Birds Galore at Magnolia Cemetery!

 

The photographer got photographed on Nov. 8 at Magnolia Cemetery! 

Gary Eaton snapped this image of me doing my thing from my perch on the bridge. A few years ago Gary founded the popular Facebook site “Magnolia Cemetery Photographer’s Group.” I was pleased to meet Gary on this day as well as another photographer named Catherine. 

There were quite a few birds to see from the long bridge at Magnolia Cemetery. Here are a pair of Wood Storks, a trio of White Ibis and a Black-crowned Night Heron. 

It had been a while since I’d seen a Black-crowned Night Heron. 

Fall Magnolia Cemetery Visit

 

We stopped by Magnolia Cemetery last Saturday after a nice lunch downtown at Fleet Landing. 

It was such a pretty day I thought it would be fun to walk off our big meal at the cemetery.

Joseph took this photo of me at the iconic Smith Pyramid, eternal home to William Burroughs Smith, a wealthy banker who died in 1892. 

The pyramid and hundreds of other gravesites and the people interred in them are featured in my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." Check it out as well as my other books for sale on Amazon. My book information is also available at the top of this blog. 

On this sunny fall day I also wanted Joseph to see the spot we are purchasing in the mausoleum at Magnolia Cemetery.

I still have a number of monthly payments to make. But once that is accomplished we can have our names inscribed on the outside. Kind of creepy I know, but kind of cool too! 

Here are some of the pictures I took as we walked around the venerable150 acre burial grounds. Someone put a tiara on the lovely figure on the tomb of "Little Annie" Aiken who was just shy of 3 years old when she died at 1856 of diphtheria, a bacterial disease that a vaccine today can cure and prevent. 

Wood Stork A Nice Sight to See (Belted Kingfisher Too)

 

Since Hooded Mergansers came to my backyard pond a week ago I’ve been checking on them a few times a day. They are still here and the “Hoodie” pond population has been at 13 for a few days.

Another nice surprise was a couple days ago when I went out for my morning check and found a Wood Stork had joined the party on the pond!

Over the years I have seen Wood Storks at other golf course ponds in my neighborhood. This may be only the second time I have spotted one in “my” pond. 

It seemed to find some good eating in shallow water along the far bank (above). 

I have seen these Storks elsewhere in the Lowcountry. Here are a couple links that show other Wood Stork encounters: Magnolia Cemetery and in the ACE Basin. 

The Stork had plenty of feathered company during the visit. In this photo there’s a Great Egret (left) and a White Ibis (Middle) with its trademark long curved orange bill. 

Can’t Buy This At Sears!

 No it’s not a U.S. Navy or Coast Guard ship though it looks big enough to be. 

This is a 288-foot megayacht called Fountainhead. Wow, Fountainhead even has its own Wikipedia entry! 

I took this photograph Sunday while on the beach at Sullivan’s Island. The yacht was heading into Charleston Harbor. A little online research found that this “boat” is worth a whopping $130 million. The owner is big too in the business world: the CEO of Sears Eddie Lampert. The 59-year-old is said to be a billionaire and that sounds about right. The flag flying from the stern is that of Cayman Islands. Less surprisingly, Lampert also has a Wikipedia site.

This wasn’t Lampert and Fountainhead’s first visit to the Holy City. The Post and Courier had an article and photo of the yacht in the paper in August 2017. 

Another Yacht steamed toward Charleston earlier in the day. This one is called Homecoming. She is 136 feet long. An online look did not reveal Homecoming’s owner but we did learn it was built in Taiwan.

Chesapeake Bay Birding (and One Easter Bunny)

Easter time was our first getaway trip since a visit to Hilton Head last summer. It was nice to take in some different scenery (even Pedro at South of the Border!) and great to see family again. The Virginia side of the Chesapeake Bay, where my parents live, is a pretty, quiet place with opportunities to satisfy my inner birder. 

At the folks’ house, I need to go no farther than their backyard to see this Osprey platform. It has been here for years and my father had a hand in getting it erected. During this visit, a family of Osprey was in residence. The parents were still working on the nest. A few times I saw one swoop down to a nearby yard to grab a branch or twig. Pinecones could also be seen on the structure, though as my father noted they wouldn’t be too comfortable as bedding for the big birds. 

It is always challenging to shoot from a great distance and to get good shots of birds in flight. Here are my best  images...

ACE Basin- No Bears but Many Birds and Gators at Bear Island

 

It was good to get out of the house Sunday and make the lengthy drive south to the ACE Basin. The vast protected preserve is worth the drive time because it’s always a great commune with nature. And it’s so quiet out there except for the calls of birds and the grunts of alligators. And we did see lots of both. 

To follow are my photographs that show some of what can be seen at the precious preserve called the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area.

This long road dissects the 12,000-acre undeveloped property. It extends from the entrance straight to the outer limits of Bear Island. 

Magnolia Cemetery- No “Hoodies” but Still Plenty to Photograph

Come November at Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery you can always count on seeing Hooded Mergansers (“Hoodies” for short) wading in one or both of the ponds. 

That was the incentive to visit Sunday afternoon. But, alas, the colorful Hoodie was not to be seen. Maybe they are running late in their southern migration. We’ll have to return in a few weeks to see. Meantime, to see these darling wading birds click on the embedded link above that will take you to a previous post of mine. 

Back To My Birding Roots: Magnolia Cemetery!

Selfie- note the sweaty arm reflection- it was a hot day!

With Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irma impacting South Carolina today (Sept. 11), I am hunkered down at home and hoping for the best!

With no school, I'm trying to be productive by getting to a few blog posts I've been wanting to write.

Last month on a Sunday, Alesia and I went to Magnolia Cemetery to walk around and see what birds we can photograph.

Hooded Mergansers Encounter

You just never know where you might encounter birds!

That's why when I'm outdoors for any length of time I try to remember to bring my camera, even if it's just putting it in the car.

I was glad that I did this in December when I went on a Sunday morning run in North Charleston's Palmetto Commerce Parkway, a light industrial area near my home.

I chose to run in an area of the industrial park I had not been in before. While running by a holding pond, I spotted a pair of Hooded Mergansers, waterfowl that migrate south in the fall and winter from as far north as Canada.

Upon finishing my run, I prepared my camera and monopod, then drove a short distance, in hopes the birds would still be on that pond. Lucky for me they were!

Marching into March at Donnelley Wildlife Area

I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday, March 2 to drive down to the ACE Basin for a visit to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. The WMA site is located about 40 miles south of Charleston off Highway 17. The ACE Basin is one of the Lowcountry's true treasures- tens of thousands (at least) of acres of protected lands in a region named for the confluence of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers, hence the ACE acronym.