Pritchards Island
Amazing Uninhabited Island
Pritchards Island is just southwest of Fripp and is only accessible by boat. This uninhabited island is owned by the University of South Carolina which conducts research on the island and welcomes daily visitors who enjoy strolling along the beaches and enjoying the barrier island's wildlife and tranquility.
Atlanta businessman Philip Rhodes donated the 1,600 acre island to the University of South Carolina in 1983 with the condition it not be developed commercially but rather used for coastal research. Students would stay in the "old stilt house", the Rhodes Research Center, while studying the ecosystems on the island and managing the preservation of the loggerhead sea turtles that nest on the island. The island is still managed by USCB and is used for education, conservation and research purposes by the University, other state institutions, and the general public.
In October of 2022, the abandoned research lab was removed, section by section, and hauled off on a barge.
For several years, the Beaufort County Arts Council collaborated with USCB to hold an annual artist retreat on Pritchards. Each artist was required to provide a piece of art that became the Pritchards Island Collection.
That collection now hangs in the library at the Hilton Head Gateway campus. (Source: Island Packet 2015)
If you're looking for an adventure, visit Pritchards by kayak or canoe. The Fripp Island Resort offers guided canoe trips that launch off the beach behind the Cabana Club. It's a great way to safely navigate the swift current that runs through Skull Inlet and learn more about the barrier islands. Contact the Activity Center for more information and reservations.
If you're ready to head out on your own, you can check tides and head over in your kayak or canoe. Single and tandem kayaks are also available to rent at Island Excursions. Once you get to Pritchards, you'll enjoy the peace and quiet of the island while strolling, shelling and exploring.
One of Beaufort County's most nested beaches, Pritchards Island is host to Loggerhead Sea Turtles between May and October. A group of dedicated volunteers patrol the island during nesting season to protect, mark and even relocate nests when necessary. Learn more about loggerheads - they're truly amazing!
Pritchards Island is host to both shorebirds and seabirds throughout most of the year - in the summer for nesting, and as a rest and refuel layover during their epic spring and fall migrations.
Nests are laid in shallow scrapes in the sand that blend in very well to their surroundings. While raising their young in the summer, it is imperative that adult birds keep eggs and chicks shaded to prevent predation and overheating in the summer sun, like the Least Tern is doing in this photo.
With North American shorebird and seabird populations in steep decline from habitat loss, predation and human disturbance, every piece of natural habitat remaining is critical for their survival. Help us protect these birds while enjoying the beach by keeping these actions in mind:
- Walk around flocks of birds, not through them, so they can rest and feed
- Respect signage on the beach indicating where birds are nesting and/or resting
- Leash your dog near birds, because even friendly dogs look like predators to them
There's lots to learn about birds in the Lowcountry - there are hundreds of different species to be found. Thank you for helping to protect our local wildlife!
• #ShareTheShore • this Piping Plover chick, pictured at 4 days old, is beating the odds. Its three siblings were taken by predators within a few days, but this little one has become adept at avoiding the plentiful ghost crabs that tip toe on their claws across the beach hoping to steal prey into their sandy tunnels. It responds to alarm calls from its parents, freezing and flattening to the ground, as an e-bike races across the beach at low tide. The fuzzy chick, smaller than a surf clam, remains motionless as the fat tires speed by just feet away from leaving the parents chick-less. Overhead, gulls and crows listen for the plover calls and search for flightless prey. On a busy weekend beach day, the chick navigates beach chairs, walkers and unleashed dogs, as it makes its way to the intertidal zone to eat. It’s not easy being a plover.
Iconic kind of guy.
#sharetheshore #pipingplover #conservationphotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #naturephotography #yankeemagazine #mynewengland #natgeo #optoutside #massachusetts #ignewengland #igersnewengland #westernmass #igers413 #pioneervalley #413 #scenesofnewengland #igersmass #birds #birdsofinstagram #ocean
“My job... is just beach.” - Westken snowy plover
Western snowy plovers are all about beach! Until September, these small, sparrow-sized shorebirds are hard at work incubating eggs and caring for their chicks. You can safely share the shore with these threatened birds by:
- Give wildlife space: do not approach or chase these birds.
- Respect all posted signs and roped-off areas for the protection of wildlife.
- Avoid prolonged picnicking or sunbathing in plover nesting habitat (dry sand areas above the wrack line).
- Walk on the wet hard-packed sand below the wrack line to avoid nesting habitat.
- Camp or build fires only in designated areas.
- If you’re on a beach that allows vehicles, drive ‘low and slow’, staying on the hard-packed sand below the high tide line where plovers forage.
- Avoid driving over old vehicle or foot tracks as plovers like to rest or “loaf” in these and are extremely hard to see.
- Avoid flying kites or other hovering objects near plover nesting habitat.
- Please dispose of all trash properly and do not inadvertently or intentionally feed wildlife.
