4th of July Fun in Chicago!

 

We traveled to the Windy City to visit our son during the Independence Day holiday. The River North area downtown was where we stayed and the atmosphere was vibrant and festive. 

Chicago’s many skyscrapers are always neat to see and photograph. The iconic Wrigley Building was adorned with a huge American flag. As this site reveals, the huge flag cost $6,200 and has been flown during the 4th of July period since 2002 as a way to commemorate the 9/11 attacks.

To the left of the Wrigley Building is the 100-story Trump International Hotel & Tower, the city’s second tallest building. The hotel cost a whopping $847 million to build and was completed in 2009.

We had a wonderful view from room 1526 in the Westin Chicago River North Hotel on N. Dearborn St. 

Sunday afternoon when we checked into our room, this was the view.

Fortunately, the rain ended within a few hours…

Bear Island WMA- Summer Summit

 

On Wednesday, June 28 I finally made the trek down to Green Pond in the ACE Basin. I had the itch for months and the right day was there so off I went. 

The 12,000-acre Bear Island Wildlife Management Area was the destination. From my house it’s about 45 miles to the left turn off Highway 17 (Bennett's Point Road) then another 15 miles or so to the entrance to the vast nature preserve. 

I received a nice greeting near the gate from this friendly hen that walked up to my car. It seemed to belong to the home situated just outside the preserve.

This had to be an omen that good birding was ahead for me. 

I identified this as a Pedresa Chicken using a bird ID app I'm trying out called Picture Bird.  I open the app, bring in my bird photo and in seconds it tells me the type of bird. This was helpful in this outing to confirm birds I have seen before and to help with identities I was not so sure about. 

Just inside the entrance is a large body of water called Mary’s House Pond.

Past visits have taught me there are usually some large wading birds here. 

And sure enough, I spotted Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. 

I tried out some different photo processing tools in my favorite Snapseed app. 

Barred Owls are Back!

 

This May and June, as during the past three or four years, Barred Owls have been making daytime appearances in the trees in my front and back yards.

Last June I videotaped a Barred owl enjoying one of our bird baths. Check out the post and video! 

For photographs like this one, I experimented with the “art bold” setting on my Canon PowerShot SX70 HS camera. This effect, according to the owner’s manual, “makes subjects look more substantial like subjects in oil paintings.” 

Here is another “art bold” example. I do like how it makes the Owl and it’s surroundings pop and more vibrant. 

Beaufort’s St. Helena’s Parish Church- One of America’s Oldest

 

There are street names such as King and Church that seem very “Charleston” to those of us who live in the Holy City area.

Tour guides steer horse-drawn carriages full of tourists- a common site in Charleston’s Historic District. 

The churchyard is filled with Barnwells, Elliotts, Heywards, Rhetts, Gibbes, and other surnames common in Charleston’s old burial grounds. 

This rare marker type is made of zinc. Continue reading for more details about this style and the New England company that manufactured them. 

But this is not Charleston. It is its neighbor 70 miles to the south, Beaufort.

Charles Town was founded by the British in 1670. The British came to Beaufort 41 years later in 1711. St. Helena Parish Church was formed the very next year in 1712. Back then the Anglican Church was a (strong) arm of the government. Separation of church and state would come many years later after the hard-fought Revolutionary War. 

Signs and plaques touch on St. Helena's long and rich history. 

New York’s Finest- My Photographs Anyway!

Alesia and I had a fun and busy Memorial Day weekend in New York City joining our son Joseph for his birthday. We spent most of our time in Manhattan where he lives. Here are my favorite photographs captured during our sightseeing adventures. 

Freedom Tower- We walked by this beautiful skyscraper a few times while walking from our hotel to Joseph’s apartment. This site of course is where the World Trade Center’s twin towers stood until the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. The building is officially called One World Trade Center. 

I took this picture of the Statue of Liberty after an errant train stop coming back to our hotel. I’m glad for the miscue because it is always a treat to see this iconic American symbol of freedom and liberty. 

When our kids were much younger on a New Year’s NYC visit we took the ferry and got to see Lady Liberty up close and personal. In 2019, our last visit here before this trip, we took Joseph on a fun boat tour in the waters around this area. 

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.