2005 Town of Kiawah Island Aerial Photography
Ocean Course
Little Bear Island
In December of 2007, all of Little Bear Island was preserved via a conservation easement which names the Kiawah Conservancy the primary easement holder for the property.
Little Bear, consisting of 152 acres of undeveloped land, forms the most eastern tip of Kiawah Island. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Stono Inlet and is connected to the Ocean Course by a small strip of land. The property has no history of agriculture or siviculture. Prior uses include recreational hunting, fishing and nature study. The property contains no buildings or infrastructure except for a short section of unimproved dirt road and a small borrow pit near the 4th hole of the Ocean Course Golf Course. Habitats that occur on Little Bear include the following: maritime dune shrub thickets, Atlantic maritime dry grasslands, tidal salt marshes, tidal salt flats, salt shrub thickets, and coastal beaches.
Little Bear is separated from the rest of Kiawah Island by Penny’s Creek, a tidal creek that winds its way from the Stono Inlet through tidal marshes, terminating at the Ocean Course. As one enters the creek, the beaches of Little Bear can be seen. These beaches are home to many loggerheard turtles that arrive in the spring and summer to nest. On the Kiawah side of the creek is Cougar Island with some of the highest ground on Kiawah. Dolphins are often seen in the creek making the trip to the center of the property delightful. Along the edges of Little Bear, the vegetation is best described as Tidal Salt Marsh and Salt Shrub Thicket. Masses of bright yellow sea ox-eye form a backdrop for the dark green perennial glasswort. Nearby are stands of marsh-elder with delicate twining stems of sand-vine attached. Adding to the beauty of the landscape are large stands of yellow seaside goldenrod.
There are expansive Tidal Salt Marshes around the Island. Areas that receive salt water daily present a mosaic of black needle rush and dark green smooth cordgrass. Adding to the diversity of colors is yellow sea ox-eye sharing space with perennial glasswort that takes on a red fall color, and large expanses of yellow saltwort flanked by the delicate purple flowers of sea lavender. Scurrying around the yellow saltwort are hundreds of fiddler crabs. Footprints of bobcat, deer and raccoon can also be seen in the tidal mud. Red-winged blackbirds fly in and out of the cordgrass.
Interspersed in the Tidal Salt Marsh, the dryer harsher environment of the Tidal Salt Flats can be seen. These habitats are formed where tidal waters drain away incompletely and the soil becomes hypersaline as the water evaporates, leaving behind the salt, which often forms a white crust on the soil. This environment is so harsh that areas with no vegetation are not uncommon. Those plants that can survive here include perennial glasswort, and saltwort. Intermixed with the saltwort and glasswort are diminutive forms of species including sea ox-eye, marsh-elder, smooth cordgrass, sea lavender and seaside goldenrod. The Tidal Salt Flats are traversed by trails used by the many deer that inhabit Little Bear Island.
Plant succession on a barrier island away from the influence of salt spray will ultimately result in the development of a Maritime Forests or a Maritime Shrub Thickets. Expanses of these habitats line both margins of Little Bear. These habitats are not for the faint-of-heart. The canopy trees are abundant and include live-oaks, sand-oaks, red bay, yaupon holly, red cedar, wax myrtle, hackberry, winged sumac and cabbage palmetto. An occasional loblolly pine can also be found. The thickets are often packed with a proliferation of spiny vines. Several species of Smilax, including dune greenbrier, with its purple fruits and spiny stems, dominate the habitat. Other common vines include Virginia creeper and Muscadine grape. If the thicket or forest includes higher ground another habitat type, Atlantic Maritime Dry Grassland, will form. This is the same plant community that is found on the sand dunes along the Stono River side of Little Bear.
Atlantic Maritime Dry Grasslands are wonderful vegetation types and are common along Kiawah beaches. Color again dominates these habitats. The waves of golden sea oats are flanked by masses of yellow flowered camphorweed and prickly-pear cactus and pure white fiddle-leaf morning glory. Grasses include salthay, seaside panicum, coastal dropseed and sweetgrass. A large number of plants with onerous names such as devil joint, sandbur, Spanish bayonet and Bear-grass occur.
It is hoped that through the preservation of Little Bear Island, we will continue to realize the importance of conservation easement programs and dedicate ourselves anew to saving more of these truly unique habitats on Kiawah Island.
Cougar Island
