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.
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.
We did find some White Pelicans the other morning. This was one section of the marsh, so it was impossible to get a count.
Best viewed large.
Yawke wildlife area, Mosquito Creek, South Carolina.
I count at least four Dolphin this Pelican was trying to steal from.
A good guess is the Dolphin averaged about 450 pounds, and were 12 feet long. The Brown Pelican, maybe 7 pounds and 4.5 feet tall.
I will say the Pelican was careful and stayed away hoping a fish would squirt his way. They do, just not today.
Still it’s funny to watch him trot up close to the Dolphin.
This Pelican followed them a few feet out into the water too.
Bottlenose Dolphin and Brown Pelican.
One of the few times a Gallinule didn’t run away screaming. This male sat there letting me get an angle for the shot.
Besides showing off the ‘candy corn’ plastic beak his feet are on full display. Those huge toes allow the bird to walk on top of marsh/swamp vegetation. With wings flapping they can almost walk on water.
One of the strangest birds out here.
This Great Egret underestimated the fish he had spotted flying by. I underestimated the breeze across the water for good focus. The Egret was the real loser, at least I caught a few action shots.
Below the Egret dropped down to the waters surface while flying by. Not common behavior, risky actually, but I’ve seen it before.
Yes he grabbed a fish while hovering in the air.
Unfortunately the fish turned out to be bigger than the bird thought.
He dropped the fish back in the water.
There was nothing he could do. This was deep water, the center of a pond in rice fields. I’m sure he would not touch bottom. Besides this spot is filled with alligators. Swimming is not an option.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Three important ingredients for me ;
Charleston, South Carolina.
Santee Delta is the largest in the eastern US. There are 6 rivers that ultimately flow through the marsh/swamps here. The delta itself is 450 miles long beginning in North Carolina. Most of the rivers ultimately empty directly into the Atlantic Ocean or through the creeks and bays of the South Carolina coast.
The delta can be rough and rural, but filled with history and incredible numbers of wildlife. In just 3 hours last week we encountered 16 Bald Eagles.
Rice plantations were once spread throughout the region. Creeks and small rivers like in these images were the only method of transportation.
These photographs were taken on the bank of a creek behind an old plantation. I’m not sure they are great viewing on a site like this, but I wanted to show an actual deep marsh scene few people will ever see. Maybe that’s best considering the flying insects bite and are more numerous and larger than you could believe. 😁
