The Okefenokee Swamp

The Okefenokee Swamp is a different world; a seemingly untouched, primitive landscape of serpents and dragons; a foreboding, dark land, yet exciting and evoking the urge to explore. I have explored this intriguing swamp habitat on many occasions; each time paddling a bit further, and each time investigating its details a bit more closely. My desire is to promote and preserve this majestic piece of Earth through my nature journals and photographs, and the travel blogs of other adventurers…  

The Okefenokee is the largest blackwater swamp in North America. The majority of the swamp lies within the state of Georgia, but straddles the border into Florida. It is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. Its Native American name means “The Land of Trembling Earth”.

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Hi, I’m wildlife photographer and nature writer William Wise. I am definitely not an Okefenokee expert, but I am certainly an Okefenokee enthusiast. I am provided the privilege of the Okefenokee lying within less than a half-day’s drive from my home. I was saved under a campus ministry while studying wildlife biology at the University of Georgia. My love of the outdoors quickly turned into a love for the Creator and His works. I’m currently an animal shelter manager/photographer and live in Athens, Georgia with my wife and two teenage daughters. William Wise Nature Notes is my wildlife and birding photo blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. I am also a guest author at Lee’s Birdwatching Adventures and The Creation Club.  I sell stock photography to support my creation ministry and pet adoption photography efforts. — “What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.” Psalms 104, The Message.

Latest Posts…

• Okefenokee Swamper Daniel Lee on Billy’s IslandOctober 29, 2020
  Excerpt from the 1926 History of the Okefenokee Swamp by AS McQueen and Hamp Mizell: “Years ago an adventurous pioneer by the name of Dan Lee settled on Billy’s Island, erected a rough log cabin and forContinue reading “Okefenokee Swamper Daniel Lee on Billy’s Island”
• He has come here to die…October 26, 2020
  ​A spooky excerpt from A Florida Sketch-Book, by naturalist Bradford Torrey, written in 1895: ​There—going one day farther than usual—I found myself in the borderland of a cypress swamp. On one side was the lake, but betweenContinue reading “He has come here to die…”
• Okefenokee Dragonflies – Insectivorous, Cannibalistic Carnivores!October 23, 2020
  ​Despite their innocent looks, and harmless alighting upon an extended finger, dragonflies are voracious carnivores! In fact, their insectivorous habits gave them the name odonata, which is Greek for “toothed”.  Strange Lives of Familiar Insects claims a dragonflyContinue reading “Okefenokee Dragonflies – Insectivorous, Cannibalistic Carnivores!”
• Gator! Danger Here!October 20, 2020
  ​In 1875, The Atlanta Constitution published the dramatic headline: “We now announce to our readers, and the people of Georgia, that we are fitting up an expedition for a complete and thorough exploration of Okefinokee. The full detailsContinue reading “Gator! Danger Here!”
• Okefenokee Brown Water SnakeOctober 17, 2020
  In the early 1990s, when I should have been sitting in my college classes, I was usually out in the rural areas and swamps of Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas flipping pieces of tin and diggingContinue reading “Okefenokee Brown Water Snake”