So, I made the turn and there he was. Soaking up some of the heat.
This trail is wide and he wasn’t all that big. He did have someone further down past him a bit stumped though.
Right here a ‘nature train’ may drive past with visiting tourist from the old planation up the road. He would move for that.
I’m not something that concerns him. He probably grew up with that tram and the ohh’s and ahh’s of out of town visitors.
He watched me, I watched him. I walked by, he fell back asleep.
This trail can’t be any more obvious. A highway actually. Straight out of the marsh, and to the trail.
The deep rut in the center… a tail dragging.
Down the marsh, in old soggy duck weed the ‘tail dragger’ himself.
A slow dark day always gets better when we spot the alligators on this trail. Young ones feel safe here (under 3 feet).
The drainage trenches were cleared this year giving us about 10 feet (3 meters) of open space. Enough that most gators stay around and just watched the silly humans pass by.
Babies are common here, above are 3 small ones. The size difference says they were from different hatchings. You can find them by listening for soft continuous chirping.
Early on I switched to a wider lens when I saw how many were crowding around.
Some of the wider shots from the Tamron 18-400 really needed more light than was available. It’s a trade off given the huge focal lengths available.
These photographs were from the start of a trail and just picked in order from the file, which is why I added the (1) to the title. I’m sure there are others to be published as I catch up.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
The splash caught my attention.
Whatever he wanted was gone.
He missed. Not all that unusual. I think they’re method is ‘just keep trying’.
Her location suggests a ‘Mom’ hanging with youngsters. But she was big.
Female Alligators usually are no larger than 8 feet (2.5 meters), she was probably right about that size.
This was taken in the area we call the ‘nursey’. This is a large marsh and wooded area maybe 2 miles (3.2k) from the rice fields and open water marshes.
Smaller Alligators, and their females, are not very safe there. That’s home of the ‘super sized’ guys. Females might travel down here and have nests nearby.
The edges of this marsh have been dredged out, now areas are deeper. Still there are young ones everywhere you look.
This day was dark and cool so we walked here for something different.
I know the warmer weather is here when the trails are shared with the young locals.
Only about 2 years old and they climb up on the trails to get dry, and nap.
It’s a Barred Owl so in the darker shadow is no surprise.
However he was sitting far from the crayfish pond in a totally different location. Walking through the old bamboo they love I noticed the familiar ‘football’ in a tree.
The trails there are a bit of a maze with low branches. But ultimately the spot was very photogenic so I shot a little wide.
Charleston, South Carolina.
When first reaching these large marshes we were immediately met with very low water. Miles of it off to our right. Being the fresh water area the second meeting was with this guy.
Just enough water to sit around in.
It was going to be an ‘Alligator day’ for sure.
