I had been watching some small birds flit in and out of the underbrush at the side of the road. The sun had just come up and they were hunting for breakfast in the lowest, darkest parts of the vegetation. This Palm Warbler finally took a break in the sun on a reed frond.
I was able to get a few steps closer and get a few images at a different angle before he went back to foraging.
Morning Glories open to the rising sun on the edge of an old rice field pond.
10/14/2018, Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
This wooden “trunk” controls water flow to and from the old rice field pond seen here and the tidal Ashley River, just at my back as I took this image. A variety of wading birds have become accustomed to stopping by; when the water is flowing through the trunk the fishing can be pretty easy on the low side.
At the end of the second week of October there were many Gulf Fritillary Butterflies still around.
Our temperatures have remained in the mid to high 80s during the day (27 plus C) which is above average for October. Only in the last few days have the nights gone down to 60 F (15 C).
Fortunately this favorite wildflower of the Fritillary is still blooming. Some lovely purple flowers just a few feet away had no attraction to this fellow.
Taken 10/09/2018, Charleston, SC.
This has been a banner season for Swamp Sunflowers, I see them thriving all around the wildlife areas I frequent. Surprisingly, despite many of the plants being over 5 ft (1.5 Meters) tall they have not been beaten down by our recent rain and wind storms.
A Great Blue Heron Twisted up like a pretzel while preening,
Royal Tern, wings out of the water:
One strong down wing beat:
Pulling up out of the water:
A second strong down wing beat:
The fish catch held in his beak is sticking out on either side of the tern’s body:
A third beat of the wings and tern is fully away from the water with his lunch flapping:
This series was over in two seconds.
A Little Blue Heron was inspecting the shore line just after sunrise; he was just plodding along slowly.
The drying grasses behind him caught the early golden light beautifully.
A few Royal Terns have been coming regularly to one of the old rice field ponds to feed. Terns are extremely skillful flyers and I watched two of them for an entertaining 45 minutes, making loops around the pond and occasionally out over the Ashley River.
The terns were constantly turning their heads and changing direction. When they spot a fish in the water they hover.
Then dive!
They go completely under water.
And if all goes well, come up with a fish!
Up and away!
Interestingly, the two terns then flew together out over the river. They got too far away to tell if the fishless bird was trying to steal the meal or if they were sharing.
With the Great Blue Heron gone from the tree the Great Egret and Roseate Spoonbill settled into their morning preening.
The tide was in on the swamp side of the Wildlife Management Area and the water was high in the non-tidal ponds so they didn’t have many options in the immediate area for feeding. Sunning and preening would have to do.
