Roofing Contractor in Port Royal, SC

A diverse mix of long-legged wading birds are once again as thick as no-see-ums at a popular downtown Port Royal wetlands where they are turning the green trees white with dashes of blacks, blues and browns.

“Action packed” is how Jenn Clementoni describes the birding activity at the Cypress Wetlands right now.

“There’s a ton — a ton — of birds,” says Clementoni, a birding guide and master naturalist.

On Thursday, bird lovers aimed cameras with zoom lenses at the annual spring gathering of birds. But a boardwalk gives even the casual visitor easy access to a brilliant show.

A cacophony of squawks and shrill squabbling drowned out the sounds of civilization as birds of all shapes and sizes and colors jostled for space and defended territory with pecks and flapping wings in the trees where they are building nests.

Birds, clutching tree limbs in their feet, swooped overhead like jet fighters as an alligator cruised in the water under the boardwalk.

One reason Cypress Wetlands is so popular as a nesting location for wading birds, Clementoni says, is the protection its alligators and islands provide from predators such as raccoons and feral cats.

The wetlands not only provide valuable habitat for the birds and other wildlife but serve the surrounding human population by collecting stormwater runoff.

The return of the birds started the first week of March this year, which is a bit early, Clementoni said.

The first to show up were bald-headed wood storks. The prehistoric-looking wading bird with a 5 1/2-foot wing span is expanding in South Carolina because of habitat loss farther south, Clementoni says. Two years ago, 16 wood stork nests were counted and 32 last year. Clementoni is predicting 50 in 2025.

“It seems like they really love the Cypress Wetlands,” she says.

A flashy glossy ibis showed up at the Cypress Wetlands last year. Another one has made a return visit this year. “We don’t normally see them,” Clementoni says. The birds looked mostly dark, but their feathers pop with purples, maroons, emerald and bronze in the light.

All kinds of birds nest at the wetlands: white ibis, great egrets, tricolored herons, snowy egrets, little and great blue herons and green herons.

While many of the birds nest in shrubs and smaller trees, black crown night herons and yellow crown night herons can be seen in taller cypress trees, above the din.

The majority of the birds, with the exception of green herons, yellow-crowned night herons and western cattle egrets, actually live in the area year round. However, for most of the year, they are scattered in area marshes during the day, returning only at night to Cypress Wetlands to roost.

But in the spring, usually in late March, hundreds of birds begin to congregate in the wetlands to build nests and mate and the population explodes. Birds can be seen all day long, which draws bird-watchers from across the region.

“It’s prime time breeding season for all those wading birds,” Clementoni says.

Right now, says Clementoni, there are probably 300 to 400 birds in the trees, a number that will grow to 500 to 600 as the nesting season progresses.

Look for baby birds the second or third week of April.

Breeding and nesting will continue through July.

Cypress Wetlands is located 1700 Paris Avenue. Birds can be seen during the day right up until sunset. No-see-ums can be bad. Bring bug spray. Be prepared for the strong odor that comes with hundreds of birds gathering in close quarters.

This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 1:04 PM.

The Island Packet

843-256-3420

Karl Puckett covers the city of Beaufort, town of Port Royal and other communities north of the Broad River for The Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. The Minnesota native also has worked at newspapers in his home state, Alaska, Wisconsin and Montana.