I like Vireos (& Shrikes). To me they are a raptor mini-me. All have stout bills. Many have hooked bills –‘tomial tooth’. Both perfect features to kill and dismember prey, including insects and for some of the ‘larger’ species (they are all small compared to the big guys) small birds, mammals and reptiles. It is […]
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One of my limiting factors to getting small songbird inflight action shots was my reaction time. Over the years I got reasonably good at anticipating when a songbird was going to take off from its perch (taking a poop being a key one). I would set up the shot and start a long burst. If […]
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The low country of Georgia and South Carolina is the geographic area of coastline and barrier islands where the coastal plain meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is indeed low. In many places ground is at sea level or just below. Making it a land of bottomland swamps, broad river deltas, tidal creeks, and estuarine marshes. […]
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To paraphrase Zac Brown, the It is “whatever It is that blows a viewer away”. Owls are just photogenic. For Barred Owls it really helps that they are more diurnal than their cousins so it’s possible to get shots in decent light. It also helps me that there is a pair that nests two houses […]
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THEIR BEAKS CAN HOLD MORE THAN THEIR BELLIES CAN In fact, ~2.6 gallons of water along with the caught fish. After plunging up to 60 feet head first to take on this much water, Pelicans tilt their beaks, drain the water, and then throw their heads back and down goes the fish. When I was […]
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This is going to be a twofer post – one post, two related topics: Some shots of some of the neotropical migrants I took during the pandemic Falls of 2020 and 2021 and why my Olympus kit’s mobility is integral to my Fall migration birding preferences. Integral to the getting the shot and keeping it […]
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In the early 20th century, Bald Eagles were common across Georgia, especially along the coast. By the 1950s and 60s, however, they had become rare transients. In 1970 there was just one known nesting pair in all of Georgia. They were on remote St Catherine’s Island. They were not seen after 1970. Beginning in 1973 […]
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Things weren’t looking good for woodland hawks in the late 19th century and into the mid-20th century. The same old villains – habitat loss, hunting (killing), pesticides – were taking a heavy toll on hawk populations, as well as other birds of prey. In the 1960s and 70s state and federal legislation and regulation, such […]
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That’s what comes to my mind each time I see a Great Blue Heron fly, especially when coming in for a landing. They are truly gangly – 4.5 to 5.5 lbs, 3.5′ to 4.5′ tall, and with a 5.5′ to 6.5′ wingspan. Gangly and beautiful in a dinosaurs-are-still-with-us kind of way. They are a great […]
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I went back to the grass fields in central Georgia on August 25th to see if the Swallow-tailed Kites were still flocking together and fattening up before leaving for southern Brazil. They were still there. They put on first class display of aerobatics. My first post about this special event focused on the birds and […]
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