I had been shooting a group of Roseate Spoonbill a few minutes earlier, but they gave the signal and left for far trees.
However, suddenly here were a few more passing low, fast, and right by me.
I grabbed a few images while basically spinning like a top.
I gave it a good try, I caught just this one photograph worth keeping.
I finished this in B&W for a web site I work with, then decided to publish here too.
I’m sure color versions will make their way here. This was taken using a spot metering and fast shutter method. While it doesn’t work with all images a big white bird is a perfect subject.
A great way to start the day out there.
Sunrise in the ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Spotted walking along the edge of an old rice field. Any other bird and I probably would not have taken a shot.
All he was doing was being ‘pink’.
This Great Blue Heron came charging in to this roost tree and took a spot right in the middle of all the others.
The tree was already full with a Tricolored Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, and female Anhinga.
The Anhinga, as usual, complained and yelled at the bigger Heron. The others watched close, but just did their best to ignore the new comer.
A little after these shots it was the Great Blue that took off. Too many strange looking birds for his taste.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Apologies to Robert Frost. No matter how I tried to work a title I came back to him.
Somewhere down there I dropped Ellen off to explore a side trail up a dike. I drove off in her car down this highway.
Here we have pine forests on one side, large open marshes on the other. An environment for most any critter you can think of.
And yes, the ‘road’ does change a bit. Perfect, as long as it’s dry. The slight turn ahead takes you out into the middle of open dikes and marshes.
Finally this is where I stopped to wait for the ‘explorer’ down the dikes.
This is the value of having a second camera / lens ready for wide shots. My trusty Tamron, not so great, 18-400 mm lens works pretty good out here.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Just being a Spoonbill.
Jumping from one high limb to another for no reason in particular. A Spoonbill trait.
A short time before these shots another Spoonbill had this, the best spot.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
On this walk I had a second camera with a short lens with me. Even before leaving the house I knew the day was going to be magnificent. It was. Clear sky, mild(ish) temperature, slight breeze meaning few bugs.
I stopped to get a few wide shots on this dike. Huge marshes are on both sides with several wooden trunks to move the flow of water between them.
Below the water feeds into a canal that pushed water forward and back to open wetlands. Of course a few floating heads can be seen if you view the image large. Saying they are everywhere here is no exaggeration.
The left side of this dike, below, is also wide open marsh lands. The trunk gates you see move the water through the dike. Flow direction is ultimately controlled by the ocean tides miles away. We are very, very, flat so water moves a long way.
Just an FYI; gates on these trunks are not lifted up to let water move. The solid wood gate is actually push out and away from an opening. It is pushed just enough to let the top of the water follow the natural direction. Fresh water is lighter than salt, and floats atop the brackish tidal water.
Only the top fresh water is allowed to move around the marshes. Hundreds of trunks, with the fresh water move through dikes between marsh after marsh.
When rice was the main plantation cash crop enslaved people from Barbados, and later West Africa, taught planters how to control fresh water with trunks. We still use wood, build them the same, and many are still in the same location 300+ years later.
Bear Island, South Carolina.
