SusieG Studio

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

It was a partly cloudy day with the temperature reaching into the high 60s. A good lazy day to be driving around this refuge outside of Savannah, Georgia. We enjoyed our peaceful adventure taking lots of pictures of the wildlife we would come across.

On this particular outing we were on a mission to see an alligator or two. We certainly picked the right area to be at and ended up seeing over a dozen. No worries. Most of them were taking advantage of the warm weather and enjoying a nice nap.

There were lots of birds wading in the water or sitting along the edge of the waterway. Hubby would stop our car so I could gracefully jump out and get that Kodak moment with the wildlife. I was careful not to disturb them.

A few times, I was holding my breath and waiting. For the head to turn at the right moment.

Hubby would roll our car a few feet and then stop for another photo op.

It’s that time of year when many of the native plants and reeds are in winter-mode and the colors in the surrounding areas along the waterway were mostly brown and gray. It was stunning to see patches of bright green appear along the drive.

Lots of waterfowl can be found here. I’m sure there’s an alligator lurking around in the water.

Can you see the alligator?

Hubby has “eagle eyes” and can see lots of wildlife that I would normally miss. It took me awhile for eyes to adjust. I was on the look out for “logs” along the edge of the waterway.

Hubby lets me know there’s a heron sitting quietly along the edge of the waterway.

I took quite a few pictures here. I had to be quick with my camera as the birds were always in movement and caused a few blurry shots.

Of course alligators were easy to capture with my camera. No need to hurry.

Further into the refuge, we saw more alligators and especially in pairs. My initial reaction was to take a quick picture. Then I used my feet to slowly move and see if there is another vantage point.

I took a few steps to my left and another click from my camera! A different view of the two alligators.

I mentioned before that Hubby sees things quickly before I can even take in my surroundings. He saw something and stopped our car. I quickly jumped out and quietly approached this Blue Heron wading in the shallow water.

Another stop the car moment! Hubby sees something in the trees. What is it?

I had to use my binoculars to see where I would be pointing my camera. Hubby backed up our car a bit to get a better view.

Too bad my binoculars don’t have the capability to take photos. I’d be all over that! For now, I’m enjoying my DSLR camera with a zoom lens.

We enjoyed our time driving around this 4.5 mile loop around the refuge. It took us around 2 hours to complete the loop including all the stops we made along the way. This adventure was a lovely way to take a moment to breathe and enjoy the quiet time with nature.