HUMMERS DON’T LIVE BY NECTAR ALONE UPDATE

September 20, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird caught in the act of ‘hawking’.

MARCH IS ‘MARSH MADNESS’ TIME: (with all due respect to the NCAA Tournament :) )

March 9, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

“The creeks overflow: a thousand rivulets run; ‘Twixt the roots of the sod; the blades of the marsh-grass stir; Passeth a hurrying sound of wings that westward whirr; Passeth, and all is still; and the currents cease to run; And the sea and the marsh are one. How still the plains of the waters be! […]

BIRD HEALTH FIRST, IMAGE QUALITY SECOND

February 9, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

This is the male of the pair of Barred Owls that call #clydeshepherdnaturepreserve home. After skipping nesting in the preserve in 2020 and then nesting in a large dead tree snag cavity in the front part of the preserve last year that drew a paparazzi-sized crowd, the pair has returned to the owl box deeper in the […]

IN PRAISE OF LEAF “LITTER”

February 3, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

I will start by admitting that I’ve not always praised dead, fallen leaves ‘littering’ our lawn. I invested (heavily) in a wide range of tools, especially gas-powered, as well as yard crews, so that each Fall we could rid our little ecosystem of unsightly disorder of dead organic material on top of our lawn. Then […]

PUFFER JACKETS: A CASE OF BIOMICRY?

February 2, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

Male Pine Warbler Puffed Up In Cold Rain

When the cold fronts start moving through the South, the birdwatching web sites light up with posts from many new birders along the lines of: “Bless their hearts, are my poor little babies going to freeze to death?” The answers back are along the lines of: One way birds stay warm is by using their […]

RED-TAILED HAWK: CLOSE QUARTERS PRECISION FLYING

February 1, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times. A bird of prey that has been sitting quietly still and unnoticed deep in a tree canopy suddenly explodes into flight. Maneuvers through the branches and limbs of the treetops to take its prey. I’m awestruck every time. This Red-tailed Hawk hunting in our yard on two recent days […]

OLYMPUS CAMERAS’ PRO CAPTURE MODE

January 13, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

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 […]

SOME FALL MIGRANTS & WHY I SHOT APERTURE PRIORITY

October 6, 2021.Reading time 13 minutes.

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 […]

GEORGIA’S BALD EAGLES: A COMEBACK STORY IN PROGRESS

October 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Adult Bald Eagle Over Tallulah River In North Georgia

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 […]

CITY HAWKS

September 20, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk Urban Hunter Using Utility Pole For Kill

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 […]