Category: SINHG

SINHG Celebrates Fortieth Anniversary

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) marked its fortieth anniversary as members gathered recently for the organization’s annual meeting at Lake House.

Noting that SINHG is Seabrook Island’s oldest special interest group, as well as its largest with more than 500 members, President Lynn Baker told the gathering that the late Johns Island native Betty Stringfellow, a granddaughter of the Andell family which once owned much of Seabrook, and a group of other like-minded Seabrookers began to organize informal group educational tours in the early 1980s focusing on the Lowcountry’s natural history and culture. “SINHG has been carrying on that mission ever since,” Baker said, adding that a fall series of more than thirty SINHG trips for members would be announced early in the summer.

Continue reading “SINHG Celebrates Fortieth Anniversary”

SINHG Explores Ancient And Modern Lowcountry

SINHG trips took members from their own backyards, downtown and into the ancient past as the spring series of explorations continues. A behind-the-scenes tour of Seabrook Island educated members about the complex infrastructure, from the drainage system that helps restore the island’s roadways after heavy rainfall, to the Utility Commission’s water and sewer facilities that keep the island humming.

Further afield, members visited the headquarters of the Charleston Harbor Pilots Association, from which pilots certified by the state and by the Coast Guard guide cargo-laden freighters – up to 85 per day – safely in and out of the harbor.

And members probed into the Lowcountry’s ancient history with a private guided tour of the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History at the College of Charleston, where they encountered the fossilized remains of sea turtles the size of small cars, huge saber-toothed cats, Triceratops and T. Rexes, all of which once roamed ancient sea plains and maritime forests of the southeast coast.

SINHG Trips for members continue through late May. To learn about membership visit sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for Seabrook Island Natural History Group

(Image credit: SINGH.org)

SINHG Members on the Move

SINHG has welcomed the new season and its 40th anniversary on Seabrook Island with the group’s spring series of SINHG Trips for members. A special house concert by Chamber Music Charleston brought 24 members to the home of John and Jean Conyers to enjoy selections from Gershwin, Shostakovich and Lalliet.

Venturing outdoors, members took to the water in search of dolphins along the Bohicket River and near Privateer Creek and explored downtown’s historic graveyards during a “Tombstone Tales” tour.

SINHG Trips will continue this spring with a visit to the College of Charleston’s Mace Brown Natural History Museum, a farm-to-table culinary tour, and an ecological study of Deveaux Bank, among the 30 trips offered this season.

Seabrook Island Natural History Group explores the ecology, history, and culture of the Carolina Lowcountry. For more information about SINHG, please go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for Seabrook Island Natural History Group

(Image credit: SINGH.org)

SINHG Explores Gullah Heritage

The spring series of SINHG Evening Programs concludes on Thursday evening, April 11 at 7:00 pm with a presentation by Gullah interpreter and historian Jackie Mickel. A retired school teacher, Mickel is now the lead presenter at Boone Hall of Gullah/Geechee culture and history, using songs and stories to explore the rich tapestry of her Gullah ancestry.

SINHG Evening Programs are offered free of charge to SINHG members. There is a $5 fee for non-members. Pre-registration is available at sinhg.org/events-page.

Seabrook Island Natural History Group explores the ecology, history, and culture of the Carolina Lowcountry. For more information about SINHG, please go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Seabrook Island Natural History Group

(Image credit: SINGH.org)

SINHG Explores Charleston’s Irish Heritage March 14

The spring series of SINHG Evening Programs offered by the Seabrook Island Natural History Group continues in March with “The Irish In Charleston”, presented by The College of Charleston’s Joseph Kelly on Thursday evening, March 14, 2024 at 7:00 pm at Lake House.

With its prominence during the 18th and 19th centuries as one of the eastern seaboard’s busiest ports, a large influx of Irish immigrants helped build the city’s economic, social and architectural life that can still be appreciated today. Joseph Kelly is a professor of English at The College of Charleston and leads the college’s Irish studies curriculum. He has published critical works on James Joyce and is a frequent presenter for the American Conference for Irish Studies.

SINHG Evening Programs are offered free of charge to SINHG members. There is a $5 charge for non-members. The spring series continues in April with an examination of Gullah culture and tradition. Pre-registration is available at sinhg.org/events-page.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

SINHG Announces Spring Trips, All-Island Open House

Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) will host an Open House for all Seabrookers on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at The Lake House as an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of SINHG membership, including Member Trips. Learn how the trips are developed to the signup process for each year’s spring and fall trip offerings. Residents interested in attending may RSVP via the SINHG website at sinhg.org/events-page.

SINHG has also announced its Member Trips for next spring, beginning in February and continuing through mid-May.

Among the thirty expeditions on offer for members are an inshore fishing trip on surrounding tidal creeks and inlets; kayak expeditions along Lowcountry estuaries and rivers; a private guided tour of the College of Charleston’s Mace Brown Natural History Museum; a number of downtown walking tours of Charleston history and culture; and a visit to Deveaux Bank, the shore bird sanctuary at the mouth of the North Edisto River.

This was a recent SINHG trip to Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge.

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group is one of the island’s oldest and largest special interest groups dedicated to exploring the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcounty. To find out more about SINHG, the Member Trips, the Open House and how to become a member, go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

SINHG Announces Spring Trips, All-Island Open House

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) has announced its Member Trips for next spring, beginning in February and continuing through mid-May.

