No big story here. This is from a ‘one of many’.
In this case a hawk that dropped down nearby while in the swamp. The never take just one rule applied here. So I have a nice collection of this bird, from multiple angles.
If you give a Red-shoulder space while they’re hunting you can usually get plenty of shots.
Specs; OM-1 mk2, OM 100-400 ll, Lightroom.
One of the nice things about being in a place with many birds and activity is you can step back and (try) to pick and choose your shots. These shots are just that.
I was standing on the edge of this swamp area just watching small herons and egrets wandering the brush and fishing the swamp.
This Little Blue didn’t seem to like the clutter. He would take a step, flap around, deep breath, and try again. I grabbed a few shots because these birds should be seasoned hunters, not prima donnas. 🤣
This year may have been the best for the future of the Wood Storks.
Rookeries that never had any storks now have nesting pairs almost everywhere. In 2016 they were right up there on the list of endangered species. There were 11 nestlings in South Carolina.
The delisting was official March 2026. Also the last count of nesting pairs was now 4,000 in South Carolina.
If you are of a certain age you might remember the fish tanks at the back of the 5 & 10. Likely Woolworths.
There was always a tank with small turtles. Buy a turtle, small tank, and get the turtle food free.
This is what those little guys would grow up to be if you actually kept one.
Yellow-bellied Sliders.
A place easy to miss, or just think the dirt track looks a bit sketchy and pass on by. And really when you reach the end there’s not much to see.
If you drive in a short way and walk the rest the views around you are the reward. Theres no sweeping vistas, the opposite. The road becomes a tunnel covered with a canopy of Live Oaks and Spanish Moss.
At the end you reach the forest, a small line of old fruit trees line the last of the road. The Mary’s Island plantation hasn’t been here for a few hundred years I assume the trees were planted by the Boynton family when they raised cattle back here late 1800’s.
Random shots from a short walk in the ACE Basin, South Carolina.
One of those times standing there and waiting paid off.
Tricolored Heron dropping down into the brush.
A big nosed bird, standing on his head, in swamp water. You would laugh too.
Best viewed large.
White Ibis, South Carolina.
There was no activity in the marshes when we arrived. I know from another photographer who had been around there early morning it was a little better, but not much.
Before I melted I walked along a dike road for a few wide shots. At the waters edge, looking down, I found a head. Just eyes and nose above the surface.
The water is thick and swampy with all kinds of bubble and small insects on top, no surprise I hadn’t noticed him.
Of course the obvious thing to do was get focus and take a few shots.
American Alligator, ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Specs; OM-1 (1), OM 12-100, Lightroom.
