To celebrate the exhibition of Lying in Wait: Sporting Art by Odgen M. Pleissner at the Gibbes Museum, Coastal Expeditions is offering two special trips to examine landscapes that Pleissner would have seen during his time in the Lowcountry.

Forty-eight of Pleissner’s watercolors depicting landscape, hunting and wildlife scenes will be on display at the Gibbes Museum from January 18-May 2, 2019.

In addition to the expeditions detailed below, Coastal Expeditions’ Chris Crolley will lead a Gibbes Unplugged Tour of the exhibit on February 27.   As a naturalist, sportsman and artist himself, Crolley offers a unique interpretation of Pleissner’s work.  (Free with admission to the Gibbes Museum.)

GIBBES IN THE WILD

BIRDING ON BULLS
Saturday, March 2, 2019
9:30 am- 2:30
$40/person

Before Bulls Island was part of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, it was a private winter hunting preserve for a New York financier, Gayer Dominick.  Large freshwater impoundments were created on the island to attract waterfowl as they migrated along the Atlantic Flyway.  Designated as an Audubon Important Bird Area, 332 bird species have been categorized within the refuge since it was established in 1932. 

On this special expedition, you’ll take the ferry out to Bulls Island with Coastal Expeditions owner Chris Crolley as your guide for a day of winter birding on the island.  This expedition will maximize our birding opportunities, viewing species like American oystercatcher, willet and marbled godwit during the transport from the mainland, and migratory waterfowl like pintails, buffleheads and canvasbacks from viewing platforms on the island.

SUNSET ON SHEM
Saturday, March 30, 2019
5:30 – 8 pm
$40/person

As the sun sets over our Lowcountry rivers and estuaries, flocks of  ibises and snowy egrets retreat to their roosts and clapper rails nestle into the marsh grass.  Black skimmers begin to fish in glassy tidal creeks and night herons set out for their nocturnal hunt.

Departing from the Coastal Expeditions dock on Shem Creek, we’ll “lie in wait” with naturalist guide Chris Crolley as we set out to see many of the same avian species that inspired Ogden Pleissner during his time in South Carolina.  Expect to see myriad of bird species, bottlenose dolphins and memorable views of the Holy City as Chris shares stories about the natural and human history of the region.

ABOUT CHRIS
As the owner of Coastal Expeditions, Chris Crolley has been leading expeditions to Bulls Island since 1994 and has an intimate knowledge of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.  Garden & Gun identifies him as “one of the state’s most knowledgeable naturalists” and his interpretation of the human and natural history of this area is both detailed and poetic.  A skilled birder, with Chris as your guide you’ll have the opportunity to learn about a wide array of resident and migratory avian species.

ABOUT THE IMAGE
Ducking Shooting, 1959, by Odgen M. Pleissner. Used with permission from the Shelburne Museum.