Every time I see a flock of Wood Storks I try to get the ‘grand entrance’.
One of the privileges of being a wildlife photographer is captures like these.
Not many people ever get to witness these scenes. I know how fortunate I am.
While the White Ibis are common here their cousin the Glossy Ibis is not. We will get a few who venture north, but I rarely see flocks.
I found this one too far for any close up shots, besides I would have been run over by all these birds if I got too near.
This is close to where a few days before hundreds of Wood Storks were flocking.
Now one solitary bird on a slow walk. Every day it’s different and we just keep looking.
This bird, with the slow hunched walk, always reminds me of a little old man. And they really do amble along in slow motion.
These are two different photographs from the same moment, 10 other images in between. I shot this at high speed.
I was fast, the Stork not so much.
Wood Storks are like some Herons and Egrets where they join a group and make a grand entrance. This one was flapping and snapping (Storks snap their bill, sounds like Spanish Castanets).
With this low water in a marsh the Pluff mud is easy to see. Even the big Storks can find it hard to walk in.
I have seen birds get stuck in it. Once I thought a Spoonbill would need a rescue they went so deep.
Pluff is a special mud. It takes hundreds of years of sediment to get just the right consistency. Now it’s like quick sand that smells worse than any low tide you can imagine.
However, I have friends who were born and raised here and swear it’s the ‘Lowcountry Perfume’.
This Black Skimmer moved around and between the Wood Storks, at a high speed of course.
If he hit a spot that had no opening he just went up a few feet, then quickly back down to continue.
I’m hoping I have some additional shots of him fishing through the middle. It’s amazing to see how quick they turn and twist.
Taken in the ACE Basin area, South Carolina.
Here a Wood Stork took off and flew right down the middle of the flocks, with a clear background I should add.
The clear background is the important part here. In a crowded scene like this a bird no matter how big gets lost in the photograph. I was high enough on the dike to get the angle.
When shooting in a flock it’s way too easy to get caught up and grab everything at a close zoom. This was taken at only about 150 mm.
Below is the zoomed version.
From where I was standing this Storks landing path was going to take him right in front of me.
As he came lower I was able to work my long zoom to keep his flight in focus through out.
When Wood Storks land they either make a perfect Olympic gymnastic ‘stick’ worthy of a 10, or need a half mile of runway to slow down.
This guy nailed it right in the center of the flock.
