If you’ve lived down south, than you’re most likely familiar with the Southern Carpenter Bee. Given the chance, they will chew (but not eat) through wood in perfect circles creating tunnels. While on the surface the concept is pretty cool, in reality the wood they seem to choose are your soffits, handrails, outdoor furniture and decking. A homeowner nightmare as they will come back again and again making Swiss cheese out of various parts of your house which allows for water to infiltrate and eventually rot the wood. That’s what most of us see, but there’s more to this bee than wood destruction. They are great pollinators of eggplant, tomato and other vegetables and flowers. Most people will see them on wood and know they are Carpenter Bees, but many of those same people will see them on flowers and think they are honeybees. The Southern Carpenter Bee does not make honey. I realize there are many people that are afraid of bees and the large size of these bees can be frightening. The males are not equipped with a stinger, so they can’t sting you. Females have stingers, but are only likely to sting you if you handle them or stick your finger in the holes they carve out in the wood, which is now their nest. You can tell the difference between the two as males have white faces and females don’t. I never had problems with getting stung by bees or wasps. This generally happens when their nests are disturbed accidentally or on purpose. There was a time when my family and I were vacationing in a cabin in the North Carolina woods and one of the dogs found a wasp nest in the ground. Countless wasps swarmed the dogs and screaming people as they made their way for the house at top speed. I was actually in the house at the time and from the yelling, I thought that a bear had lumbered into the yard. I opened the door and people dogs and wasps flew past me. It was quite the time to sort everything out. Little did I know that I needed a flyswatter and not a can of bear
@Gritty Flyright
@Gritty Flyright is an amazing artist in his own right. Full stop. I wanted to be clear because I’m about to follow my thoughts down the stream of my consciousness.
What makes an artist go mainstream? It certainly isn’t on merit alone or Gritty would be on your radio stations and streaming in with the mix of others that have “made it”. Is it a well placed article that goes nationwide? Or, a thought, could it be done with a flood of well composed, well placed pictures?
Seeing a picture on Facebook is different than seeing it on the cover of “Rolling Stone” or “Billboard”, even if it’s the same picture. It’s all about perception. Packaging. I look back and see the pictures of the Beatles or The Rolling Stones and they’re not necessarily “great” photos, but they’ve made the cover of major national and international magazines. Helping to push them to stardom.
It’s a glimpse of the bands that we love, so good or bad these pictures are cherished, even revered. I have made a video, something I don’t normally do, showing pictures of Gritty Flyright and the Music Family on their latest gig. What really struck me was their opening song, that is in the video, and the reaction of the people there. They immediately began hootin and a hollerin. I mean, they were screaming for this song.
The outdoor event, that began with people talking and drinking, immediately changed into a charged atmospheric energy and focus. Everyone turned to the stage and cheered their approval. I was there to take pictures, but I found it difficult to refrain from being pulled into the roiling crowd’s enthusiasm. The song on the video is the first song they played.
Allow yourself to be pulled into the video and maybe one day you will look back on these pictures and cherish them as you do when seeing one of your favorite bands as they first started out. And who knows, share this video and maybe we can put this star into the heavens where he belongs, shining brig
The last installment of the magnolia Audubon swamp Gardens
So far, there have been three other installments, the path down the little bridge and the boardwalk. At the time of filming there weren’t many animals about, so I sped some of my own pictures filled with.Great Egret chicks/babies, Little Blue Heron on the hunt, Great Egret chicks/teenagers and a great American Alligator right off the path!
Thank you so much for taking this tour with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed it if you haven’t seen the other three are on my page. Feel free to go and look for this adventure with me.
The last leg and alligators…
Part Three Magnolia Swamp, The Last Leg & Alligators…
Hey y’all, I’m about to do something different here and maybe you’ll like it maybe you won’t, but I feel as though I should try it anyway. I’m going to be putting out a series of videos interspersed with my pictures and commentary. This first adventure will be at Magnolia Audubon Swamp, and I’ll bring you to the beginning of the trailhead, across boardwalks and into the swamp itself. If I put all these videos together in one shot, it would probably be a half hour or so and Facebook just can’t handle that, so I’ll be doing a little miniseries and I’m just going to put part one, part two, part three and so on on each post so you can follow it in the right order. This way, you won’t start the wrong part first and not know what the heck I’m talking about. I hope you enjoy this journey in South Carolina because I always do! Here is, part three, The Last Leg & Alligators…
Magnolia Audubon swamp adventure part two the little bridge
Part Two Magnolia Swamp, The Little Bridge,
Hey y’all, I’m about to do something different here and maybe you’ll like it maybe you won’t, but I feel as though I should try it anyway. I’m going to be putting out a series of videos interspersed with my pictures and commentary. This first adventure will be at Magnolia Audubon Swamp, and I’ll bring you to the beginning of the trailhead, across boardwalks and into the swamp itself. If I put all these videos together in one shot, it would probably be a half hour or so and Facebook just can’t handle that, so I’ll be doing a little miniseries and I’m just going to put part one, part two, part three and so on on each post so you can follow it in the right order. This way, you won’t start the wrong part first and not know what the heck I’m talking about. I hope you enjoy this journey in South Carolina because I always do! Here is, part two, The Little Bridge.
