’s nurtured the...
Dolphin feeding and wading birds
The cool December morning bites. The low tide wanes. Herons and egrets fly overhead. There’s a ruckus in the creek. I rush down to see two large bottlenose dolphins circling in the shallow waters,...
Keeping Wildlife Wild: Burrito the Squirrelet’s Story
Release your inspiration...In the midst of hurricane season, we have had several stronger storms in the Lowcountry that have produced high winds and heavy rain. With new hatchlings of many species...
Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Installation
A week and a half into March saw an enthusiastic group of Coastal SC Master Naturalists meet in the classroom at the Caw Caw Interpretive Center for a morning of installing bird boxes.Our host was...
