I almost didn’t go to find him. If it was any other bird I would have passed on looking.
Owls have a habit of staying in the same spot for long periods of time. I could hear him and so I went down the swamp looking.
He was still there, even calling across the water to another Owl.
If he hadn’t been calling I would never have found him.
True to form he stayed there watching me photograph him. I took my shots and moved on.
Now none of these will win national acclaim, or any at all.
However, any day you can find a few different Red-shouldered Hawks is a good day.
The dining room at the Nathaniel Russel house (built in 1808) had been set with period and personal china and silver when we shot the other day.
At first I did the traditional wide angle, whole room photographs. I am always interested in getting the ‘look’ of a house.
After passing by this room a few times it occurred to me how much historical detail was just sitting there.
It’s obvious how much wealth the owners had for the time period.
In early Charleston that usually meant either plantation owners, or slave traders.
(Wikipedia)... Nathaniel Russell (1738-1820) originally from Rhode Island, settled in Charleston in 1765, becoming a prosperous shipping merchant and slave trader. In 1788, Russell married Sarah Hopton (1752-1832), a member of one of Charleston's wealthiest families at the age of 50, and two daughters were born soon after, Alicia in 1789 and Sarah in 1792. As one of the wealthiest citizens in Charleston, Nathaniel Russell sought to build a more prestigious home to display his prominence in the city. Construction began on the house in 1803, and the Federal style house was completed five years later, when 70-year-old Nathaniel, his family and 16 enslaved moved into the house.
A sign of spring.
A nest half built, but the female guarding the spot.
This look is the ‘keep your distance’ stare.
One of those ‘you can’t make this stuff up’ moments.
It’s the time of year when the male Great Blue Herons work hard to find the perfect stick.
Of course the female has the option to accept, or not.
If it’s a no, back out he goes to find a better one.
Near a swamp. Something is always blooming there.
I just never remember what they are.
Did he get the invitation wrong?
Brown Pelican near to his ‘distant’ relatives.
