Magnolia Plantation

We left early this morning to drive to Charleston, & on the way there we stopped at Patriots Point to see the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned WWII aircraft carrier that is harbored there. Next we headed to the Avian Center for birds of prey and got to see not only many different  owls, but also flying demonstrations of a vulture, a kite and two harris hawks. (I also got eaten alive by noseeums--little tiny biting flies--& was told by Mary it's because I have that "white Yankee skin"!) After that we had lunch, then headed over to Magnolia Plantation. We spent the afternoon and evening there, strolling through the beautiful gardens, taking a boat tour of what used to be the  rice fields, and walking through the Audubon Swamp Garden. It was a fascinating place where we were able to see flowers in bloom, a bride having pictures taken, a peacock, multiple alligators from baby size  up to "Big Wally", who has been hanging around the plantation for many years, is estimated to be about 65 years old and is 15 feet long!  I posted a "junior Wally" in my collage. The Swamp garden also contains a rookery, where we  saw a heron with two babies in the nest clamoring for food,  turtles, more gators, and lots of nesting egrets, herons & anhingas. There was a great blue heron who flew to the edge of the lake and parked itself in shallow water, and after a few minutes, one of the alligators who had been sunning itself on one of the sunning platforms, slowly slipped into the water and with great stealth headed for the heron, who fortunately flew away before becoming dinner!  :))