Part One Magnolia Swamp, Down the Dirt Path,
Hey y’all, I’m about to do something different here and maybe you’ll like it maybe you won’t, but I feel as though I should try it anyway. I’m going to be putting out a series of videos interspersed with my pictures and commentary. This first adventure will be at Magnolia Audubon Swamp, and I’ll bring you to the beginning of the trailhead, across boardwalks and into the swamp itself. If I put all these videos together in one shot, it would probably be a half hour or so and Facebook just can’t handle that, so I’ll be doing a little miniseries and I’m just going to put part one, part two, part three and so on on each post so you can follow it in the right order. This way, you won’t start the wrong part first and not know what the heck I’m talking about. I hope you enjoy this journey in South Carolina because I always do! Here is, part one, down the dirt path.
I was on the bank of Bayview Lake, watching a Roseate Spoonbill on the other side of the bank watching me. I had a little stool, so there I sat, eyes thoughtfully locked with a creature whose ancestry goes back to at least 50 million years ago. I had my camera, she had her bill. Watching this bird, I sometimes wonder what their names would be if woman had named them. John James Audubon has named many birds and many birds have been named after him. When I see the Eastern Bluebird, I wonder about the lack of imagination in naming it. Red Winged Blackbird, again, pretty simple. The beautiful bird before me has a bill that resembles the shape of a spoon, BAM! call it a Spoonbill. I suppose it makes it easy to remember the names, nonetheless, a name with more pizazz could go a long way. I think of these things as I stare at the Roseate Spoonbill so far away from me. I lift the camera and click a few pictures that I know I will delete later. I sit, she stands. Can birds sit or do they just hunker down on their legs and feet? They don’t lay down, as far as I know. It must be exhausting to be on your feet all the time. I think of these things sometimes when I’m sitting and waiting. My waiting is rewarded. I see a man on his bicycle, with his dog, moving in the general direction of the Spoonbill. I check again that my shutter speed is turned up. There is another Spoonbill on a pine tree that is located on the center island in the lake. If she flys, that’s where she’ll go. Spoonbills are gorgeous in flight. And, she’s off! Click, click, clickety, click. The results are down below. Patience is a requirement when birding. Strange thoughts while waiting is only an option…
Click on image to see full image in technicolor!
You park your car in the wooded parking lot, gather your gear and set off. In the last minute before you hit the trail, you need to use the restroom, which is wooden structure that looks like a small cabin in the woods. All set now, you once again begin your journey.
A winding dirt path leads you on. You can hear a wide variety of song birds, but unable to see them through the heavy foliage and Spanish moss. At the end of the trail there are boardwalks both to your left and right. The left side is in shade a looks to be around a 100 years old. It’s not, but there’s are multiple trees overhanging the wood causing moss and other similar plants to grow on it.
Today you take the boardwalk to the right, which is in full sun and looks like it was built yesterday. The sun burning off any plants that even think about growing on these boards. A lone Little Blue Heron hunts for food a ways out and shakes its newest catch in its beak (these pictures will come out later).
As you near the end of the boardwalk, a cacophony of bird noises suddenly fills your ears. The Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation is filled with wading birds, as well as, other creatures big and small. You notice the hatchlings and fledglings are in full swing right now.
Your path once again is dirt trail and various flowers border the edges. Suddenly the Swamps open up on you left and right. You only have to walk a little bit when you can clearly see a medium sized tree approximately 30-50 feet off the narrow footpath. Up high, in its branches, are multiple nests with both Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. The Herons look to be quite a bit older than the newly hatched Egrets. You know this from their size, but mostly due to your earlier visits when the Herons were about, but not the Egrets hatchlings. Every where you walk, the trees shade your way and you don’t feel the 80° temperature as you would in full sun and it’s only 9:30am.
