Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell about it. These lines from Mary Oliver are my mantra these days, and I try to capture and captivate with the beauty of the natural world.
LOL! It takes a special person to be a wildlife rehabber. I can't imagine the effort for either. Locally, you can check with the Sewee Center or Charlestowne Landing, both of which house these animals.
I live near a lake so I've seen many birds egret ibis storks anhinga you name it! At first when my family saw the Anhinga we assumed it was a snake but then we finally zoomed in on the picture i took and we saw a beak!
WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!All parts of this plant contain the toxic strychnine-related alkaloids. Get it out of your yard! If you see this wicked plant destroy it! It kills hummingbird and broods of bee 🐝 hives. It is called South Carolina Jessamine or Carolina Yellow Jasmine. Sap can irritate skin. Gelsemium sempervirens. Wicked evil plant! If consumed by human will cause death.
I did a ton of research to find the bird that kept walking me up at 4am! These birds have no chill if you live near the woods in the south. They call at all hours. Thankfully, I think the blue jays and cardinals have chased them off for the summer. I'm sure in fall they'll be back.
I grew up in the rural Deep South and heard these birds at night. The old people would come over, sit on the darkened, screened-in porch, smoke a pipe, enjoy coffee and talk about their grandparents back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I would just sit and listen and learn. It was back in the 1950s but I heard my grandfather tell of seeing his first automobile, first airplane, first car and even his first steam train and first electric lights.
