Brown Pelicans have learned to gather where Dolphins are strand feeding. They’ve figured out that fish can’t be far off and may be available for poaching.
I was watching this one as he artfully took off.
And swooped out over the river.
I didn’t realize until he turned and landed that I was missing a Dolphin strand feeding.
I caught this Anhinga as he was climbing out of the water onto an Alligator ramp. This waterway is a canal along the edge of an old rice field impoundment that attracts many fish eating birds.
Anhingas feathers are not waterproof which helps them to swim and hunt low in the water but also means they have to leave the water to dry off.
You can see the gular pouch extending below. Similar to a pelican’s pouch, this skin between the beak and neck helps the bird “open wide” and swallow much larger fish than you might expect.
I haven’t seen an Anhinga do this while drying off and am not sure what he was up to. I waited awhile to see, but like many of the water birds these fellows can spend a long time doing nothing and I lose interest or get distracted by something more interesting.
Seeing a Double-crested Cormorant floating in a pond I expected to witness him fishing. I was ready for him to dive then pop up many feet away.
He had other ideas.
He did a couple of trial flaps.
Then he took to the air leaving a splish splash behind him.
This Hooded Merganser was outnumbered, by Common Gallinules of all things. Gallinules tend to stick to the edges of any waterway and mind their own business except for their cackling squawks which always alerts the whole area to a photographer’s presence. Or so I thought.
The Gallinules quickly got into the Merganser’s space.
He tried out paddling them.
They followed so the Merganser opted to put some extra distance between them.
Finally, a spot of his own.
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 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.
There is a touch of fall color in the “skinny tree” which earlier this year hosted one Great Blue Heron and several Great Egret families. Now the tree serves as an occasional landing spot for a passing bird.
This Anhinga chose it as a drying off spot and executed a smooth landing.
He then turned his back to the sun and spread his wings to dry off.
I love watching Black Skimmers doing what their name implies. Their flying skills are extraordinary, including not needing to watch where they are going when they plunge their heads into the water.
Very agile, a slight tip of the wings is all they need to change direction or speed.
I didn’t see a fish, but sometimes they pull up just a bit to swallow something they’ve caught before continuing to skim the water.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC, July 15, 2018.
We are seeing more flocks of honking Canada Geese in the sky, a sure sign that fall migrations aren’t far off. These four were part of a flock of about twenty that appeared to be trying to get into formation. They were not successful and ultimately circled noisily back and landed where they started.
Great Blue Heron waits
Black Skimmer glides by slowly
Intersection now