Music courtesy of Gritty Flyright, that’s my picture on his latest hit, “Well Enough Alone”. Eastern Blue Birds, male and female. James Island, South Carolina. We purchased and hung an Eastern Bluebird box about two years ago. The Bluebirds seemed to check it out and one couple even built a nest, but no offspring ever appeared. This year we have a nest and some eggs I was told this morning. I’m not sure why, but the whole process reminds me of my grandparent’s house in the rural part of Pennsylvania. As a child, we visited them quite often. It was always exciting to go there. They had a pond with (in my child’s eye) an enormous snapping turtle. I also remember watching the dragonflies. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen any. The neighbors lived pretty far away, or so I thought at that age. One memory really stands out. My grandparents took me to a dinner with some sort of raffle and we won. I was sent on stage and there was an older man with a microphone. He asked me questions and I hesitantly answered them. There were so many people there that I had stage fright, but in the end I walked away with a flashlight that I was allowed to keep. Getting something unexpected is a child’s dream come true. A flashlight, when you were visiting the dark woods that surrounded the house, it was incredible gift. I felt like an explorer in my own unexplored world. There were deer, snakes, wild hogs, birds, I could not name at the time, and it was also filled with all the things I could imagine. I could imagine a lot. This may have been the place that gave me my explorers mentality and led me to explore the United States and abroad when I got older. From an 8 year old’s imagination to reality. I continue to have adventures here in South Carolina and beyond. I don’t know whatever happened to that flashlight, a big, heavy, strong mag light, but I’ve replaced it with a smaller LED flashlight and my camera. I can only imagine how things would be if I had
Music Courtesy of Gritty Flyright. A walk through Eastwood is quite a special time if you allow it to wash over you. As I amble down the road, and I find, at this stage in my life, that I am quite the good ambler, I feel the warm patches of sun through areas where the old Live Oaks occasionally allows the rays to reach the pavement. Most of the time though, I’m shaded by their huge branches and lazy Spanish moss. I go on past the end of the paved road and onto the dirt and gravel. That’s where you come up to Willow Lake, framed by large grasses and some fallen trees. This is where the medium, larger wading birds and raptors like to rest or hunt. Today there were Green Herons, I counted four, a Great Blue Heron, an Osprey and a Night Heron. (I like how the Green Heron picture turned out. Out of focus branches between myself and the bird, creates subtle colors throughout the shot.)I noticed that the Amber Wing Dragonflies are back along with some Blue Dashers. What I found striking was a Zethus spinipes Fox, which is also called a Mason Wasp. This one appears to be a female because the antenna are straight rather than curved like in the males. Every now and again the strong noon day sun would reflect back bright blue wings. Carrying further on, we come across the Barred Owl nest from last year. One of the adult Barred Owls flew out when it was approached, but no babies have been seen yet. You can see her(?) dozing in these great oaks, framed by their strong curving branches. A warm day, filled with the smells of jessamine and other flowers. A great day for a walk or run, if you’re able…
“Several of the terns are very similar in appearance. Forster's Tern looks so much like a Common Tern that it was largely overlooked by Audubon and other pioneer birders. However, Forster's is more of a marsh bird at most seasons, especially in summer, when it often nests on top of muskrat houses. Unlike Common Tern, Forster's regularly winters along our southern coasts.” -AudubonI see a lot of these Terns on James Island, South Carolina in DNR. I love watching this bird doing these crazy air acrobatics while catching insects. They also dive to catch fish near the surface. All that said, I actually was a bit mesmerized by the beautiful clouds that filled the sky. Classic, fluffy ones that catch the sunlight and look as though you could crawl up on top, napping in the warm Carolina sun. I think it hit 80° today. A perfect way to while the day away up in the clouds. The birds almost seemed like an excuse to capture these puffy fluffs as they slowly inched their way across the sky. Yawn…
Great Egrets are seasonally monogamous, remaining with one mate per year. After pairing up, the male selects a territory, and the couple proceeds to build a flimsy-looking platform nest of stems, sticks, and twigs. The female lays 3-4 eggs, which both parents take turns brooding.During mating season, the great egret will have a green patch between their eyes and their bill. If you zoom in on the pictures, you can see how bright and prominent it is. This egret has a stick that will be added to their nest.
Yellow Rumped Warbler’s To Do List:1) Stare at the ground2) Jump down and do safety check3) Stare at the ground4) Find mealworm5) Gobble it down
We’ve been adventuring all week and still are, but by cleverly using a coat hanger, duct tape, a shoelace, toothpaste and chewing gum, I’ve been able to harness a half a bar of reception. I’m hoping this gets out there because my calf is beginning to cramp….
“The Dogs of Grand Turk”
'Potcake' is the name given to the dogs of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the nearby Bahamas archipelago. The name came about because the locals fed the caked remains of the cooking pot to their dogs. To be clear, it’s not just a nickname, Potcakes are a breed of dog local to the Turks and Caicos as well as the Bahamas.
Potcakes are often taken in, by the way of feeding, but these dogs are generally wild, feral dogs living on the streets, and in this case, the beaches. Some are friendlier than others, but, I believe, that they see humans as food sources and, therefore, they don’t tend to bite the hand that feeds them.
Of course, these dogs found the local tourist attraction and have benefited frequently from these soft hearts and generous hands. There is also a foundation that helps these dogs. I don’t know the validity of them and so I am not endorsing any, but leaving it up to you to check it out if you like.
Yes, the water is that blue! If you look at the pictures that have a horizon, you will see a very dark strip of blue. This is the ocean shelf where the water drops off to over 7,000 feet!
Sound check!!
Gritty Flyright
Follywood Productions
