These are several quick shots taken as the heron went full speed down the cut.
Great Blue herons are no speed demons. However those long wings can push them faster than you think when first spotted. I pulled back wide here to be sure I didn’t lose him.
Another small series of Roseate Spoonbill bouncing around chasing each other. And the poor spectators that get caught in the middle. Here an Anhinga.
The Spoonbill taking another’s branch actually gained a grand total of about 6 feet (2 meters) in the dead tree.
Odd birds that can be great entertainment on a quiet day.
A Tricolored Heron passing part of a once submerged pier. When the water is low old Palm snags, posts, and logs are rediscovered. Some have been here over a hundred years.
My favorite type of wildlife photographs, without a doubt, are birds in flight. This site alone must have several thousand I’ve taken over the years. I’m not shy about holding the shutter as something flies past. In the past a friend joked about me being a ‘quick draw’. Of course I miss plenty, fill cards that have lots of deletes, but I get my share of fly by’s too.
Some are better than others. However I love to freeze that motion, up in the air. Both these birds make ignoring gravity look so darn easy.
Roseate Spoonbill, Great Egret, ACE Basin, South Carolina.
A Great Blue Heron found working his way through a large flock of Egrets. Usually the heron would have kept away from this many Great Egrets but he hunted along the waters edge pushing through the crowd.
The Hampton plantation houses photographed from the marsh creek. The creek was the ‘entrance road’ off the Santee River and the beginning of the 25 large rice fields.
These are among the oldest original plantation buildings in the south. The main house was built in 1730. Being remote during the civil war the plantation was not burned. Also the construction of the buildings was primarily Black Cypress trees. The wood is resistant to insects and rarely burns. The US Navy still maintains wooded areas with this Cypress since it is the hardest wood known for ship building. The ‘unsinkable’ USS Constitution (old iron sides) is constructed of this type of cypress.
Hampton Plantation, Santee Delta, South Carolina.
I was waiting for the action. Osprey were circling, Eagles in the pines, and unsuspecting critters fishing directly in front of us.
Well, drama never happened. However I did have a nice peaceful marsh scene to fall back on.
Below we had Wood Storks fishing, a Great Blue Heron standing in the open, and in the back I notice an Anhinga in the reeds.
Not bad for a plan B.
A few days ago most of the marsh residents were working the far edges and avoiding the main dike road. This is when I use my monopod. I want to shoot long, wide, and at a slower speed.
A group of White Pelicans moved back and forth along a side dike. This path took them past other birds also working the reeds there.
The first photograph had two mixing with a Great Blue Heron. While the Heron is tall the difference is obvious. The Pelicans are much bigger.
Below Pelicans swam by a young Wood Stork. The stork was a juvenile, still when an adult is the tallest bird out here. Again the size difference is clear.
White Pelicans are huge birds. If they were able to stand straight they are just about the size of a person.
Some interesting comparisons.
ACE Basin.
