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JOCASSEE WINTERBIRDS REPORT I heard loons this morning, under a fine late fall sky. First a long, lonely wail at daybreak, coming from the Bootleg ramp area of the big water, then several hoots of loons gathering together, likely preceding a period of morning feeding. Yesterday morning I heard, ever so faintly, loons calling from…

Aphercotropism‍ Do we embrace an obstacle, or try to break it apart? Consider the delicate growing tip of a tree root, which might go either way. A dusty old nineteenth century word describes the process of growing away from, or around, a barrier. Aphercotropism is a mouthful of a word. A root feels its way…

JOCASSEE WINTERBIRDS REPORT: Happy November, everyone, the month in which Jocassee begins its transformation into a sanctuary for many varies of migratory waterbirds that call Jocassee home in winter. The star of the show is the common loon, of course, that spectacular, charismatic bird that leaves its breeding lakes in the upper Mid-West this time…

  So long October, hello November! What a great way to end the warm season. The weather was amazing for the last kayak tour of the year. The lake was smooth as glass, creating mirror images of the colorful trees. A few Sulphur butterflies were still fluttering about and the air temperature was perfect for…

Joros‍ Maybe they arrived here as youngsters, stowed in a shipping container. Maybe they were hidden in a box and trucked into the Georgia foothills in pitch blackness. Maybe there were only a couple of them, but more likely there were hundreds. Maybe some of them didn’t survive. Maybe the survivors spun out a balloon…

VOTE! Yep, it’s that time again. Every four years we are called to help shape the future of our country, and with that comes an opportunity to let you know where we stand. And since we know you are waiting breathlessly for our sage guidance, here it is. With a deep sense of urgency, we…

Competition ‍ In a quiet cove on the west side of Lake Jocassee, one brilliant yellow paw-paw tree glows in light of autumn sun shining through its leaves. We sit in awe. Surely, this is the most beautiful tree in the Jocassee Gorges. We putter on, across Devils Fork and around Fisher Knob Mountain, and…

  For most of us ready for a respite from a long, dry summer and the clean up from the hurricanes, October has arrived with its sweatshirt mornings and short sleeve afternoons. Mid 40’s to low 50’s to start the day and mid 70’s by late afternoon. Migrating Monarch and Sulfur butterflies begin to move…

Windy mornings‍ Air chilled from longer nights and higher elevations sinks down through the Jocassee Gorges and hits a lake surface still registering around 70 degrees. As air flows across warmer water it rises. The result is predictable. Wind. Whitecaps. An eye-opening spray of water across the bow of a boat. We pull out ponchos,…

I scanned the shoreline of Jocassee and breathed a sigh of relief. The mountains were still standing. Swaths of trees were uprooted and blown down into messy piles of trunks and branches. Layers of saturated soil were gone, slipped off of the rocks into the depths of Jocassee. Yet still, Bald Eagles rose in spiral…

Aurora borealis‍ It’s dark over Lake Jocassee, and a billion bright stars pierce the night sky. The Milky Way arches overhead. Bright parking lot light fades towards the far end of the dock, and there we gather, hoping for a glimpse of the famous northern lights. A couple from Easley are self-professed “lights chasers”…

The storm came and went, leaving so much devastation and sadness. So many of us moved to this part of the world to escape hurricanes, and for the most part, that strategy has worked. Not this time. As the oceans warm, the weather is becoming more unpredictable, more ferocious. And yet it is fall, and…