Posts Tagged ‘birdwatching’
Wood Storks in My Backyard
Monday, August 2nd, 2010I saw a recent article in a Charleston newspaper proclaiming: “Wood Storks Stage Comeback.” Apparently there are now over 150 breeding pairs in the Dungannon Plantation Heritage Preserve about 10 miles south of Charleston. Now there are 40 pairs of Wood Storks that have established what may be the largest urban breeding colony in the region in Dill Sanctuary, on the Stono River on James Island, five miles from downtown Charleston. Here’s a snippet from the article (which is no longer available online):
Incongruously, up close on the ground, the stork’s wrinkly head might be uglier than the macabre vulture it’s related to.
“It’s not a handsome bird,” said Andy Harrison, a member of Charleston Audubon.
Like the bald eagle, the stork has become a bellwether of the potential of preserving coastal environment as the Lowcountry develops. Its success gives conservationists hope for the return of fabled wildlife such as the whooping crane lost more than a century ago.
A generation ago, the stork bird had all but disappeared. An estimated 40,000 breeding pairs in the Southeast in 1930 were decimated by the loss of their nesting habitat and shallow feeding waters. In 1981, only 11 pairs were counted in South Carolina.
But recent counts put the number of wood stork pairs in the state at more than 2,000, the largest colony in the United States.
I feel fortunate to have had several of these magnificent (but admittedly UGLY!) birds visit our back yard over the past year. Here is a picture I took from my office window of two of them that were having some “quality time” on the bank of the lagoon behind our house: (more…)
Of Birds and Men
Monday, May 24th, 2010(or “Mr. Cardinal’s Sticky Situation”)
It all began when my wife came up to my office late one morning and told me, “There are some strange thumping noises in the garage – you’d better go check it out.”
Being the brave man of the house, I immediately went downstairs, grabbed a convenient weapon (an old broom) and went out the side door into the garage. My wife had just been working outside with the garage door up, so we expected that some creature had unknowingly been trapped inside when she put the door down. I pressed the button to put up the overhead garage door and moved forward, weapon in hand, ready to defend our turf from any hostile visitors.
What I found was entirely unexpected. (more…)
Welcome to the Lowcountry Birder!
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010The Lowcountry Birder is a labor of love produced by a “Damn Yankee” (Translation: a Northerner from “Away” who decided to stay instead of going back North when vacation was over!) who now lives with his wife and adult “special needs” son just a couple of miles inland (“as the osprey flies”) from Pinckney Island NWR and Hilton Head Island.
I’ve been involved in watching birds and nature for 45 years now – since my childhood growing up on a farm in western PA. I started out with a pair of 3x binoculars and the “Golden Book of Birds.” At age 12, my grandfather gave me his pair of Binolux 7×50 binoculars and his old (1947 edition) of Roger Tory Peterson’s “Field Guide to the Birds” – and I was hooked! (I still have that field guide – it’s been all over the country!)
Living here in the Lowcountry of SC is like living in a birder’s paradise – you never know what “exotic” bird may fly over or swim past in the back yard. Being able to share it with all y’all makes it even more enjoyable.
I hope that you find this site useful – I’m just getting started, but have lots of plans to make it an interactive “hotspot” for birdwatchers living in or visiting the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Look for lots of pictures, videos, events, etc. to be added soon!
Mr. LCB