This is one of the two birds from yesterday’s post, Shore Birds Wading, as he landed in the marsh inlet. About an hour after sunrise, the sky was completely blue making a nice water color which made up for the dull mud.
It was disappointing that the water stream in front of the bird wasn’t wide enough to get his entire reflection as he touched down.
It had been our intention to be at a different pond when the sun came up but between getting out the door a few minutes late and a truck ahead of us that was indecisive that didn’t happen. I don’t think our original destination could have been any prettier than this. Unless there was a bird, or two, in the water.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
Taken 10/14/2018
This pair of shore birds, probably Lesser Yellowlegs, worked their way up a marsh inlet as the tide was going out, probing for breakfast.
Other Yellowlegs that I have seen actually have obvious yellow legs. I’m not sure if this pair is just too muddy to tell for sure or if it’s their age.
Or they are a different bird. The Merlin identification app also suggested they might be Long-billed Dowitchers.
They didn’t find much sustenance when I was watching, but they were pretty in the morning sun.
This was the coolest morning we’ve had since spring, just below 60 F (15 C) and the other Alligators I had seen were fully in the water with just their noses sticking out. This fellow was boldly more exposed, perhaps feeling some warmth from the sun’s first rays.
Disrupted from his hunting spot this Black-crowned Night-heron took a flight out over the pond.
This was about a half hour after sunrise, with a golden glow on the heron and the pond.
He opted to land in the “spoonie” tree, so named by photographers because the Roseate Spoonbills like to congregate there.
On this morning a single Anhinga was defending his spot.
Despite seeing Northern Cardinals pretty regularly, I found it a challenge to get a good image of one. This one surprised me landing over my head as I was watching warblers at ground level. He had a lot going for him: classic pose with his crest up, aligned to the sun for the catch light in his eye, his feathers tidy and uniformly colored and oh, yes, that red.
Most of the leaves had fallen off the tree where he perched giving me a clear view. Cardinals in our area tend to be quite skittish; this one didn’t seem to care that I was watching him.
I had been watching some small birds flit in and out of the underbrush at the side of the road. The sun had just come up and they were hunting for breakfast in the lowest, darkest parts of the vegetation. This Palm Warbler finally took a break in the sun on a reed frond.
I was able to get a few steps closer and get a few images at a different angle before he went back to foraging.
Morning Glories open to the rising sun on the edge of an old rice field pond.
10/14/2018, Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
This wooden “trunk” controls water flow to and from the old rice field pond seen here and the tidal Ashley River, just at my back as I took this image. A variety of wading birds have become accustomed to stopping by; when the water is flowing through the trunk the fishing can be pretty easy on the low side.
At the end of the second week of October there were many Gulf Fritillary Butterflies still around.
Our temperatures have remained in the mid to high 80s during the day (27 plus C) which is above average for October. Only in the last few days have the nights gone down to 60 F (15 C).
Fortunately this favorite wildflower of the Fritillary is still blooming. Some lovely purple flowers just a few feet away had no attraction to this fellow.
Taken 10/09/2018, Charleston, SC.
