Backyard Birds

I'll be adding to this posting through the summer....

At the suggestion of a bird artist I met at Spoleto this year I've started putting out Parakeet food in hopes of attracting Painted Buntings.  I may have seen a female at my feeder a couple times.  But it's also attracted what my birding friends Tammy and Tom say is a juvenile Brown-Headed Cowbird (above left with a Carolina Chickadee at the suet).

My backyard buffet has been doing brisk business among our avian friends. The warmer weather has birds such as this Carolina Chickadee hitting the birdbaths more and more.

A Tufted Titmouse (below) is feeling the heat. I saw this bird and a Chickadee also with its mouth open.  The

temperatures here have been in the mid-90s.

A Northern Cardinal with a billfull of seed. I never tire of this bird's brilliant red.

 The black around its face and black eyes do give the Cardinal a pretty fierce look.

In recent weeks, Eastern Bluebirds have been visiting our feeders. This bird's blue is as brilliant as the Cardinal's red!

Yesterday two Bluebirds came to my birdbath, just feet from where I was sitting.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera.  But I'll try to be ready should it happen again!

A Carolina Wren (top) and Downy Woodpecker share some suet.

A Carolina Chickadee has its turn with the suet.

A Canada Goose couple had five babies this spring.  They hang around the pond behind our house.

Aren't they cute?

There were five little ones, but sadly one of them must have died because there are only four now.

The family stops by several times a day to feed on seeds that have fallen from our bird feeders. After just a few weeks, look how big the "babies" are already!

In just a matter of weeks, the young ones are almost as large as their parents.

This is a photo I really like with a Northern Cardinal and an Eastern Bluebird on my hammock at the same time.  Only thing missing is me on the hammock!

A backyard visitor we would like to see less of is...guess who???

Red-Shouldered Hawk

I recently had a neat experience with a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks at what used to be a golf course near where I live.  The golf course (Kings Grant) shut down years ago and there has yet to be major redevelopment.  It's all in the courts I think. Meantime, nature is taking over, making a cool site for birders. 

I can't recall ever coming upon a pair of Hawks together like this.  What a handsome couple they make!  And so cute, sharing a perch like they are.

A little Hawk affection?

In the past I've had trouble telling the difference between the Red-Shouldered and Red-Tailed Hawks. But now I know the key to look for is the underparts/chest area.  The Red-Shouldered has the rust-red barring while the Red-Tailed has much more of a white belly (see my Red-Tailed Hawk posting)- and of course the distinctive red tail feathers. The Red-Shouldered Hawks rust coloration is more visible in this next photo.

These lovebirds found the perfect perch.

I have run a few times along North Charleston's new section of the Palmetto Commerce Parkway which includes a biker/hiker path.  Good job local planners!  Anyway, I've seen Red-Shouldered Hawks on each visit.  The next two photos were taken along that route. Always bring the camera cuz you never know...

Red-Shouldered and Red-Tailed Hawks-- both beautiful raptors and always a treat to see and, better yet, photograph. 

Red-Tailed Hawk

 Stopped and got out of my car when I spotted this magnificent hawk atop a utility pole.  Fortunately the highway wasn't too busy and I was able to manuever around and get a few decent shots of a gorgeous bird with a with a brilliant blue sky behind it.

Red-Tailed Hawk- its distinctive red tail feathers visible in these photos taken in August 2010 at the Point Reyes National Seashore near San Francisco.

Closer to home...

Went back to September 2010 for these photos I took of a Red-Tailed Hawk at Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery.

Hawks are rare to come across at the cemetery. I've seen a few fly over but to encounter one on a fairly low branch was very exciting.

And this one didn't seem to mind the human attention.

I wasn't able to get a real good shot of its distinctive red tail feathers but you can see them a little bit in the shot below.

 Recently at the wonderful Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, I saw this Red-Tailed in the petting zoo.

A little sad to see it in captivity like this.

But it does give the public a unique chance to see--and better appreciate- such a beautiful and majestic creature.

A little fuzzy, but here's a Red-Tailed in flight. Shot this along the new part of the Palmetto Commerce Parkway in North Charleston.

Great Blue Heron

Last but not least in my run of herons on this blog comes the Great Blue Heron, certainly the biggest and best known of this extended coastal breed. Over the past few years I've photographed the abundant Great Blue in a number of different places.  But perhaps my best shots, or at least the most close up I've been to this great bird was last November on Hilton Head Island where we gathered with family for Thanksgiving. 

A canal ran between a section of condominiums where some of our family members stayed on Hilton Head. This Heron seemed to be somewhat used to all the people being around and let me get pretty close.

Whether standing on one leg or two, the Great Blue is close to five feet tall.

Its wingspan can reach six and a half feet.

The color palette is varied.  You've got rusty-gray (neck), red-brown (thighs), black (plumes running from just above the eye to the back of the head), gray (lower legs), yellowish (eyes and bill), and white (face).

The colors add up to one elegantly beautiful bird that is much beloved, the Great Blue's image used in many company logos and advertising here in coastal South Carolina.

The class of the classy Heron family?  A tough call but I'd have to say yes.

Majestic but not aloof, based on my observations, the Great Blue Heron can be seen mixing with other big birds such as this Anhinga...

...and these Double-crested Cormorants.

The Great Blue Heron will always stand out in a crowd for its sheer size--and beauty.

Little Blue Heron

New Little Blue Heron Photos

I went back to the old Kings Grant golf course and came across what I'm pretty sure is the same juvenile Little Blue I photographed there several weeks ago.  You can see how its color is changing, from all white (see below photos) to, eventually, all dark blue.  I plan to go back in coming weeks in hopes to see this heron again as its maturing process continues.

I shot the above photo in my cameras Vivid setting.  Almost looks like a watercolor!
Previous Posting
I was planning to next feature, as part of my recent heron spree, the Great Blue.  But last weekend I had a really neat encounter with a couple Little Blue Herons, so I decided to share these pictures first.

The Little Blue Heron is yet another of the Heron species that can be scene regularly in South Carolina's Lowcountry.  I took these photos at what used to be a golf course near my home.  This site has yet to be redeveloped and is returning to nature in many ways-- not a bad thing at all! 

The Little Blue is much darker than other Herons.  Its purplish neck is also distinctive as is its black-tipped bill.  Its also smaller than many of the other Herons. 

The big surprise for me at the old golf course was enountering an immature Little Blue which is more than a little white. 

When getting these shots, I wasn't sure what kind of bird I was seeing here. Looked little a Snowy Egret some but when it moved I wasn't seeing the Snowy's bright yellow "slippers."  Later at home I looked at my pictures and a few of my bird books.  It was then I noticed the same black-tipped bill as the adult Little Blue.

So this outing proved a first for me in that I had never seen a juvenile Little Blue Heron before.

 The Little Blue Heron is the only heron species in which first-year birds and adults show dramatically different coloration: first-year birds are pure white, while adults are blue. (source Cornell University's All About Birds website).

And quite a transformation it is!