I was trying for something different…
I got it.
An Egret Greeting
Tag Archives: wildlife
Night Heron Passing Through Rookery
It’s time for the next phase in rookeries, the smaller wading birds.
This is a Black-crowned Night Heron who blew by heading out to one of the islands. A few were moving around so I was prepared, at least thinking about, a fly by.
Night Herons like to nest in the thick palms with plenty of cover. They still want the protection of a rookery, but more dense. This makes it harder to get many photographs since they are hidden.
In the last image above you can see part of the Egret rookery as he flew past.
These birds are fairly hard to catch in flight so I was surprised to get three images. I’m happy with one, this many is a bonus for me.
Mallard Pair
Always happy to catch a few Mallards.
I never thought Wood Ducks would be more common than Mallards, but welcome to the Lowcountry.
Dry Marsh, Everyone Was There
Crossing over to a marsh we found…no water.
Best viewed large.
I was not walking out for a closer shot.
The shrinking water condensed all the fish into a very small area.
My guess is in an hour there were no fish.
Speaking with the head ranger we found the water was lowered, trunks and water flow blocked, to allow the Widgeon Grass seeds to finish sprouting. In a few days the seed will be out and the marsh opened up to water. The water will spread the seed all through the area, basically planting the wild grasses to support the wildlife.
Pretty clever.
The water level is controlled using the same ‘trunk’ methods from the last 300 years. The first trunks here were setup by enslaved people from Barbados and West Africa for rice growth.
He Missed, Egret
I’ve mentioned before how these birds have patterns and habits on how to land in the Cypress Trees.
Well, he missed, by a mile.
Now he had to figure out the best way to fly straight up and land.
He jumped out and made a quick turn.
It worked.
Cranky Baby, Heron
I guess if I was sitting out there all day I would be too.
Great Blue Heron.
Reflections, Ducks
Both photographs have decent reflections because they were taken in the shade of overhanging branches. The day was actually bright sun.
Below a Mallard was working through the Cypress trees.
Wood Ducks, male and female, stuck close to the shore. Again Cypress. You can see the Cypress Knees in the foreground.
The ‘Snowy’ Strut, Egret
Taken in a low water spot.
It’s fun to watch them do their ‘walk’.
