Blog

It’s official… The 2025 Jocassee Wild Child program kicked off this week with 7th graders from Gettys Middle School in Pickens County. “The students loved it! They learned about geology, zoology, history, energy, geography, climate and ecology. They experienced it and touched it. Mostly important, they were charged to protect & preserve our beautiful upstate”.

~Juliet Marie Lewis Bishop. Eastern tiger swallowtails are appearing one by one. This SC state butterfly will typically be seen from now through November. In the southeastern US, these butterflies have three life cycles per season. Because they are most prevalent east of the Rocky Mountains, 4 different states consider them state butterflies. In addition to SC, these states include Georgia, Alabama and Delaware. Migratory ducks are visiting the lake. We saw what we think were a large raft of lesser Scaups, numbering over 300, flying back and forth across the main basin. Grebes, gulls and loons are everywhere on the lake and we followed 2 juvenile bald eagles as they made their way down the Horsepasture River channel from the footbridge; stopping now and then in the tree tops, almost as if they were waiting on us to catch up and follow. We finally lost sight of them as they disappeared around the last bend before Mill Creek Falls. Oconee Bells are blooming around the lake also. Join us at BellFest next weekend, Saturday, March 22nd. ~Sheryl