Unlike most of the dragonflies I have photographed this season this one was up at shoulder level for an easy view. And he was on a steady perch, not swaying around on a spindly twig.
Dragonfly
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Nesting Season Winding Down
The Great Blue Herons have all fledged and have mostly left the rookery area. A few later starting Great Egrets chicks are still around, but they have grown to almost adult size and won’t be around much longer.
This pair looks a little goofy as they look around on a hot day.
Some of the Great Egret chicks are showing a lot of interest in the world beyond their nest and they have spread out into the space vacated by the Great Blue Heron chick.
Butterfly
This butterfly was flitting along the trail, first ahead of me then behind me, not quite landing in a pose that I was hoping for.
I finally got his full open wings showing off the shimmery blue and then just a peek of the underside. There was a pretty stiff breeze blowing when he landed on this leaf and he was fighting to stay put.
Here’s The Catch: Predator and Prey
Blogger Liz, author of New Zealand based Exploring Colour, has collected a group of “Predator and Prey” posts from photography blogs that she follows. Check out these fascinating images and stories of the world around us that I and fellow photographers have documented.
Orchard Oriole Parents
In the three weeks since I photographed an Orchard Oriole working on her nest I’ve passed by the tree several times and seen no activity. On Sunday a male was sitting on branches about 30 feet from the nest.
After carefully watching the area he zipped into the nest with the grasshopper. You can just see one wing and a tail hanging out the entrance.
The nest was swinging back and forth in a light breeze and the male made a quick exit.
My question, was the male feeding his mate while she sat on eggs or chicks, was soon answered when the female appeared with another grasshopper.
The female was coming in at a different angle and had to pause to get into the nest.
After delivering the snack she came out with a fecal sac and disappeared into the woods.
Three Wood Duck Ducklings
A mother Wood Duck usually stays with her ducklings until they are grown to near adult size, the “teen age” stage. The males are sometimes around but don’t seem to supervise the young the way I’ve seen the females herd their charges around.
No adult was in sight for these three ducklings and I suspect the mother became lunch for a predator. The survival rate for the ducklings is low and the adults can fall victim to alligators, hawks, or eagles. These three were sticking together, swimming around the pond to various perches. As plant eaters these ducklings don’t rely on the parent bringing food, they just eat what is around them.
This board they are settled on is an Alligator ramp that has been slowly sinking into the pond over the last year.
The surface of the pond is covered with a mixture of green Duck Weed and some variation of Mosquito Fern, the red plant. Zoom in on the closer image of the dragonfly perched on the surface to see the plants in more detail.
Facing the Crowd
Sunflower faces are supposed to follow the sun but on occasion one doesn’t get the message.
Two Ponds, Two Alligators, Different Light
These two Alligators were swimming in different ponds, taken about an hour apart on a recent June morning.
The bank where I was standing was much higher above the water in the second image, the sun was higher in the sky, and there was a remarkable difference in how the water appeared. The second Alligator was moving a little faster, too.
Pond Changes
This little pond doesn’t get much attention at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, probably because it isn’t lined with flowers like some of the others. I always liked to stop by looking for turtles and wading birds that found it attractive.
Staff cleared years’ worth of fallen trees and limbs from the water and tidied the edges last fall. This made for a great reflection , but I haven’t seen much in the way of wildlife there since.
April 12, 2018.
Great Egret
The wading birds spend a lot of time standing in place. This one was surveying the landscape on a sandbar at the edge of Charleston Harbor.
A storm was coming and most of the other birds around had already taken cover, but he didn’t seem the least bit fazed.
