This is one of my favorite subjects.
Long, lean, and elegant in flight.
They can be surprisingly fast, especially so if close and trying to fit them into your viewfinder.
This time of year it’s difficult to get these photographs. Early spring is best when they are out looking for nesting sites.
Great Blue Heron, Charleston, South Carolina.
For some reason he did not fly off. Just the opposite, he plodded right through the marsh. Tricolored Herons, when adult, have ‘ruby red’ eyes. They are amazing.
I judge a Tricolored photograph by how vivid the eye colors, and neck feathers are. A young bird has a less colorful eye, but more distinct shading on their neck.
I’m certainly OK with this shot.
The golden glow of fall.
Nice to have a Heron in the shot too.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
In short, when you think you are close, get closer. That’s the rule.
Except here.
I moved away. I wanted the Spanish Moss, dead branches, and sky.
In fairness I did take many shots up closer first.
From my ‘To Do’ files.
Just about all the locals were represented in this one shot. Getting them all in a single image is unusual. There’s always one who starts trouble.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
After a while you learn which spots certain birds favor. These branches, over water, are the small Herons favorite.
It must be high enough that any passing Alligator either doesn’t see them, or only the biggest can reach.
Any people on the trails are easily seen also.
A place to get some decent shots if the Heron is in the mood.
A perfect spot for a Little Blue. Shallow water and algae across the top.
Every wading bird has their own ‘style’ of hunting, especially when catching fish.
The Little Blue Heron takes advantage of his multi colored bill. The tip of his beak is a dark color fading to a lighter grey.
Just a small thing maybe, but the bird can ever so slowly dip his bill into the water and fish don’t see the dark tip coming. Above notice the green plants still on the tip.
A quick, and long, stab from above usually shakes any duck weed off.
My guess is he was stirring up the water a few moments before I spotted him.
The Little Blue always look to be deep in concentration while fishing though that’s probably due to the distinct yellow eyes.
Here a photograph I could not have have taken a few weeks ago, the fall weather has pushed down the high grasses. Now the old wooden structures can be seen. They may have been used to dry nets or as a duck blind years ago when this was still private plantation lands.
Both the Great Blue and Egret moved around on the old posts catching the first rays of morning sun.
In a few weeks all these reeds and grasses will become a dull brown, but for now everything is golden.
These were some of the last photographs of the year in these marshes. Rangers close the dike roads, tens of thousands of acres, each winter to protect the habitat and migrating birds.
Bear Island WMA, South Carolina.
