Worked on getting these locals from a few different angles. From the dike road I could actually do that. An unusual option out here.
On this morning the Wood Storks outnumbered all the others combined. Being storks that was no big deal. They don’t pay much attention to any others, it’s beneath them.
Wood Storks, Tricolored Herons, Roseate Spoonbills.
Taking advantage of the numbers of Tricolors by shooting them every chance I get.
Below a small group walked past me through the hanging Spanish Moss. Framed the shot and the birds were OK with me there. Standing in the open made some a little shy.
I found some on the sale marsh side of the marshes too. Along the various deep cuts are pilings and trunks for water flow. This Tricolor perched on one and surveyed all around before dropping down to hunt. Alligators prefer fresh water, however they walk back and forth over the dike to hunt, and the birds know it.
This is one of many flocks feeding in the old rice fields. If you look in the background you can see two other groups of white birds. In this area there hundreds, no idea how many further out..it’s probably miles wide here.
If you look close you will find;
Isn’t that amazing 😃 !!!
As usual, the stork came down and dropped almost in the middle of more storks and a few spoonbills.
Not a bad touch down considering it’s a stork.
A first year (I think) Wood Stork. The head feathers are very brown, and thick. There are only a few Stork rookeries this far north so my guess is a youngster from Cypress Wetlands or the private land near Edisto.
This was a nice opportunity early in the morning. You never know how many chances you will get so this was a nice one.
A little golden morning sun.
Looking across a marsh, from one dike to another.
Great Egrets, Wood Storks, and of course an Alligator.
This dark overhang is a place you have a decent chance of finding a hidden alligator. It’s an out of the way safe place.
When you look over and find a few, and big ones, there’s probably more out in the open. There’s a reason the safe place is busy.
Over the last few days this spot has been full.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Roseate Spoonbill and a Wood Stork working the fish together.\
Each one is stirring the water and shaking out the small minnows they eat. If one misses the other has a chance of catching one.
In the background is a Tricolored Heron. These three species are found together in the same flocks. They seem to get along well.
