If they follow last year’s pattern this tree will soon be occupied by nesting Great Blue Heron and Great Egret couples. Until then White Ibis have taken over the tree for sunning.
Doing the one-legged doze the Ibis stood right here for a couple of hours at least.
There is not a bit of material left from last year’s nests. Any Great Blues or Great Egrets that stake this out to start a family will be starting nest building from zero.
Taken as fall is coming to an end, 12/18/2018.
The Eastern Phoebes around the rice field canals often eat by alternating flying out over the canal to gather insects and landing on a perch that overhangs the water.
The marsh reeds appeared golden at the end of the afternoon on this day and I was able to get a bit better background as I got closer to this Phoebe.
Not surprisingly, many of their chosen perches are obstructed from view by branches and reeds. And they don’t hold still very long.
My, what big feet you have!
Brown Pelicans will land on almost anything around the dock, including this shrimp boat rigging, and somehow their feet adapt. This one is looking down into the creek, alert for any chances at lunch.
These images were taken in a section of the wildlife management area that I don’t visit often. Until recently you had to climb over fallen trees to get there and the dike is lower, which puts the photographer closer to the water which is good and bad.
Getting a lower prospective and Alligator reflection is good. Being closer to unseen Alligators can scare the &#!% out of a photographer if they move!
Being lower also means less breeze, which much of the year means more mosquitoes. Last week was cooler so there wasn’t much insect activity.
This White Ibis was enjoying the sun and along came a Little Blue Heron.
The Little Blue Heron slowly encroached on the Ibis’Â space.
From a distance this wasp nest looked like a dried flower head jammed into these branches. When I got close enough to see the insect movement I could tell that it was not a flower at all.
It’s interesting that the nest appeared to have a uniform depth and I couldn’t tell what was supporting the disk. The wasps were crawling around the outside of the nest, not coming and going as I would have expected.
All this empty shoreline and you had to land here?
The Great Blue Heron was tucked out of my sight until the Great Egret touched down.
The wading birds follow each other, usually hoping to capitalize on a good fishing opportunity. Why else would the Great Blue Heron have chosen this spot?
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.
I was intrigued by this old shed on the grounds of Swan Lake Iris Gardens when we visited in early February. The boards and vines made an interesting collage.
On last week’s visit I was delighted to see the shed covered in trumpet vine and looking somewhat like a Chia Pet, with an elephant trunk.
I’m not that familiar with Trumpet Vine and don’t know how the blooming process goes. There were just a few blooms fully trumpeting and I wonder if this shed will be covered with blossoms. Trumpet Vine is a favorite of humming birds but I didn’t see any.
If you aren’t familiar, “Chia Pets are American styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal’s fur or hair.”
— Wikipedia.
What seemed like a fad, these do-it-yourself kits have been around since the 1970s. Everything from cats and dogs to political figures have been represented. The jingle is now rattling around in my head.
This colorful caterpillar stood out from the plain greenery which he was eating, which is how I happened to see him. A mob of Red-winged Black Birds was in the area and I was expecting him to get picked off as I watched.
He was methodically consuming the leaf, munching back and forth straight across the top.
A wider view shows there was some red foliage nearby, which may have helped camouflage him.
4/26/2018 On the dike at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens.
The cygnets were learning how to feed, sticking their heads in the water imitating their parents who were pulling vegetation up from the pond floor. The were each in constant motion, turning and dunking, making a family portrait a real challenge.
The three cygnets mostly stayed together.
This fellow started off on his own but quickly turned back to the group.
Owned and operated by the City of Sumter, SC, Swan Lake Iris Gardens is home to all eight known species of swan.
