This bird gets your attention when they are nearby. Their wind span is around 6 feet – 2 meters, so they move a lot of air when they push off.
They have a limited breeding range of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. We have 5 rookeries across the state. This one the newest in Port Royal. I think we are still at 5 though, these birds just moved down the coast 20 miles or so from another that is not active now.
Best viewed large.
These are probably some of the last photographs of the Yellow-crowns in this rookery for the year. I was surprised to even get these.
The chicks have hatched, grown, and fledged all deep inside the thick trees and brush in the swamp. I didn’t get a single shot of a chick in here. The only thing that grows faster than the chicks is the dense swamp foliage.
Her nest is right out in the sun, bad idea. A few build here every year and I don’t remember ever seeing chicks here.
In this spot she needs to protect those eggs from the sun. Rolling them often and keeping them shaded is a constant chore.
I had forgotten the Hawks hide in the trees behind the back trail. When you’re walking there you always look in the opposite direction, the big island always plenty action.
There was none of the usual Red-shoulder screaming. If I hadn’t notice movement to my left he would have been missed.
Immediately after these shots the young Hawk made a quick dive down on a Tricolored Heron. It was an ambitious try, Herons are a little big for them. Besides, the Heron saw him coming and quickly dodged him. Nice try though.
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As you get into the summer here afternoons get hot. Each morning is humid, and hot.
The gators live in this water most of the time. Birds are all around and over it.
The water is as bad as it looks… 😳
The bird that stops photographers in their tracks.
Spoonbills are like a magnet for cameras. They are another subject that you never get enough of.
Young Spoonbills don’t have the crazy neon colors of the adults, but they also don’t have that green wrinkled bald head either.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Young Tricolors look much different than the adults. This one must have just fledged and was out testing his wings. The nests were not very far away. He could still be back in time for dinner.
Look at that fuzz head !!
The Great Egrets are certainly beautiful birds and make it easy to take way too many photographs of them. 😆.
I used a Pana Leica 100-400 for this shot. Leica ‘glass’ is known for its quality, some of the best in the world. The body of this lens has some short comings though. Most notable is the very still zoom ring making it difficult to quickly change focal lengths. My personal solution is to lock the lens at a set focus, around 300mm. With a long lens most of what you shoot fits here. Being good glass the photos can be great. I don’t shoot birds in flight with this lens, the OM 100-400 is best used for that.
