A few shots of a Great Blue as he touched down on an old marsh tree the other day.
A nearby Anhinga watched but didn’t make a fuss.
There aren’t too many large branch trees in the open marsh so at times all types of birds share what little there is.
Even though mating season has ended the Great Egrets are still the most numerous large birds around here.
I have had these photographs uploaded to the site for weeks now. I thought the easiest way to publish them was in a random article presenting nothing more than beautiful big white birds.
Hope you enjoy.
Taken in various locations around the Lowcountry.
A few were perched in the trees near a rice field.
The water is high so this may be the last we see them around the marshes until things dry out.
Spoonbills are like the ‘Canary in a coal mine’ for keeping track of the health of their environment. They require clean, flowing water, not deeper than around 6 – 8 inches. Which is exactly what the Florida water shed should be, as well as the Lowcountry.
The environmental protection agencies track Spoonbill closely.
Many of the marshes in this wildlife management area are old rice fields from the 1800’s. The series of dikes separate the old fields from the open marshes.
This particular spot is approximately 18,000 acres. As you can imagine it is filled with wildlife.
Here I had mounted my camera on a monopod and spent some time just taking shots of the various scenes that played out in front of us.While there yesterday only a single pickup truck came past us on the main road in, a 4 mile dirt road ending here. True social distancing.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Color and light worked nicely on this young one. He is probably in his second year.
Still keeping near the nest location but far enough away to be on his own. Tricky time for him.
We have a rookery nearby that was abandoned a few years ago. One year it was busy with small wading birds breeding, the next none. There were a few ‘maybe’ reasons, but it was a dramatic change.
However…
This youngster was there recently. I spotted him since I make a point of walking through fairly often.
I may have seen another the same day as this, so there could be two.
The birds that nested here have moved just down the trail and set up house on a small island, protected by water and of course Alligators. He might have flown down.
It would be nice if they started to return here too.
Charleston, South Carolina.
What you see when the sun hits the water on the marsh edge.
Reflections and the critters that hide within them.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
This had all the makings of a territorial confrontation.
A Great Blue Heron was there fishing and the Great Egret walked by a little too close. The Heron has the advantage, the Egret also a large predator was not backing down.
As the Great Egret got closer he postured for the Great Blue. The Heron just turned along with him.
Making the right decision, the Egret kept walking by.
Whenever there are two big predators it’s almost always bluff, if it’s not mating season.
