Brown Pelicans feed in the marsh inlets between Magnolia Cemetery and the Cooper River. Occasionally they land in the cemetery pond for a rest, like this one in mid December.
Then, with what looks like amazing effort he lifted off.
A couple of small foot splashes in the water…
a powerful downbeat of his wings…
… and he was away.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
December 14, 2024
Double Crested Cormorants were all around on this foggy morning.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
December 30, 2024
One year ago I posted American White Pelican photos taken on November 30. Turns out we had a repeat experience yesterday with my first AWPs of the season.
There were about 15 of the big birds, with a few Great Egrets sprinkled in between.
None of the birds were feeding, with the Pelicans just bobbing around.
Maybe they had already eaten or maybe the cold and high water made fish hard to find.
If we had arrived twenty minutes later we would have missed seeing them as first a few took off then the rest of the group lifted into the air. It still surprises me how gracefully and quietly they do this.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
November 30, 2024
I missed the moment when this Double Crested Cormorant started his flight, breaking free of the pond surface.
The sequence I did get took place in less than a second.
My shutter speed was only 1000 due to the dull light, and I really wasn’t expecting him to take off as I’d been watching him feed.
Another up beat…
…and touch of the water. Yes, I clipped the bird but the water splashes fascinate me.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
November 11, 2024
Again this year I went on the Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions. We left from their HQ on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. All the pictures in this series were taken from a moving boat as we went from Shem Creek, to the refurbished Crab Bank just off Shem Creek and then around Shutes Folly/Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor.
One of the unexpected things I saw was Royal Tern chicks. These terns were one of at least five species that had active nests on the Castle Pinkney property: Brown Pelicans, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Laughing Gulls, Royal Tern.
The edge of the island was covered in blanket flower.
That red thing is trash, probably washed up by the tide as there is no human activity allowed on the island. The Snowy Egret popping out of the brush made me laugh.
The adult Royal Terns were looking around while the chicks were either laying or standing in place in the couple of minutes I had to watch them. It was hot and had been raining.
Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, from Shem Creek, to the refurbished Crab Bank just off Shem Creek and then around Shutes Folly/Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor.
June 23, 2024
This male Anhinga was drying on a stump, nicely set off by reflections of the vegetation on the far side of the pond.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
June 19, 2024
This Trumpeter Swan was casually feeding, pulling vegetation up from the pond bottom.
He was in no particular hurry, paddling back and forth in and out of shadows created by the pond-side trees.
His movement made ripples in the water as he got further from shore, maybe as the depth of the water changed.
And the ripples sometimes make freakish reflections…two headed swan…or head with a donut hole.
It wasn’t intentional, but I mostly captured this swan going to my right–was that his better side?
Swan Lake Iris Gardens is a public park in Sumter, SC and has been home to all eight known swan species.
Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumpter SC
May 21, 2024
A Whooper Swan was doing a bit of grooming with a purple iris backdrop at Swan Lake.
Swan Lake Iris Gardens is a public park in Sumter, SC and has been home to all eight known swan species.
Many of the iris beds have undergone thinning and resetting since we were last there so the flowers weren’t as dramatic, but it was still pretty nice!
Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumpter SC
May 21, 2024
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
May 3, 2024
The gate was closed at our intended destination on Friday morning so we took a chance on a pond where we’ve only seen mosquitoes and deer flies the last few times we’ve been there.
Black Skimmers are a delight to watch with amazing aerobatic skills and we found a half dozen of them working the area.
They work hard for their meals, flying at different heights around a pond or marsh then dropping their lower beak into the water.
The fish can sense the approach, scattering as the bird closes in.
Got something!
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
April 3, 2024