Among the thirty expeditions on offer for members are an inshore fishing trip on surrounding tidal creeks and inlets; kayak expeditions along Lowcountry estuaries and rivers; a private guided tour of the College of Charleston’s Mace Brown Natural History Museum; a number of downtown walking tours of Charleston history and culture; and a visit to Deveaux Bank, the shore bird sanctuary at the mouth of the North Edisto River.

This was a recent SINHG trip to Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge.

Next month, SINHG will host an Open House for all Seabrookers on December 14, 2023 at The Lake House as an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of SINHG membership, including Member Trips.

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group is one of the island’s oldest and largest special interest groups dedicated to exploring the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcounty. To find out more about SINHG, the Member Trips, the Open House and how to become a member, go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

The National Bird

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) has written several articles of interest to Seabrookers. This article is about the Turkey, our National Bird.


The National Bird – that’s what Ben Franklin famously thought the turkey should be. It was, he wrote, “a much more respectable bird” than the eagle, which he considered to be “a rank coward”. He thought the turkey to be “a true original native of America, and a bird of courage” that would willingly attack any grenadier of the British Guards who dared to invade his farm.

He was correct in thinking that the Tom turkey would aggressively protect itself, as many a stroller or golfer who has come too close to one can attest. But he was wrong in thinking that turkeys were native to the United States, although today they can be found in every state except Alaska. They were first encountered by 16th-century European explorers arriving in Mexico, where turkeys had been bred for centuries, making it one of only two birds native to the Americas (the other being the Muscovy duck). Imported to Europe and the Middle East, the birds reminded traders of the African guinea fowl that came to them along trade routes passing through Turkey, and thus came to be called “Turkey birds.”

Although there is no reliable evidence that Pilgrims and Wampanoags ate turkey in November of 1621 (the Wampanoags provided deer meat, the Pilgrims brought “fowl”, which were probably ducks or geese), turkeys were plentiful in the wild and a convenient addition to the traditional harvest feast tradition that the Pilgrims brought with them from Europe.

The bird that may be gracing your Thanksgiving table this week is a descendant of a millennia-long heritage, as fossil records from up to five-million years ago confirm. Although most consumer turkeys are farm-bred and raised, turkeys in the wild, as Franklin declared, are resourceful and agile. They can fly for short distances, with a flank speed of 50 miles an hour on the wing as they seek overnight roosts in trees. On the ground, they can run at 25 miles an hour when danger is sensed. They use their signature gobbles, that can be loud enough to be heard over a mile, to warn others of a threat; otherwise, the communicate with a series of clucks and purring noises. The poults that emerge from the hens’ clutches of as many as eighteen eggs are up and foraging on their own within twenty-four hours and mature quickly, abandoned by the hen within a few days.

Lincoln proclaimed a national holiday of thanksgiving in 1863 as the Civil War neared its end, and presidents after him were presented with a turkey as a gift from the nation to mark the day. It wasn’t until 1989 that President George H.W. Bush issued the first presidential pardon saving at least one turkey from the oven, a tradition observed by every president since.

Seabrook Island Natural History Group

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group is one of the island’s oldest and largest special interest groups dedicated to exploring the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcounty. To find out more, go to sinhg.org.

–Tidelines Editors

A Busy November For SINHG Members

This autumn’s schedule of Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) Trips for members is taking a Thanksgiving break before embarking on the last stretch of this season’s trips to finish out the year.

During late October and November, members traveled downtown to learn about the close ties between Charleston and the West Indies, especially Barbados, whose culture and architecture is reflected in much of downtown.


The Holy City’s noted culinary traditions were celebrated by SINHG members during a tour and sampling of four restaurants surrounding Upper King Street.


Weather buffs enjoyed visiting with Channel 2’s weather guru Rob Fowler, who guided members on a tour of the station’s studio and production facilities.


And a score of SINHG members cut loose at The Woodruff for an evening of Music Bingo, which happened to coincide with Halloween and inspired many members’ costume talents.

SINHG trips will continue through mid-December. The schedule of spring 2024 trips is nearly complete and will be released soon.

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group is one of the island’s oldest and largest special interest groups dedicated to exploring the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcounty. To find out more, go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

Reminder: SINHG Program Canceled Nov 9


SINHG would like to remind all Seabrookers that the Evening Program scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2023 has been cancelled due to the untimely passing of presenter Doug Bostick.

For those interested in Doug’s intended topic, “A History Of Seabrook Island”, please visit the SINHG website‘s blog entry “History Under Our Feet”.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

SINHG Wraps Up Fall Member Trips


The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) continued its Lowcountry autumn explorations. Members have been traveling far and wide as part of the season’s more than thirty trip offerings.

Entertainment took center stage as members enjoyed an evening at Charleston’s Black Fedora Night Club, helping to solve a scripted murder mystery in which several members acted as suspects and detectives.


Beautiful fall weather blessed a group who visited The Citadel to learn about its 180-year history from its beginnings on Marion Square. Members also witnessed the Parade of Cadets, a Citadel tradition.


The ongoing restoration of the H.L. Hunley Confederate submarine was the subject of a private SINHG visit to Clemson’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, where the historic submarine has been undergoing conservation since being raised from Charleston Harbor 23 years ago.


SINHG member trips will continue through mid-December. A spring 2024 series will be announced soon. To learn about SINHG membership, visit sinhg.org

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG