Summer Beach Scenes

‘Tis the season- beach season that is! 

This post is dedicated to our recent visits to Sullivan’s Island. On Sunday, deep in the dog days of summer, the beach here was surprisingly sparse. But it was a good surprise, especially when we found a primo parking spot near the Station 17 path to the sand. 

The photo below I took as we were leaving the beach. 

Bring on the Heat: Thriving Summer Plants

 

Watering porch plants the other day created a rainbow! That’s a Carolina Wren on the flag. It is the state bird of South Carolina. This wren is small, feisty and loud- just like South Carolina. 

We have been going through a heat wave with temperatures in the mid-90s that are pushed into triple digits when factoring in the heat index.

While many people, including myself, may only go outside in small doses, I have sought plants for the yard, porch and patio that seem to flourish in this kind of weather. 

This post features the different types I have acquired in recent weeks at places such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. 

My favorite summer plant is the caladium. These thrive in the heat as long as they have at least a few hours of sunshine to soak into their broad leaves. 

Caladium comes in a few different colors so that offers a variety of looks. 

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!