THATSBUG2U.COM​
A storyteller's sandbox
Photography
Favorites
No rhyme or reason: Just photos that I took and that I like.
Just a bridge over water if you're not from Beaufort County, S.C. But if you ARE from Beaufort, you probably recognize this as the Great Divide — the bridge over Port Royal Sound, also called the Broad River. If you live here, you are from North of the Broad or South of the Broad ... and you know it.
I took this photo on the Great Wall of China during a 2011 trip with my wife and a group of students from Beaufort High School. A friendly native made for one of my favorite images from the trip. Read more in my China Blog.
Taken one foggy morning on the Combahee River. That's my wife, Debi ... and this is the screensaver on my home computer.
Scrub jays are a threatened species with a limited range in Florida. So during a trip there in 2014, seeing this bird was a must. We found this one in a residential area and were told -- correctly, as you can see -- they can be coaxed into the open with peanuts.
I took this photo on the Great Wall of China during a 2011 trip with my wife and a group of students from Beaufort High School. A friendly native made for one of my favorite images from the trip. Read more in my China Blog.
Birds & Nature
Recent photographs of the natural beauty all around us, which, of course, includes our feathered friends. ​
I love the patience and concentration required to photograph birds well. I particularly enjoy seeing and photographing a species for the first time. My collection of firsts includes this sora, spotted in an old rice field.
Click photo to enlarge.
A collection of photos taken in and around my backyard on Lady's Island, S.C. This is a Cooper's hawk that swooped in on our feeder station day, snatched a titmouse and gave new meaning to the term "bird feeder."
A collection of photos taken in and around my backyard on Lady's Island, S.C. Brownheaded cowbirds are parasitic nesters — meaning females typically deposit their eggs in the nests of other species, sometimes pitching the other eggs. They then let other birds care for their young. We've had a nesting pair of painted buntings in our yards for several years, but in 2017, they wound up taking care of a cowbird.
A collection of photos taken in and around my backyard on Lady's Island, S.C. Summer tanagers aren't rare, but their appearance is uncommon enough to make it special. For the past several summers, we've seen at least one pair for a few weeks, but typically never in great numbers or for very long.
A collection of photos taken in and around my backyard on Lady's Island, S.C. This is a Cooper's hawk that swooped in on our feeder station day, snatched a titmouse and gave new meaning to the term "bird feeder."
Travel & adventures
China and its many mysteries
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These are shots from a student trip Debi led to China in 2011. You can read, see and hear more at The China Blog, which I assembled to chronicle our travels.
A green sea turtle comes up for air at Kealoah State Park.
This mongoose knows we're on to him as he sneaks through the brush near our accommodations in Hawaii. The animals were introduced to Hawaii to control rats, but it didn't work out so well. Mongooses hunt during the day; rats are active during the night.
Horses in a field near Waimea, Hawaii, on the Big Island.
A green sea turtle comes up for air at Kealoah State Park.
The Coliseum, shown at night during a student trip to Greece and Italy that Debi helped lead in 2008.
St. Peter's Basilica.
Trevi Fountain in Rome.
The Coliseum, shown at night during a student trip to Greece and Italy that Debi helped lead in 2008.
What a great 42nd birthday present — Debi got me my first flying lesson, from Beaufort to Charleston and back.
The view of Fort Sumter from the air.
Morris Island lighthouse.
What a great 42nd birthday present — Debi got me my first flying lesson, from Beaufort to Charleston and back.
After getting a flying lesson for my birthday, I had little choice but to return the favor by getting Debi airborn on her birthday.
After getting a flying lesson for my birthday, I had little choice but to return the favor by getting Debi airborn on her birthday.
St. John Cathedral in Savannah, which, though no Charleston, is one of the most photogenic cities around.
Bonaventure Cemetery.
St. John Cathedral in Savannah, which, though no Charleston, is one of the most photogenic cities around.
Mushrooms designed to catch water.
Butterfly chowing down on rotten banana at a roadside attraction.
Debi selects pottery from a peddler on a Manuel Antonio beach.
Mushrooms designed to catch water.
A photographic jaunt through Hilton Head Island's annual car show.
A photographic jaunt through Hilton Head Island's annual car show.
South Carolina's oldest city is also its most beautiful ... Beaufort excepted, of course.
Waterfront Park fountain.
South Carolina's oldest city is also its most beautiful ... Beaufort excepted, of course.
Beautiful Beaufort by the Sea
I had never been to Beaufort, S.C., until I interviewed for a job at the newspaper here in 1992. I figured I'd stick around a few years, then move on to a bigger, better job. Yet, here I am, more than two decades later. These photos explain a little about how Lowcountry plough mud can suck you in and hold you in place. There's no better place to be stuck, in my estimation.
The Beaufort Downtown Marina on a summer sunrise.
The Beaufort Water Festival is one of the biggest social and tourism events of the year. This photo is from the ski exhibition.
The main drag in Beaufort, S.C., captured at night.
The Beaufort Downtown Marina on a summer sunrise.