I mentioned in a previous post that the Center for Birds of Prey has hosted two wild Black Vulture nests this year.
The Vulture parents picked spots in between the captive birds’ enclosures, which mimic the dark recess they might find in the wild. The female lays her eggs on the ground.
The juveniles’ feathers were transitioning from chick fluff, making them look a bit scruffy.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awanda, SC
June 24, 2021
A juvenile Little Blue Heron learning to fly landed in a pine tree right above me when he veered away from the pond. I didn’t see the landing but it didn’t sound graceful as he flapped around.
He wasn’t sure what to do next and the adult that had been leading him down the pond had kept on going.
After a minute he figured out he’d been left behind and went off in the same direction as his parent and a sibling.
We don’t have as good a view of the Little Blue Herons learning to fly this summer because of the position of the nests but the glimpses we get are entertaining.
The chicks have little control over their movements, they flop around the nest fighting to stay upright.
I marvel every year I watch this that any of them manage to stay in the nest.
The adults never take action to reign them in, but do provide some protection when they are this age from attackers.
5/22/2019
This young Yellow-crowned Night Heron was concentrating, although it was hard to say on what. His perch of a dead limb was hanging over a pond where he could go fishing, but he didn’t seem to be watching the water.
I watched awhile to see if he would come out into the brighter light. He was content to stay where the overhang of a larger tree provided some shade, occasionally changing direction and practicing the heron “standing still” skill.
Adult Little Blue Herons actively teach their young how to fly, encouraging them to take off by demonstrating and often tempting them to the end of branches with food. This adult and the juvenile on the right had their legs intertwined so I thought for sure the juvenile would launch.
The juvenile of this trio on the left had at least a short hop down as he arrived from a nearby tree after I started taking these images. The adult took off.
None of the three juveniles followed the parent.
After a little squabble the three settled down to wait for the adult to return for another try.
7/10/2018
As we approached the turnaround on one of the dikes in the wildlife management area we were visiting a juvenile Black Vulture stood in the middle of the road. Unfortunately he showed no fear of our car or us and only hopped along a few feet.
Ted finally got out of the car to gently urge him out of the driveway and he flapped/hopped up onto the gate, allowing me to turn the car without worrying about hitting him.
His still fuzzy head and hopping rather than flying identifies him as a juvenile. We walked around the opposite end of the gate and went on our way.
When we returned twenty minutes later he had relocated to the other end of the gate.
Quite regal looking, he ignored us as we passed back by and I saw him still there in the rear-view mirror as we drove away.
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.
I’m not sure which one of this pair actually took the flight; it was about five minutes after this first image that I noticed that one of them was gone.
The one left behind definitely noticed. “Hey, where’d my brother go?”
Not far as it turns out, on that first hop.
Oooh, that was fun!
Now what do I do?
He eventually made his way to the top of this branch and took off, After circling around the back side of the island he returned to the nest, a real flight!
A Canada Goose family was wandering through the edge of the cypress swamp, with the goslings foraging for food under the watchful eyes of their parents.
It was a cloudy morning and there was a full canopy above us so the images had a very high ISO. I reduced the noise and clarity which gave the youngsters a soft look that I found appealing.
They stayed surprisingly close to the boardwalk even as we approached, but before long the adults steered their charges back into the water.
Click on any image for a larger view.
These three chicks really look like Anhingas now, with the classic black and white “piano key” feathers on their wings.
Like the wading bird chicks in nearby nests these older chicks are spending more time interacting with each other as they wait for the parents to bring food. These three were so busy they didn’t even notice when one of the parents was on its approach.
Just as well, because she kept right on going.
And going.
I don’t know what made her abort her landing, but she circled around the tree for a second try and successful touch down.
