Finally one in a Moon Flower. Ellen has been getting great shots of the little guys in the flowers around here. Me, not so much.
In fairness she basically walked me over to where this was LOL.
Looking For Snacks… Anole
Tag Archives: South Carolina
Patience Of A Night Heron
This was quite a long shot, and it’s a dark spot. A little surprising it came out decent. Maybe that’s why the image was in the ‘to do’ and never touched again.
When we hit a good day the number of images can get large, near 1,000 is common. Over time I’ve gotten better at culling the files but there comes a time when I just get to the point where I ‘pick a few’ and move on. That means a look through the folder later, like here in a Yellow-crown rookery, I always find shots that were ignored based on sheer volume of the opportunities.
This was taken from about as far as I would shoot in a dark swamp. The edge of this rookery has a gully where I can usually spot activity like this Night Heron waiting to see any sign of movement in the thick swamp water.
Black And White Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Not something I would normally do in Black and White, they are too colorful. But it’s something different. Besides the ‘side eye’ look he’s giving me worked with it too.
OM-1 mk2, OM 100-400 II, Lightroom, Topaz, DxO Silver Efex.
Old Forest Water Pump, Monochrome Monday
From an abandon farm house, coastal South Carolina.
Specs; OM-1 mk2, OM 100-400 II, ON1 PR, Topaz, DxO Silver Efex.
Why Always Dark Swamps, Yellow-crown
It’s always in a dark swamp. Thinking about that I’m pretty sure the only Heron I see regularly in the Four Hole Swamp are the Yellow-crowned Night Herons. Four Hole is one of the oldest, and thickest, old forest swamp.
Best viewed large.
General James Simons (1813–1879)
After the US Civil War the area in and around Charleston went from rich to poor. Since the war started here there was no love lost for the town.
And yet General James Simons (1813–1879) managed to have this huge crypt created for himself and family.
He was a politician, Confederate General, marries into the Wragg family, a cotton smuggler, and probably a few other occupations.
Below is his large mausoleum outside of Charleston.
Specs; OM-1 (1), Olympus 40-150 r, Lightroom, in-camera B&W.
Milkweed
The simple, fragile, Monarch Butterfly make a migration journey each year of about 3,000 miles. Climate and habitat destruction now point to a 75%-95% chance they will be extinct in the near future.
Milkweed is the only plant the Monarch caterpillar will eat. Planting local native Milkweed seems to draw in adults to lay eggs. Our native Milkweed doesn’t look like much, however the young caterpillars ate it all.
Below is a ‘towfer’ shot. The Monarch chrysalis that will hatch a butterfly is hanging just above the Anole.
Best viewed large.
Waiting On The Hummers
I finally decided to shoot the Hummingbirds out back the proper way, a longer lens. I’m also only 1/3 of the way through wearing a neck brace. This makes what is usually simple into something a little trick, and probably comical. Solution, dig out the monopod. And discover the brace still gets in the way and… no Hummingbirds 😆.
While standing around I did notice the Carolina Wren chicks bouncing around. One landed on a feeder and I’m getting a bit rusty with this gear. So free entertainment.
The ‘Red Hot’ seed cake was popular with the little guys so I did take few shots. That spicy cake actually works keeping the Squirrels away. Birds have fewer taste buds than mammals, the spice doesn’t bother them at all. In fact birds are the main dispenser of pepper seeds since they ‘spread’ the seeds around after digesting the pepper plants.
Our local social misfit of a House Finch stopped by also. He’s confused and has spent the last year traveling around with a Tufted Titmouse flock.
Specs; OM-1 mk2, OM 100-400 II, Manfrotto/Benro Monopod, Lightroom.