The Morning Bath

Field Sparrow
Spizella Pusilla

Brown Booby — Image 1

Sula Leucogaster

The brown booby is a large tropical seabird that is rarely observed in the coastal areas of southern Florida and southern California. It is almost unheard of for the booby to be seen in the inland United States. And, yet, that is what has happened this week in upstate South Carolina. This immature brown booby has been seen the past few days around Furman University's Swan Lake, near the city of Greenville.

Yellow-breastedChat

Icteria Virens

Song of Solitude

Grasshopper Sparrow
Ammodramus Savannarum

The tiny grasshopper sparrow is one of my favorite birds, and I usually fill the frame when I photograph one. In this image, however, I wanted to capture the happiness of this sparrow when it is singing alone on one of the posts of a long barbed wire fence line. Each time I observe these sparrows, it reminds me of what joy there is to be discovered in solitude.

Dickcissel

Spiza Americana

Eastern Meadowlark

Sturnella Magna

Meadowlark Morning

Eastern Meadowlark
Sturnella Magna

Song of the Dickcissel

Spiza Americana

Crossing To Safety

Palm Warbler Setophaga Palmarum The title of this image comes from Wallace Stegner's fine novel, "Crossing to Safety." For some reason, that's what came to mind when I first saw this composition.

Where The Light Breaks Through

Palm Warbler
Setophaga Palmarum

This palm warbler was perched in a small pocket of light against a dark backdrop of shapes and colors that reminded me of a stained glass window in a medieval church.

Great Egret in the Autumn Marsh Grass

Great Egret
Ardea Alba

In marsh adjacent to Shem Creek in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Female Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis Cardinalis

Never underestimate the power of sunflower seeds to bring wonder and beauty into your yard throughout the winter.

Merlin

Falco Columbarius

Eastern Bluebird

Sialia Sialis "The bluebird carries the sky on his back." Henry David Thoreau

Palm Warbler

Cape May Warbler — Image II

Setophaga Tigrina

Eastern Bluebird

Sialia Sialis

Made during a walk this morning through the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

Marsh Landing

Willet
Tringa Simipalmata

Mudflats of marsh adjacent to Highway 703 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

Tricolored Heron

Egretta Tricolor

Image made at Huntingdon Beach State Park, South Carolina

Northern Cardinal at Dawn

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis Cardinalis "There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." Rachel Carson

Palm Warber

Setophaga Palmarum

Great Blue Heron With Dinner

Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias

Huntington Beach State Park
South Carolina

Anhinga

Anhinga Anhinga

Huntington Beach State Park
South Carolina

Northern Harrier Attacking Prey

Northern Harrier
Circus Cyaneus

Cape May Warbler — Image I

Setophaga Tigrina

The Cardinal in Autumn I

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis Cardinalis

The Cardinal in Autumn III

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis Cardinalis

Swamp Sparrow

Melospiza Georgiana

After The Rain

Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis Cardinalis

Late in the day, after a drenching rain, my eyes were drawn to the contrast of this cardinal with the rain-soaked leaves of a Japanese maple.

Carolina Wren

Thryothorus ludovicianus

Portrait of a Male Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker
Picoides pubescens

Spring at Last

Great Egret
Ardea Alba

A beautiful day in upstate South Carolina, the trees producing a magnificent kaleidoscope of unfolding colors, many birds engaged in their annual mating rituals, others content to be alone, watching, as I am, the ineffable mystery and magic of springtime.

Monet and the Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias

Okay, it's just an image of a great blue heron taking off from the edge of a pond. The impressionistic background of the field, however, reminded me of a Monet landscape.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Shouldered Hawk
Buteo Lineatus
South Carolina Botanical Garden
Clemson, South Carolina

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Wildness on the Wing

Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias

Latest in Avian Spring Fashion

Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias

Lake Conestee Nature Park
Mauldin, South Carolina

Hooded Merganser (Male)

Simpson Research Station
Pendleton, South Carolina
February 28, 2019

Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitaria

The Still Point

Greater Yellowlegs Tringa Melanoleuca "At the still point of the turning world . . . at the still point, there the dance is." T.S. Eliot, "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets"

Song of the Prairie Warbler

Prairie Warbler
Setophaga discolor

Fants Grove Wildlife Management Area
Anderson Country
South Carolina

Savannah on the Wire

Savannah Sparrow
Passerculus sandwichensis

Lincoln's Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow
Melospiza lincolnii
Beaverdam Wildlife Management Area
Townville, South Carolina

With the myriad avian colors of spring — the bright reds, blues, and yellows — it's easy to overlook the little brown and gray birds. This morning, however, I was delighted to locate a Lincoln's Sparrow, which is a rare sighting for this place at this time of year.

Eastern Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas A common yellowthroat perches in a small tree, absorbing the first light of morning. This image reminds me of something said by the painter Edouard Manet: "There are no lines in nature, only areas of color, one against another."

Recovering from a Rainy Night

Savannah Sparrow
Passerculus Sandwichensis

Grasshopper Sparrow

Ammodramus savannarum

Dickcissel

Spiza americana

Goldfinch and Sunflowers

American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis