A beautiful warm, dry day with a light breeze
Just a short entry today as we have a busy day touring around Charleston and spending the majority of our time in colonial houses and estates. It was a great introduction to the history of this city, but did not exactly lend itself to a lot of birding.
So, I arose early this morning and went across the street from our hotel to Marion Square, a large city park mostly consisting of open lawn and surrounded by shrubs and short trees. It serves us well, every once in awhile, to just look a bit more closely at those things we take for granted. This morning, the park was filled with birds…..”park birds”. House sparrows, mockingbirds, an occasional cardinal and dozens of starlings. In the right light, the iridescence of the starlings is amazing. The purples, the greens, the blues all make the bird glow. Right now, the starlings are in their new plumage and hence have the white tips on their feathers. Later, these white accents will wear away, and the birds will take on a shiny black mantle.
The birds were all singing and calling, cooing and chipping to one another and made for quite a nice melody. There were scores of pigeons all picking through the turf in the middle of the park. May of these rivaled the starlings for the best in show for iridescence.
One pigeon caught my eye in particular. You can find any number of color combinations when watching these birds, but this one was a striking blend of contrasting black on a mostly white boday. I watched and waited as the bird approached me closer and closer and finally gave me some close-ups with the shorter lens. Yet another attractive bird we so often overlook.
In reality, you rarely think of the beauty of pigeons, but this one was really striking. As we walked the streets of Charleston later this afternoon, I came across a plaque inscribed with the following words of William Wordsworth.
The birds were all singing and calling, cooing and chipping to one another and made for quite a nice melody. There were scores of pigeons all picking through the turf in the middle of the park. May of these rivaled the starlings for the best in show for iridescence.
One pigeon caught my eye in particular. You can find any number of color combinations when watching these birds, but this one was a striking blend of contrasting black on a mostly white boday. I watched and waited as the bird approached me closer and closer and finally gave me some close-ups with the shorter lens. Yet another attractive bird we so often overlook.
In reality, you rarely think of the beauty of pigeons, but this one was really striking. As we walked the streets of Charleston later this afternoon, I came across a plaque inscribed with the following words of William Wordsworth.
"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."
A morning's stroll through a city park leads me to think that I am in Mother Nature's good stead.
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