- I'm chilling, the birds are chilling, the gator's chilling, the butterflies are chilling, the flowers are chilling.

It's a nice day.

(upbeat music) (laughing) Well, hey, y'all, I'm Hyatt Mamoun, and I'm a wildlife filmmaker who grew up here in the Deep South.

And I'm so passionate about sharing the fun and excitement of our natural world.

"Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo."

In this series, I'm gonna take y'all on the most wild adventure through South Carolina's Lowcountry.

We're gonna get up close and personal with the critters that call this place home.

From gators, big and small, to dramatic crabs and lightning-fast sandpipers.

(race car zooming) We'll get caught in storms, see gorgeous sunrises, and get right down into the marsh, (laughing) and maybe get stuck in it, too.

So what are you waiting for?

Come on this adventure with me in the "Wild Wild South."

It's beautiful out.

Check this out.

This looks like it's lava rock, but it's actually not.

Ew.

Gross, right?

Ah.

(laughing) (text scratching) (car engine rumbling) (upbeat music) For a lot of documentary filmmaking, you gotta start bright and early.

Good morning, everyone.

It's 6:00 a.m., we're gonna go somewhere really amazing to show you something really beautiful here in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Come with me.

Waking up at the crack of dawn is totally worth it down here, and I've got the most magical place to show you.

The Lowcountry is known for its stunning sunrises, and the Port Royal Observation Tower is one of the best places to see it.

This is the best place for a sunrise.

It's known in the area for that.

And so let's begin.

There we go.

Now, patience is key when it comes to filming the sunrise.

(bright music) It's beautiful out.

The sun has risen.

I'm eating my Pop-Tart.

I think we got a beautiful, beautiful time-lapse going.

I think it's time to end it.

Ooh, I'm so excited to see how this turned out.

See, I told you it was worth it.

I can hear the birds talking, and I can hear that they're doing stuff.

This is the time to go see birds.

There's these beautiful American white ibises in this little area in Beaufort that's kind of a little hidden treasure around here.

Let's go check it out.

(trunk slamming) (upbeat music) (bird calling) (tripod clicking) (lens clicking) Yeah.

We're here in the Cypress Wetlands, and this is an amazing, amazing place to do some birdwatching.

This is where all kinds of species congregate because of how fertile it is and how many nutrients are in the water.

And you can see here, we're looking at a great blue heron.

And a really cool fact about this great blue heron is that their wingspan can get up to six feet.

Check it out.

We got lucky enough to catch this ibis feeding its chick right after that.

This species feeds its baby by regurgitating whatever it forged for the day.

And what might sound nasty to us makes a tasty meal for the chick.

Okay, y'all, I'm seeing something here.

It might not be a log.

Okay, it's moving, it's totally a gator.

Let's find out.

(upbeat music) (gasping) It's a gator.

He's probably coming up to warm himself up after the night because the sun is starting to get a little bit warmer.

And he's coldblooded, so he wants to get a little toasty.

After spending the morning getting some bird shots, I figured it's about time to head on over to our next location.

♪ We are driving ♪ we're on our way to Hunting Island, which is my favorite island in the entire Lowcountry.

And there's so many saw palmettos and all these crazy different sandpipers, and there's this driftwood beach.

And that is where we're gonna walk to.

And it's a bit of a walk, but there's a lot of fun stuff on the way.

There's a shrimp place on the side of the road.

Am I gonna stop and get shrimp?

Maybe later.

(car engine revving) ♪ Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm ♪ So we're seeing little clusters of the driftwood here, and there's tiny ecosystems inside.

As you can see, there's little bits of barnacles and hermit crabs.

And I think I see bigger clusters down the beach.

Check this out, this looks like it's lava rock, but it's actually not.

Check it out, check it out.

Let me get closer here to show you.

This is clay.

And the reason it's here is because Hunting Island is not just a sand island.

This is actually an island that's near marsh.

And marshes have a lot of layers of decaying organic matter, such as leaves and trees, and even raccoon poop.

Which creates this sandy mud.

Gross, right?

Ah.

(laughing) (upbeat music) Isn't this one of the most beautiful, unique places on Earth?

What seems like empty habitat is actually teeming with life?

You just gotta look closer, because some of the most interesting life on Earth can be smaller than your fingertips.

Just as we were packing up, as wildlife filmmaking always works, when you least expect it, that's when you're gonna see the animal you're looking for.

As we were walking back, we saw the fastest little sandpipers just shooting on by.

(race car zooming) (upbeat music) They're so fast, like.

(imitating zooming) (race car zooming) (Hyatt imitating zooming) "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo."

You might think that sandpipers are afraid of waves, but they're actually not.

They chase the wave as it retreats and probe their beaks into the sand to feel for the most minute movements of crabs, and then run away as the next wave comes in.

So cute, the cutest way to end the day.

Hope y'all had just as much fun as I did on the first day of our Lowcountry expedition.

I can't wait to keep exploring with y'all in the "Wild Wild South."

(text scratching) (car engine rumbling)