- Know beach-specific dog rules before you go. If dogs are permitted, please follow the leash rules.
Thank you in advance!
🎨 by Rebecca Fabbri/USFWS
Daddy let me in…..wait no I want to run! 🖤🤍
Imani and one of his babies.
#pipingplover #plover #birds #shorebirds #sharetheshore #montrose #birding #birdphotography #birdpics #birdlovers #beach #endangeredspecies #chicago #nature #naturelovers #naturephotography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikonnature #nikonoutdoors
chicagopipingplovers
Did you know February 15 marked the beginning of the breeding season for shorebirds in Florida?
Nesting sites in the eastern Florida Panhandle have been busy setting up string fencing, often called symbolic fencing, to protect dune and beach ecosystems from being trampled and eroded. But there are plenty of ways that you can help #ShareTheShore the next time you’re out on the state`s beaches this breeding season—remember to follow these tips:
🚫 Avoid feeding wildlife
🗑️ Dispose of trash properly
🚗 Avoid driving on beaches
🐕 Keep dogs on leashes or off beaches when they’re not permitted
🐦 Give shorebirds their space and avoid flushing them
Find out more about the ongoing efforts to ensure that Florida’s shorebirds have a safe breeding season by tapping the link in our bio.
A Snowy Plover peeks out while camouflaged on the shore. 📷: Veryl Witmer/Audubon Photography Awards
Why do Black Skimmers have these strange, uneven bills? For a very specific purpose: when these coastal birds fly low, with their long lower mandibles plowing the water, they’ll snap the bill shut once they contact a fish.
A Black Skimmer with its beak wide open in Wachapreague, Virginia. 📷: Joshua Galicki (galicki_photography)/Audubon Photography Awards
It`s #WorldOceansDay! Rockaway Beach is NYC`s front-row seat to the Atlantic Ocean. When you visit, help keep the ocean clean by taking your trash with you. Trash on the beach can wind up in the ocean and harm the marine ecosystem as well as the birds that thrive on our oceanfront. 📷: daniel.avila
Newborn Least Tern struggling to get down its breakfast. Sunrise - July 2021 in theoceancounty NJ. #leasttern #audubonsociety #birds #birdsofinstagram #best_bird_shots #best_birds_of_ig #best_birds_planet #best_birds_of_world #photographyinmyframe #oceanvirals #allkindsofmagic #allkindsofnature #jshn #nj #newjersey #sharetheshore #audbonsociety #earthfocus #featured_wildlife #global_creatives #planetbirds #shorebirds #whatschirping #animal_elite #macro_perfection #macro_brilliance #birdsonearth #birds_adored #natgeo
If you`re looking for a way to help birds this summer, consider volunteering with nycploverproject. YOU can be an ambassador for New York`s cutest shorebird, the endangered piping plover.
There are only about 8,000 left in the world, with a few hundred in NY. We are privileged to have these birds nesting right on our city beaches, but their nesting areas are often disturbed by humans and their pets. Join nycploverproject, working with gatewaynps, nycaudubon and others, to keep these areas safe.
Last weekend, volunteers chalked the Rockaway Beach boardwalk and connected with cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers, surfers and others enjoying the 🌞. We can all #sharetheshore.
They need volunteers through August at Fort Tilden, Jacob Riis and Breezy Point Tip. Another volunteer training will be happening in early June. Visit nycploverproject for more info.
📷: chrisallieri
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#pipingplover #pipingplovers #protecttheplover #plovers #shorebirds #endangeredspecies
Where do weanlings (elephant seal pups who are no longer nursing) go on their first trip at sea?
Without any teaching, or any help from their fellow weanlings, these brave young voyagers venture to sea and learn how to navigate the North Pacific and find food. How do they find their way? Do the males and females instinctively follow the same routes as the adults?
Researchers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are trying to answer these questions. Among the 15 weanlings tracked over the past 2 years, scientists have found a lot of individual variation. Many weanlings headed northward along the coast or just off the continental shelf near the Pacific northwest. But one weanling stayed near the Channel Islands off southern California, and another spent most of her time off the coast of Alaska!
We are just beginning to understand where the weanlings go. Join us in April to start #WatchingThoseWeanlings and follow this year’s 10 intrepid explorers on their journeys: https://www.calpoly-viplab.com/satellite-tags
That’s a wrap for #WinterWildlifeWonders! Thank you for following along these past 8 weeks as we shared fun facts about elephant seals and ways to be a steward in their protection.
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📷: Kathleen Curtis
Image Description: A close-up shot of a group of weanlings with silver fur laying next to one another.
#AñoNuevoStatePark #WinterWildlifeWonders #ElephantSeal #WatchingThoseWeanlings #HelpMeStayWild #RespectWildlife #ShareTheShore #StewardshipSunday #CAStateParks
