Tag: Savannah Georgia

Can be Bite-y…by Brad Marks

Howdy all! It has been a hectic time as of late, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel – granted, Linda frequently tells me to stay away from the bright light in the sky. Fortunately, this one comes from the lightening of the schedule. One more major dog show next week (Canine Performance Dog Nationals) in my hometown of Springfield. After that, home for a good spell so I can go into beast mode training for the daunting 50K in early July. In the bustle we did manage to hold an Intrigued bird outing last week that was quite productive…at the cost of HR berating me about an office full of “Warbler Necks”. More to come on that front. For now I am going to focus on getting packed while Brad takes you to the water’s edge. Quick note, one of the locations mentioned happens to be where a similar encounter left me prematurely grey!

Take it away Brad…

We learned a very valuable birding rule of thumb:  Be very aware of your surroundings.  There can be rocks, uneven ground, water, mud, camera equipment, snakes, holes, birds nesting on the ground, etc.  All of the above can be an inconvenience if encountered, or perhaps even painful.  But none of those can really ruin your day like today’s topic.  Since we encountered this subject all over South Carolina, I’m going to take you to many locations for today’s story.

One of our first stops was Jarvis Creek Park.  It is a very nice park with many hiking paths including a 1-mile paved walking path around the central pond.  The park was full of families picnicking and having fun.  Dogs were pulling their people all around the path.

After about halfway around the pond, Jan came across something that had its eye on the tourists and small critters on leashes.  I was up on the footpath talking with someone walking their dog, a boxer named Oscar if I remember correctly.  Jan walked down the bank by the water to get this photo.

Alligators by Brad Marks

Want to see more spiky creatures (you know you do), hit the jump!

Continue reading Can be Bite-y…by Brad Marks

Summer Blossoms

Wanted to get another post out as I’ll be hunting for a White-Headed Woodpecker over the extended weekend. Will likely have difficulties getting to new posts during that time being deep in unexplored wilderness fending off Cougar attacks, dodging Viper strikes, wrestling Bears and befriending wild Wolves to survive long cold bitter nights. Well, for at least part of the trip, there’s a wedding event involved so I’ll have to clean up to at least attend that ceremony … but then back into hiking boots with The Beast to seek out the prize.

As we’ll back in snow conditions for this hunt, thought it would be appropriate to feature creatures that give tribute to the white fluffy stuff.

Great Egrets found at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Savannah Georgia May 2015

It is awfully hard to take a birding trip (short or long) where you do not have the opportunity to come upon an Egret or a Heron. If you happen to be a wildlife photographer, I will bet the farm that you have tins full of these birds. Also guessing those primarily came from your early birding years as they are the PERFECT photography subject. When these birds are hunting it will make you wonder if they make Ritalin for Sloths. Need to learn how to use an expensive camera, desire to understand the exposure triangle (ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture), maybe want to practice breathing techniques to stable your long glass – either way, these shore waders are the go to subject.

What you do not often get a chance to get in the tin are Egret/Heron offspring.

Great Egrets found at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Savannah Georgia May 2015

Hit the jump to see a few more shots and try your hand at an ID.

Continue reading Summer Blossoms

Sky Commander

Well, here I sit with a completely drained body trying to speculate just how bad it is going to be tomorrow when the adrenaline drains out. Don’t feel sorry, I willingly chose to test myself once again on a nasty half marathon trail run. I wasn’t expecting the heat to come in so fast especially after heavy rains the last two days and quite frankly most of this month! I’ll leave the details for a post on the mothership blog, but today’s course was a wicked combination of multiple water crossing (one was a spillway up over the calves), rocks, roots and a nasty collection of hills that beat me down like an after school encounter with the local bully. As soon as you dived into the valleys you were suffocated by Mr. Heatmiser while you tried your best to make sure your shoes came out of the ankle deep mud. Didn’t help I smacked the ground at mile 11 badly bruising my ankle and leaving me wondering if my ribs were still attached – gotta pick up those feet Bri regardless of how tired you are! The good news is there’s new hardware on my running shelf for my efforts so as they say … worth it hehehe.

Going with a short one tonight so I can get a good amount of foam rolling in before crawling (literally) into bed.

White Ibis found at Harris Neck NWR outside Savannah Georgia May 2015

Hit the jump to see a couple more shots of the Ibis.

Continue reading Sky Commander

The Easter Egg of the Birding World

For those that celebrate the holiday – Happy Easter everyone! When Linda wasn’t looking I stole her “Honey Do” bell and cut the clapper out of it. She was starting to abuse it (ha) and now that she is on the mend, my nurturing duties are officially over. I did cap it off with a well received pancake dinner in the shape of a bunny before the time officially ran out, so don’t feel bad for her. She’s still badly bruised at the insertion points, but good enough to move around and she even drove to a local store tonight for some badly needed supplies – good to go although I’ll be pressed into service again and this time for at least 3 months once the valve surgery is done. That one is going to hurt (me, not her hehehe). With the Easter holiday upon us, thought I would feature Mother Nature’s version of the Easter Egg.

Painted Bunting found at Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah GA, May 2015

Now how is that for a colorful bird? Linda is very particular about what birds she is willing to take pictures of. If it isn’t pretty and colorful she doesn’t even bother bringing her camera out. Blackbirds, Robins, dull garbed Warblers etc. do not merit the infinitesimal pressure required to push that shutter button down and clearly not wasting precious digital bits reserved primarily for waterfalls and landscape pictures. I call it elitism, which generally catches her ire. In this particular case she had no issue with snapping away and that’s clearly understandable. This Bunting is top two in my book across the entire birding world.

Painted Bunting found at Skidaway Island State Park, Savannah GA, May 2015

Continue reading The Easter Egg of the Birding World