Spring Bird Roundup

I have been more active in recent weeks with my bird photography in my backyard area,  nearby parks and other places. Here are some recent favorites. 

Wood Duck family

I have seen this flight of Wood Ducks on the big pond at the former Kings Grant golf course. 

In sharing some of these photos on social media I learned that the strikingly colorful male of this species doesn’t stick around to help mama raise the youngsters. 

Other research revealed something else I did not know- that Carolina Duck is another name for this duck. 

Proud Professor of the Year!

It has been quite a busy school year and now that it has ended I'm still catching my breath! 

Boosted I'm sure by the publication of my fifth book, I was voted by fellow faculty at South Carolina State University to receive the Department of English and Communications 2022-2023 Professor of the Year. 

It is a great honor and one I was always cherish! Alesia took this photo in our office prior to a speaking engagement I had earlier this week. Tilly is happy for me too! 

The plaque is amazing! We had an end-of-the-school-year lunch in Orangeburg at Ruby Tuesday's last week.

I was given the plaque then but quickly noticed Harwood was spelled Hardwood! Whoops! That frequently happens with my students when they email me. 

A colleague, Dr. Margaret Morris, took care of having the error corrected. 

Patience and Perseverance Lead to Mystery Reveal- Great Crested Flycatcher

 

I’m no expert at recognizing bird calls but my “birdar” (bird radar) does ping when I hear an unfamiliar one. 

For weeks outside my house, I had noticed a high-pitched song from above. Every time I looked to see what was making the sound but could not spot the source. At one point I was able to take a photograph but it wasn’t very good or clear so I was unable to identify it. 

But then I struck gold! About three weeks ago around 6:30 p.m. the vocal and the view converged. On my driveway, I stood and took several pictures of the mysterious visitor. 

I like this capture showing fanned tail feathers. When I examined my photos on a large screen inside I realized this was not a lifer for me. 

This bird has a distinctive look with its yellow breast colors, brown head, and tail feathers. 

I needed only to walk to our downstairs powder room to recognize (see below) that this is a…drum roll…Great crested Flycatcher. 

All About Birds describes this species as large "with a broad-shouldered and big-headed look...Great Crested Flycatchers are sit-and-wait predators, sallying from high perches (usually near the tops of trees) after large insects, returning to the same or a nearby perch. Their clear, rising reep calls are a very common sound in summer."

This is my “Birds of Dixie Plantation”  canvas print. Dixie Plantation is a property owned by the College of Charleston along the Stono River and Intracoastal Waterway near Hollywood, S.C. In the 2012 summer, I hiked Dixie’s trails several times and took photographs of more than 30 types of birds. It was here I saw and captured my first Painted Bunting. 

Here I also photographed my first Great crested Flycatcher. 

By the way, several years ago the name Dixie Plantation was changed to Stono Preserve (ie political correctness). 

See my post from 2015 about this special place. 

This is the hoot I took around April 21 of the Yellow crested Flycatcher. Glad I got better ones a few weeks later! 

Chicago Busker Photo a Winning Entry

 

When opening the Sunday newspaper yesterday I had a good feeling! The previous Sunday upon seeing the Charleston Post and Courier’s next contest topic was “Musicians” I thought I might have a winning entry. 

In December 2018 Alesia and I flew to Chicago to visit our son Justin. We stayed at a nice hotel downtown not too far from the city’s famous Magnificent Mile shopping district along N. Michigan Avenue. 

On our walk on a rather gloomy, foggy day we encountered this gentleman playing his saxophone for tips. A noble busker indeed! 

I gave him some cash and asked if I could take his picture. He was good with that so I popped off a few shots. 

I really like the contrast between the dreary background with the tall, foreboding (though iconic) Chicago buildings and the pops of color from our musician with his golden sax and red Santa hat. 

I like this image so much that not long after that Chicago trip I had a large print made and framed. It’s on the wall in our TV room, just over my right shoulder as I write this blog post. 

In July we are returning to the Windy City to see Justin. As you see in this post from other Chicago visits you know I’ll be taking lots of pictures! 

2021 Chicago Visit

2012 Chicago Visit

My “Birds of Magnolia Cemetery” Book Gets Renewed Attention!

 A few months ago I was contacted by Megan Parak from My Book Printer who wanted to interview me for her company’s “Author Spotlight” in May 2023.  Click here to read the story. 

The interview was about my first book, "The Birds of Magnolia Cemetery: Charleston's Secret Bird Sanctuary," which I self-published in 2011. Learn more about this book here. 

We did a phone interview a while back and as promised her piece dropped today. I couldn’t be happier with how she put it all together. And she put it on the company’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter sites. 

My Book Printer has printed several of my books over the years. I definitely recommend this Detroit area company to fellow writers. Charleston-based Palmetto Publishing is also very good. 

the article is in the Q&A format. I actually teach this interview format in my SC State feature writing class. I have a new high-quality example to share with my students! 

The piece includes this photo from my book. It is of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron flying low over one of the ponds at Magnolia Cemetery. Three years after publication of "Birds of Magnolia Cemetery," I put out a follow-up book titled "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History Mystery and Artistry." 

I sell all of my books on Amazon and will sign and sell books directly. If interested, see my Amazon author's page or email me at birdseyeviewspublications@gmail.com.