It’s hard to get a decent photograph of both a large bird and the surrounding area in a swamp. This Great Blue picked the only spot that had an open view behind.
The Heron gave a Hollywood pose and left some open water.
Even captured Spanish Moss on a Cypress.
Wonder how many years I will wait for another shot here.
Fun shots of a chance encounter. These were taken while passing through a plantation garden on our way back from a marsh.
These small Herons are fast and I caught just one shot since he came right at me. The white bridge in the background crosses a small pond stream.
And where did he go? Not out to the marshes where expected.
An old statue in the reeds, perfect high spot for a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Right now the swamps are still filled with the Egrets.
However the resident bird that has the attitude, and owns a swamp is the Great Blue.
Swagger and confidence, they have both.
This series is of a Heron making his entrance with that big slow flight.
I call this the ‘Grand Entrance’.
I was beginning to think they had all left me with nothing but white birds.
While I do love the beauty of a Great Egret, the Great Blue Heron is the star of the show here.
My guess is the bird came back out of habit. All the Heron nests are gone now. Yet there he was sitting exactly where mating birds will rest.
Oh, and not a young bird either. The long chest feathers show this to be a full adult.
I was glad to see him still here. Maybe he will stay long term like a few of the smaller Herons have.
These smaller Herons are nesting not far from here. It’s a good place to stop for a few shots of something other than a white bird.
The Egrets take over here now, even my little buddy the half grown spotted Heron has moved down the road for now. This makes getting photographs of the other locals a bit more work.
This is the exact opposite end of the rice field in the previous article.
At this end a dike separates the fields from the Ashley River. Once the young Heron have learned to fly and left the rookery, this is the next stop in their grand adventure.
This field, perhaps a mile long, probably has always had these Herons. They hunt here, then fly back to the rookery to feed the young.
