Monthly Archives: March 2021

Wading Birds

Great Egret, Nest Material

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I saw this Great Egret land and expected him to get run off by the occupant of the nest about 8 feet (2 M) above him.

Great Egret
Great Egret

He poked around a bit, and was surprisingly ignored by the Great Egret in the nest.

Great Egret
Great Egret

Suddenly he swooped down to the water…

Great Egret Dropping To Water
Great Egret Dropping To Water

… and came up with a stick!

Great Egret Flying With Stick
Great Egret Flying With Stick

After circling around the tree he made a nice landing at the top, delivering the stick to his mate. Turns out he didn’t go far from home for this delivery of nesting material.

Great Egret Bringing Stick To Nest
Great Egret Bringing Stick To Nest

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 17, 2021

Birds

Peacock Announcement

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Peacocks only seem to have one volume when they have something to say: high!

Peacock and Daffodils
Peacock and Daffodils

Me, more genteelly: My apologies for any comments you’ve left in the last few days that I have not acknowledged. My WordPress site has had a hiccup and some comments have gotten left out of the Comments list. Fortunately there are other ways to find them, now that I know.

 

Animals

Sheep-pede, Part 2

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The Sheep bolted for the barnyard after the Sheep-pede and seeing the pressure washer. Their caretaker went back to the barn, too, for some grain. Clearly the group was won over and towards their pen they trooped.

Sheep and Farmer
Sheep and Farmer

Except these two that stayed behind cleaning up some grain that got spilt by the group leaders.

Two Sheep Cleaning Up Spilt Grain
Two Sheep Cleaning Up Spilt Grain

The shepherd continued to call and one of the two wanted to be with the group more than he wanted a snack.

Running Sheep
Running Sheep

The final hold out was determined to do a thorough job.

One Last Sheep
One Last Sheep – Cleaning Up

Then he scampered along to join his pals.

One Last Sheep - Wait For Me
One Last Sheep – Wait For Me
Animals

Sheep-pede

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A low key stampede, but these sheep were on a mission.

As part of their Heritage Breeds program Middleton Place maintains a herd of Gulf Coast Sheep that roam the grounds freely during the day.

Herd of Sheep Herd of Sheep

Every afternoon the animal staff go through a process of securing the animals for the night.

Herd of Sheep Herd of Sheep – Getting Closer, Me not ready with 100-400 mm lens!

The sheep know the routine and easily headed towards their enclosure when it was their turn.

Herd of Sheep Herd of Sheep

They got a surprise when they got closer to their nighttime quarters and decided they would mill around rather than go by a pressure-washer that a worker had been using to clean fence that evidently hadn’t been there when they left that morning.

Herd of Sheep, Milling Around Herd of Sheep, Milling Around
Water Birds

Double-crested Cormorant

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This log at the edge of one of Magnolia Plantation’s ponds is often occupied by a drying Anhinga, but on this day a Double-crested Cormorant had possession.

Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant

I have rarely seen one this close, and he seemed to only be paying attention to the warm sun.

Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant

About an hour later when I passed back by, sunlight was no longer shining on the pond or the bird, and the Cormorant was in the same spot.

Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant

And he was just as uninterested in passers by.

Double-crested Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Raptor

Barred Owl, Two Views

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I’m reasonably sure that these two images are of the same Barred Owl. I first spotted him in a little glen  where I have previously seen a pair. It was late afternoon and as the sun got lower the light filtered through a gap in the trees behind me.

Barred Owl
Barred Owl

After a bit the Owl flew towards a small pond and I continued my walk. As I suspected the Owl didn’t go far, or his mate was here the whole time.  The trees were much denser and it was darker here, but still a nice view of a beautiful bird.

Barred Owl
Barred Owl