At long last a few hours away that made me feel like I’ve had an entire weekend getaway!

Fish Haul is on Hilton Head Island and borders Port Royal Sound. It’s a birder’s paradise and an ecological wonder. Every SC Low Country Master Naturalist class gets a field trip here and is warned not to get stuck in the pluff mud.

When Rob and I arrived just before 5 p.m., the tide was on its way out. I set up my chair facing east and reached in my bag for my supplies when I discovered I’d left my travel watercolor palette at home! Luckily the Pentel pocket brush, Micron pen and waterbrushes were there.  A black and white page was not what I had in mind on this beauty of an autumn day, but it did give me a chance to finally play with the Pentel brush. 

We spent about an hour on the beach. The receding tide moved out quickly and shorebirds that had settled on the highest ground at high tide took flight several times, moving farther out into the Sound, landing on newly visible shoals. Pelicans, gulls and skimmers filled the sky! Great Egrets started to collect just past the large rock eddy. They know there’s good fishing in shallow tidal pools 🙂

I love the time of the ‘long shadows.’ The colors of the marsh grass, ocean and sky were incredible… so many shades of green and blue. But, oh the bugs! AT 5:45 p.m., it was as if someone turned on the bug switch. Boom! They were everywhere. No-seeums, mosquitoes and whatever… Dang.  Driven off by insects.