It made me laugh to see this Great Blue Heron hop/fly over a little stream of mud created as the tide went out.
I guess it was just a bit too much after wading through worse to get there. He made a nice two point landing on the other side.
Then continued to walk along in the mud.
The azalea blooms have gone by but the Long White Bridge is still a big attraction at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. On a recent afternoon this Great Blue Heron and I had the view to ourselves.
The heron slowly waded around the perimeter, creating a small ripple in the water. There was just enough breeze to move the entire surface of the water so no mirror-like reflections this time.
Surrounded by yellow iris and calla lilies a Great Blue Heron stalked his way across the edge of a pond.
Look closely at the edge of the water on the right hand side in the second image and you’ll see he wasn’t alone: a small Alligator was patrolling the water.
I haven’t photographed this Great Blue Heron nest very often even though it is on the same pond as the others I’ve shown with chicks. The light never seems right or the birds’ position aren’t right. This day was a little different.
After checking that the danger had passed from the intruding Great Egret the Great Blue Heron chick fluffed his feathers back down to regular size.
Then he took the opportunity to wingercize, flapping his wings in preparation for learning to fly.
He didn’t lift off this time, but did do some single wing stretches to complete his work out.
Either by instinct or from learning from a parent, this Great Blue Heron chick was defending himself from a Great Egret Intruder. This is the same nest in the Skinny Tree featured in Scram, Great Egret where the GBH adult was protecting his nest.
The chick made himself really big.
I suspect they’ve done this before and shortly the Great Egret went back to poking at sticks on the outer branches of the tree.
Hey, we live here.
Incoming!
Which did not go unnoticed by the Great Blue Heron sitting on his nest.
And was’t going to be tolerated, either.
March 22, 2019.
The “Skinny Tree” sees lots of wading bird occupants but this is the first time I’ve seen a potential nest builder check out the roof. In fact, the only bird I remember seeing perched on top was a King Fisher.
This Great Egret took a moment to scan the sky as a low airplane passed by. The Skinny Tree is only about 3 miles (5 KM) from Charleston International Airport and Joint Base Charleston so these birds get used to sharing the skies with all sorts of aircraft.
I’m not sure how this next image might display on your various devices due to its height, but wanted to show the levels. The Great Egret was really interested in occupying a nesting site in the trees branches, which are already occupied.
In a broader and lower view I captured the Great Blue Heron driving a Great Egret away as he protected his chick, which can be seen next to the tree trunk behind the adult.
I watched this Great Blue Heron tend her nest over the course of a recent afternoon. These two images were taken about two hours apart, in the order shown.
The heron had been laying on the nest in between, presumably on eggs, and periodically stretched and poked at the nest. The clouds dissipated as the afternoon wore on providing a nicer blue background for the later image.
