Silver Bluff Audubon Center
Robin Carter
Directions
To reach Silver Bluff from I-20 westbound, leave the interstate at Exit 5 and follow US 25 to downtown North Augusta. From I-20 eastbound, use Exit 1 and go south on SC 230 to downtown North Augusta. In North Augusta pick up SC 125 and follow this highway south, towards the Savannah River Site of the US Department of Energy. A couple of miles from downtown North Augusta SC 125 crosses over US 1 and joins with US 278. Keep going southeast on SC 125 – US 278. In about 5 miles US 278 turns off to the left. Keep going on SC 125 for another 4 miles, to the intersection with Road 32, Silver Bluff Road. Here turn right (south) and follow Silver Bluff Road for 4 miles to Silver Bluff Audubon Center.
Road 32, Silver Bluff Road, is really an extension of SC 304, which ends at SC 125. If you go east on SC 304 (Atomic Road) you will soon reach Aiken and eventually you will get to the Columbia area, near the Columbia airport.
Birds to look for
Wood Duck, Hooded Merganser (w), Anhinga (s), Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret (s), Little Blue Heron (s), Cattle Egret (s), Green Heron (s), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (s), White Ibis (s), Wood Stork (s), Osprey (s), Swallow-tailed Kite (s), Mississippi Kite (s), Bald Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs (m), Lesser Yellowlegs (m), Solitary Sandpiper (m), Spotted Sandpiper (m), Least Sandpiper (m), Wilson’s Snipe (m, w), Bachman’s Sparrow (s), Painted Bunting (s)
Description
This sanctuary is primarily set up for research and to provide a feeding area for Wood Storks, which are present in large numbers in late summer. The Wood Stork feeding ponds are gated. If you wish to visit Silver Bluff and enter the Wood Stork feeding ponds you should call (803) 827-0781 well in advance of your proposed visit, and ask for assistance. If the storks are present you will be able to see them without entering the feeding pond area, but these ponds often have other species, such as migrant shorebirds, which are difficult to see from the road.
After checking out the impoundments, continue straight ahead on Silver Bluff Road. The road passes the headquarters of Silver Bluff Sanctuary Audubon Center in about a mile beyond the end of the pavement, and reaches a boat launch on the Savannah River at 2.4 miles beyond the end of the pavement.
The gate by the Audubon Center is open from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday. There are two walking trails that begin near the Center.
Rarities at Silver Bluff include Black-necked Stilt and Roseate Spoonbill, which has occurred more than once with large Wood Stork flocks in late summer.