This Little Blue Heron has the start of breeding colors. Except he’s months early.
Come late spring he is going to be a beauty.
Magenta Shades On A Little Blue
White Pelican Flock
The second largest bird in North America, the Condor is a shade larger. A White Pelican can be 5 1/2 feet in length (1.7 meters), a wing span of 10 feet (3 meters).
This is flock taking off is like being on a runway.
The birds were found on a South Carolina barrier island that has multiple big marshes.
Marsh Birds
Several photographs here of wading birds taken on an evenings walk. Parts of the marsh were starting to get dark, a few spots had nice light.
In short, a few random critters in a local marsh.
First image is a juvenile Little Blue Heron perched up on a pile of dried reeds. The water was low at this point.
A Great Egret wandering along the deeper cuts that still had water.
Little Blue Heron admiring himself.
I like this wider photograph since it gives a feeling how big, and tall, those reeds are. The bird is a midsized Tricolored Heron. He is dwarfed by the tall plants.
Last a Great Egret and taller bird than the Tricolor. Still you can see taller reeds than the Egret.
This marsh has since filled back with water. A dike and trunk control the depth. Today the water was going back down. The idea is to get as much to dry as possible, then do a controlled burn to clean out the cattails and reeds.
Stones, Southern Cemetery
Sometimes it’s best to focus up close in the old cemeteries. The small details are limitless.
Open in the early 1800’s this cemetery, Magnolia, was one of the first of it’s kind in the south. At first people still wanted to be buried in their own church’s graveyard. They soon filled though, then the civil war and yellow fever pandemics proved the value of separate burial grounds.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina.
Friends, Stork And Egret
We came across multiple birds, different species, all standing around in the same general area. Only a few were feeding, the rest looked like they were waiting for something to happen.
Nothing ever did happen. That didn’t stop me from waiting around with them though. I figured they must know something I didn’t.
Incoming Tricolored Heron
These birds can be very graceful as they land. Even better is when you can catch the angle that shows off their layers of wing feathers.
This Heron flew past us flying up a marsh. I was just trying to get a flight shot when he pulled up to land.
Feeding Wood Stork
OK, this was a first.
I’ve been close to Wood Storks, but close is a relative thing. This is wildlife and you always keep a respectful distance. Unless the Stork lands and feeds almost on top of you.
I had to move to get him in the view finder. Apparently there were schools of small fish right here.
B&W, Great Egret On A Jetty
The rocks were being replaced on a jetty that sits between a salt marsh and fresh water. For some unknown reason the wading birds were fascinated by the process.
Murrells Inlet, South Carolina