FIELD JOURNAL
We Lost the Heron… Then Found Him Again
Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve, South Carolina — May 23, 2026
We were still riding the high from Congaree National Park, where we’d photographed our first owls, and wanted to keep the momentum going. Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve had been on the list for a while — we’d never actually been.
We’d missed a deer on the previous trip to the National Park. Here, we found one within the first five minutes.
The preserve itself was a surprise — trails looping around the old Guignard Clay Quarry ponds, the water and marsh quiet and green where clay was once pulled from the ground to build half the bricks in the state. Early on we spotted a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), but he wanted nothing to do with us. Every approach ended the same way: he’d move just far enough to stay out of range, over and over.
We gave up on him for the time being and spent close to two hours working the trail — hunting for and photographing smaller songbirds in the brush along the water.
When we looped back around to the lake, a Great Egret was waiting — one we’d actually seen earlier in the day, but only in flight. This time it held still long enough to photograph properly.
Right after that, a female whitetail gave a warning call nearby. We went looking for her — and in the process, stumbled onto the Great Blue Heron again. This time he had no idea we were there. We spent the next 20 to 25 minutes photographing him undisturbed, the encounter we’d been chasing all day finally paying off.
BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPH
The Heron, Off Guard
After an hour of being evaded, this was the moment the heron finally let its guard down — unaware we’d doubled back while tracking the whitetail’s warning call. Twenty-plus minutes of unbothered wing displays and hunting behavior followed.
FIELD FILM
Watch the Encounter Unfold
The field film follows the full outing — entering the preserve, first contact with the whitetail, scanning the swamp for gators, losing the heron in deep water, tracking the egret through the pines, and the tense final stretch following the warning-calling doe that led us right back to the heron.
Field video filmed and edited by Heath for Apex Exposure Media.
FIELD NOTES
The Bird That Made Us Work For It
The heron evaded us for the better part of an hour before we ever gave up on him the first time. It took a detour — chasing a warning call from an entirely different animal — to end up back in range, with him none the wiser.
That’s the pattern with this preserve: nothing came easy, and the best encounter of the day happened because we were looking for something else entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What wildlife did we encounter at Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve?
During the outing, we encountered white-tailed deer, a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, and several smaller songbirds along the trail.
What was the most memorable wildlife encounter?
The Great Blue Heron, who evaded us for nearly an hour before we stumbled back onto him unnoticed while tracking a whitetail doe’s warning call, giving us 20 to 25 minutes to photograph him undisturbed.
Where is Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve located?
Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve is a 1,286-acre SCDNR Heritage Trust property in Lexington County, South Carolina, bordered by the Congaree River and surrounded by the city of Cayce.
Is there a film from this Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve outing?
Yes. “We Lost the Heron… Then Found Him Again” documents the full outing, including deer tracking, gator-safety navigation around the old clay quarry ponds, and the Great Blue Heron and Great Egret encounters.