Winter Walk
By Frances Boyd
T
he best way to experience Kiawah
Island’s diverse and exceptional
natural setting is to take a walk or
ride a bike around the island. The
Heron Park Nature Center offers a variety of guided
tours, but going it alone can also be rewarding—there
is no absolute “right spot” or “right time,” so do not
count out a winter walk. Just bundle up! As a barrier
island, Kiawah is an ideal winter break location for a
variety of migrating waterfowl. Almost any pond will be
rippling with the smooth gliding and beautifully decorated
hooded mergansers. Buffleheads, grebes and other species also
paddle around or seek shelter beneath the overhanging pond
vegetation. Shore birds such as oystercatchers and black skimmers
continuously search the waves for signs of food in the winter months
while humans engage in diligent winter beachcombing. Back in the maritime
forest where the holly thrives, flocks of robins swoop in for a few weeks to feed
on—not worms—but glistening red berries. Whereas some areas of the country
welcome robins as the first sign of spring, Islanders know winter is just “robin time.”
Since reptiles are more influenced by temperature than by seasons, many a
winter day finds alligators sunning themselves on the banks of ponds. The deer are
active in winter because that is their breeding season. Bucks battling for supremacy
are often h