A Wood Stork flew along the edge of the canal, dropping low over the water. That is a Turkey Vulture huddled up on the dike bank.
In an easy looking glide, he slid past a Great Egret before heading into the reeds and out of my sight.
Great Egrets spend a lot of time standing and watching. Occasionally one in a group decides to relocate; this one took a loop over the pond. There were a number of Alligators and Vultures sunning along the bank.
The bank slopes up to one of the dikes we often walk on and there is another canal just on the other side.
This Great Egret kept on going over the dike and down into the marsh on the other side.
Groups of White Pelicans tend to stick together when they feed, paddling along slowly and scooping up fish.
No crazy diving antics like the Brown Pelicans for the White Pelicans, but they look just as goofy.
This group followed the edge of the marsh reeds, which doesn’t make an attractive image now that the vegetation has died back, but probably the fish like to be around the stems.
These two kept going making a nice ripple in the water while the rest of the group turned back.
This tree sits on the edge of the dike where I’ve recently been watching the White Pelicans, Wood Storks, and Eagles in the rice field pond. The Black-crowned Night-Heron sat there quite awhile watching too, giving me an excellent view of his red eye.
Then he stuck his tongue out!
With a wingspan of 95 to 115 inches (244-290 cm), the American White Pelican is one of the largest birds in North America. It’s quite amazing to have one fly right over you!
For such a big bird they make a remarkably delicate landing, with very little splash.
The Bald Eagles were active November 17 at Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, partly due to a fish die off. I previously shared a series of an Eagle Fishing in the Canal from that morning. These single shots were taken in the same area.
The Eagles ignored the Alligators and the Vultures ignored the Eagles.
Great Egrets mostly ignored the Eagles, too, feeling no threat on this day. A large group of Ibis left in a panic during one of the Eagle fly overs.
Shadow and reflection — where does one start and the other end?
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.
The reflections were like a pot of gold in the back corner of the canal that runs along the rice field dike. The dike and canal make a 90 degree turn at this corner, and then the water widens off to the left into a pond. There was a little breeze ruffling the water surface in the more open area.
Taken about a half hour later, this view is towards that same line of trees from a bend in the dike. A few Great Blue Herons have been using the clumps of reeds sticking out from the bank as fishing and sunning spots.
