Gene's Notes: During March we had a heavy hail event. It had been couple decades since I remember experiencing a significant hail event. An afternoon storm brought hail, not especially large hail, but a heavy downpour. After the storm passed, my wife and I emerged from our "safe" room to find the air heavily scented with evergreen. The hail had broken green pine needles from the forests. As the clouds cleared away, heavy fog wafted from the forest into the roads and fields. Some nearby areas were hit even harder than us. Win and his fellow volunteer firemen were busy until midnight helping with auto accidents and downed trees and power lines. Hail on ground in yard Fog wafting from forest Local road morning following storm Accumulated hail morning following storm A mid month night visit to the Spring Pond Observation Platform showed that frog were indeed enjoying the small ponds (see below). Spring Peeper American Toad Upland Chorus Frog Southern Leopard Frog Juvenile Bullfrog Wild Turkeys began strutting in March (see below). I found a pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches digging a hole in a dead pine tree (see below, left). I visited some locations on Lake Greenwood during the month hoping to get images of a Bald Eagle. I did get a few fuzzy images. I was able to get some good shots of a cute Pied-billed Grebe (see below, right). Wild flowers began blooming, such as the Bloodroot (see bottom). I saw my first live, local snake during March. It was an adult Eastern Rat Snake. Tom Turkey Brown-headed Nuthatches Pied-billed Grebe Bloodroot April 21, 2011 Contact: South Carolina Reptiles and Amphibians Return to SC Reptiles and Amphibians Observations Page Return to SC Reptiles and Amphibians Home Page