Fun While It Lasted- Farewell Coosaw Stroll Magazine

 

Last January a magazine company began a monthly publication for my neighborhood, Coosaw Creek Country Club. Stroll, free to residents, had a polished high-quality glossy look. It was advertising- driven and each issue seemed to have plenty of ads with new local businesses appearing regularly. 

Within a few months, I met the publisher at a clubhouse event. She invited me to contribute a bird-themed article and photographs for each month’s issue. 

I didn’t need to be asked twice! Birds and bird photography- that's definitely in my wheelhouse. I've published two books full of my bird and nature photographs: "The Birds of Magnolia Cemetery: Charleston's Secret Bird Sanctuary" and "Nature-ly Fun! Bird Photography from A to Z." Both, along with my other books, are sold on Amazon and by me personally. 

My first “Peck of the Month” piece appeared in the March 2025 magazine. Following are the articles I wrote in subsequent months. I really liked the layout done by Stroll’s production team. 

The Birds of Bermuda

 

I didn’t have to go far to score a lifer bird right away in Bermuda. The Airbnb where we stayed in July had gorgeous Atlantic Ocean views. 

Called Longtails by the locals is a seabird known for its elegant, predominantly white plumage and long white-tail streamers, according to one online description. 

(See my previous posts about our Bermuda trip: "Five Things to Love About Bermuda" and "Bermuda Snorkeling: Swimming with the Fishes.")

All day long these (formal name) White-tailed Tropicbirds flew back and forth near the shoreline. It was a challenge to get quality in-flight images with my Canon SX70 “superzoom” DSLR. 

Occasionally a Longtail would pivot from shore patrol to fly to the limestone cliffs to visit their nests in the many cracks and crevices. Or maybe they are scouting future nest sites. 

These birds rarely stop flying, except to nest and rest, something I never witnessed. For food they will plunge dive into the sea to catch small fish, squids (yuck!) and crustaceans.

Western Birds and Other Critters

 

Capturing this rainbow on our first day in Colorado signaled a stellar start to a magical 10 day trip! 

I spotted the rainbow over the shoulder of my sister Ann at her and Paul’s beautiful home in the Estes Park area. 

Moving to their back porch I changed my iPhone setting to wide to capture the rainbow in full glory, then enhanced the image using the handy Snapseed app. 

Ann snapped this picture of me as we prepared to go to Mass. I was in photographer heaven out West in raw and rugged Colorado and New Mexico. From June 8-17 Alesia and I took a relaxing 460-mile multi-day drive from Estes Park, Colorado to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ultimate destination and event was my niece Nicole and Tyler’s wedding in Santa Fe. 

This post is the first of several documenting our interesting and illuminating trek. 

We visited Colorado in August 2022 and I wrote a post that also includes many bird and animal photos. 

I wanted to capture the lay of the land, from the many mountain ranges we would see…

…and the often fast-flowing rivers, creeks and streams…

…to the arid geography of southern Colorado and New Mexico.