Twitcher’s Patch: the Birding Blog of Hilton Head Island and Beyond
Welcome to Twitcher’s Patch—a blog where passionate birders (“twitchers”) and nature lovers can discover the magic of their favorite birdwatching spots (“patches”) across Hilton Head Island, the Lowcountry and beyond.
Twitcher’s Patch is where I share stories and observations from time spent watching birds on Hilton Head Island, throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry, and in places farther afield. A patch is more than a birding location—it is a place returned to often enough to recognize its birds, habitats, seasons, and changing rhythms.
Here you will find articles about bird behavior, migration, and breeding; photography techniques, creative practice, and ethics; habitat, weather, and conservation; birding places and journeys; and practical guides for spending more rewarding time in the field. Each story grows from firsthand observation and a commitment to respectful birding and wildlife photography.
Whether you are hoping to better understand what birds are doing, strengthen your photography, prepare for a birding outing, or experience a landscape through its wildlife, Twitcher’s Patch invites you to look more closely—one place, one bird, and one story at a time.
Mountain Moods: My Foreground is Air
Spending the summer about 1,500 feet above sea level between Ellijay and Blue Ridge, Georgia, I began photographing the same mountain bowl as weather and light transformed it from hour to hour. Looking toward the Rich Mountain country and northwest to the Cohutta Mountains, I watched towering clouds build, rain sweep across distant ridges, mist settle into the valleys, and thin bands of pink and gold reveal a sun hidden behind clouds. Eastern Towhees sing loudly well before sunrise and return to the treetops at sunset, while a small flock of American Goldfinches takes flight at the edges of the day—always together, never alone. Made with a Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f/2.8 lens, these photographs place the mountains low in the frame so clouds, color, light, and atmosphere become the true subjects. This photo essay explores geography, weather, birdsong, and the creative choice to let air—not a conventional foreground—anchor the landscape.