Red-shouldered Hawk Shines on Sign!

A relaxing walk in the park can produce some nice surprises and excitement, especially when I have my camera and am looking for birds to photograph. 

Such was the case last weekend during a stroll around the old Kings Grant Golf Course.

From a distance, I spotted a large bird perched on a Do Not Enter sign. I quickly surmised it to be a Hawk, a red-shouldered one. 

I took some pictures from behind like the one above, then slowly moved in the shade of a tree to see the bird’s face. I’m sure it saw me. These raptors don’t miss much I am sure.

The Hawk proved a good model! It let me take all the photos I wanted and didn’t fly away until I walked away. 

We saw a second Red-shouldered fly to a nearby tree. I wasn’t able to photograph that one but am very pleased with the ones I took of this beauty. 

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. 

One of the Bird Kingdom’s Delights: Little Blue Heron

 

A mix of blue and white at our backyard pond caught my eye a few days ago. 

I knew right away what I was seeing because I have seen this a few times before. This is a Little Blue Heron that is also a little white because it is in the molting phase of becoming a much darker blue. 

Check out my blog post from 2011 that has many more photos of this interesting bird, especially images of a very young one with all white feathers. 

This Heron is also distinctive with a bill that is so dark at the tip. 

I walked around the small pond to take different pictures. It flew from one side to the other a few times. 

Alligator’s Pearly Whites

An afternoon excursion on a pretty spring day led us to the nearby King's Grant neighborhood that 

has a nice park where a golf course used to be.

January Bird Bounty

The new year and the recent cold spell have created a busy time at my bird feeders. I had been noticing the increased activity.

Finally, on Martin Luther King Day I spent some time seeing if I could get some nice camera captures.

This photo shows several Chipping Sparrows (a "tournament" is the collective name- who knew?) and an Eastern Bluebird on my rather elaborate bird buffet.

Winter Birding!

Things have gotten back to normal around here in 2018 since the unexpected snowfall of several inches on Jan. 3. Maybe we'll get lucky and have another white stuff visit this winter!

Yellow-throated Warbler 

Bird activity continues to bustle at the backyard feeders. And we had a nice time returning to a former golf course property in the area that still hasn't been redeveloped after 10 years or so since the last golf shots were struck.

Last weekend I was thrilled to capture an image of this Yellow-throated Warbler.

Eastern Phoebe

I spotted this cute little bird last weekend at the old Kings Grant Golf Course. I needed some identification help and again received prompt and accurate replies after I posted two photos on the WhatBird.com forum that helps people identify mystery birds.

I first thought that this small bird may be a Warbler and was later surprised to realize it is in the Flycatcher family.
I didn't hear its call but that's where the name Phoebe comes from, the "Fee-bee" sound it makes, according to the write up on this bird on WhatBird.com.

Another neat fact is that a group of Eastern Phoebes is called, among other names, an outfield.  Catching flies as a baseball outfielder would-- get it? 

The state (and fate) of the former Kings Grant golf course has been in limbo for years. But this summer Wachovia/Wells Fargo bank sold it to an out-of-state developer. I am hopeful, as are residents in the Kings Grant neighborhood, that part of the old golf course will be left alone or turned into a nature park.

In June I had a letter to the editor published in the Charleston Post and Courier sharing my views on this issue. I know it has been widely circulated in the neighorbood (because someone contacted me some weeks later and asked my permission to copy the letter to share with residents there.)

The link to my letter doesn't include the photograph that ran with it in the newspaper.  It was of a pair of Red-shoulder Hawks I photographed at the old golf course a while back.

Aren't they beautiful? Since the golf course closed several years ago, there has been no development on the land so it has reverted back to nature and has become a really neat bird refuge of sorts.

Let's hope the new owner sees the benefits of keeping part of the property along the Ashley River as a park with access to not just Kings Grant residents but the rest of the community as well.