I rounded the corner of the swamp boardwalk to find this White Ibis walking the railing.
Something overhead caught his eye.
Then he squeezed his eyes shut, more than the usual blink.
Maybe he didn’t like what he saw.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 10, 2026
He started out with a couple of leaves that he quickly discarded.
Then he pulled on some vines that were firmly attached.
Hmm, lets take a break.
Trying this again…
More pulling and yanking did not provide a different result: the vines were staying put.
Cypress Wetlands, Port Royal, SC
April 14, 2026
The foliage was dense and I didn’t see any Yellow-crowned Night-herons performing their mating dance but this fellow picked an open spot to work on his feathers.
We went back to where the Black-crowned Night-herons are nesting at Cypress Wetlands yesterday.
This one was busy preening, standing on one leg with a toenail of the other poking out through his feathers and casting a shadow on his wing.
This pair were working on their nest with the male delivering sticks…
…which the female worked into a perfect spot.
Dozens of Yellow-crowned Night-herons were paired up and working on nests at the back rookery area at Cypress Wetlands. The vegetation is dense.
Black-crowned Night-herons were nesting around Cypress Wetlands in their preferred denser nesting spots like this Bald Cypress tree. You can see one occupied nest up close to the tree trunk, and at least four other herons perched in the tree.
This heron was unsuccessfully trying to snap that attached twig for nesting material.
Others were tucked into quiet spots in thicker trees.
Amidst the nesting activity at the Cypress Wetlands rookery I spotted two Cattle Egret, including this one that was looking for a quiet spot.
The rookery at Cypress Wetlands is bursting with nesting activity. Great Egrets were mostly settled in last week, with many laying on nests and just a few displaying mating behavior.
These were the only eggs I saw, the nest was at the perfect height with the Egret stood to tend the nest.
The vegetation on the center island of the rookery was not fully leafed out, allowing good views of the action.
Just below the immature White Ibis of my previous post an adult was actively feeding in the pond.
His coloration was not as bright as the White Ibis In Florida but he was still pretty striking. The streaks on his wings might be juvenile remnants, or mud.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 26, 2026
An immature White Ibis perched on the boardwalk railing, just looking around.
He’ll gradually lose that splotchy brown look this year as he molts into adult plumage and his legs and bill will turn from orange-pink to reddish pink.
He does have the bright blue eyes
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 26, 2026
