I thought this to be a peaceful scene.
Actually I stood and watched the Egret and Cormorant for a bit before it occurred to me I should take the shot.
Looking over a salt marsh, Green Pond, South Carolina.
Marsh Scene
Tag Archives: Connecticut River
Yellow-crowned
These Herons always look a little awkward to me. The best I can come up with is a resemblance to a ‘bobble head’ doll. They even walk like it.
There are a few spots along the large marshes here where they breed. But I don’t see as many as the other Herons.
This particular bird was off away from the dike and didn’t seem to feel uncomfortable with me walking by.
He gave us plenty of opportunity to take a number of shots.
The most striking thing about Night Herons are their ruby red eyes. An amazing deep red.
Like all Night Heron when young they have no striking colors at all. A plain brown, and stripped, camouflage .
Typically they are shy birds, except for the Charleston flock.
Every year a large group of Yellow-crowns build nests in the trees at the very tip of the city, where it meets the ocean and harbor.
There, in the battery park with the Civil War canons, they have young. And… make a pretty big mess on the thousands of tourists that visit the spot.
Another ‘You can’t make this stuff up’ moment.
An Egret Greeting
This is a typical Great Egret greeting, a mated pair.
Loud and raucous. More so than most birds and I swear it’s like they need to introduce themselves all over again.
Feeding In New Waters, Spoonbill
Receding waters means a whole new place to feed for these birds. They may have long legs but there is a limit to how deep they can handle.
From my perspective it was great too. There are a few places, in the shade, where deeper water prevents us from getting anything but a few gator shots.
Now I can catch these guys ‘shoveling round’ in the water close by.
Note; in the above photographs you can see how they will sift through water and ‘spit it out’ catching small prey.
Dancing
Nest Boxes
This time of year means watching a nest box should provide some good photo opportunities.
In the middle of a group of swallow nests this blue bird moved in.
While this is always fun I need to remind myself to be sure I have a monopod with me. Holding up a long 500mm lens for extended periods means as soon as I rest my arms the perfect shot zooms by….and I miss it.
Soft Landing Mallard
This is a short series capturing the landing of a Mallard. Another one of those simple but interesting photographs. The images below are in sequence, as he landed in a cove. A brighter day would have made for better shots, but this is more about the subject anyway.
It looks almost comical the way he sets his feet to break the fall.
Mr. And Mrs.
It’s spring, so the obligatory duck photographs begin.
