This juvenile Little Blue Heron was just poking along in between the swamp sunflowers.
Their preferred hunting ground is in the water which was just behind this flower clump, but herons will eat insects and anoles found on dry land.
This fellow in with the flowers was a nice picture, even if he didn’t find any lunch.
This dirty looking Ibis is actually a not-quite adult. Juvenile White Ibis are brown and gradually turn white.
This one was foraging along the edge of a pond, sticking to the mostly shaded edge, quickly swallowing any food.
He stepped into the sun for a moment and you can see the mottled brown on his wings.
A large portion of the marsh behind Botany Bay Beach is cordoned off to keep humans from interfering with breeding shore birds. Their nests are nothing more than depressions in the sand and aside from the obvious egg destruction by human feet many of these birds just don’t like to be disturbed by man or his pets while raising their young.
Breeding season was over when I took these images but a few young stragglers were on the beach on August 4th.
This young tern didn’t seem to know what to do. The sun had just come up and he probably should have been looking for breakfast.
An adult was nearby, but I didn’t see them interact.
This may be the same young bird, I spotted a bit further down the beach.
A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron was settled on a pine branch in the early morning sun.
The charring on the tree trunk is from last year’s prescribed burn, a process managed by South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources to reduce the risk of an uncontrolled wildfire.
Since I walked this path a month ago the water has been drained out of the pond behind this Eastern Eastern Kingbird.
Dragonflies were hovering over the mostly dry pond bed and the Kingbird was taking advantage. He had a nice snack of what looked like an Eastern Pondhawk between these two images. Unfortunately swaying reeds on the bank ruined all images of that!
A chick joined the adult calling to be fed. The adult didn’t seem impressed and soon they swooped off together. Time for the juvenile to catch his own lunch.
I’ve stopped to watch Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in this marshy area several times this summer. One day last week a few were quite close to the walk way and were less skittish than on previous visits.
Some of the chicks are nearly adult size but are still sticking close to a parent.
This one had been standing on the end of the of the walkway and decided to join the others…
…landing in the short greenery with the family group behind him.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron learning to fly landed in a pine tree right above me when he veered away from the pond. I didn’t see the landing but it didn’t sound graceful as he flapped around.
He wasn’t sure what to do next and the adult that had been leading him down the pond had kept on going.
After a minute he figured out he’d been left behind and went off in the same direction as his parent and a sibling.
We don’t have as good a view of the Little Blue Herons learning to fly this summer because of the position of the nests but the glimpses we get are entertaining.
I was busy watching a Green Heron when I realized there was a commotion going on in a nearby tree top.
The juvenile Grackle was calling out his hunger in a big way.
After delivering a good size insect the chick continued to call for more.
The adult was not persuaded to go after another round of food and stayed put, listening to the chatter.
Brown Pelicans nest on several islands that are really not much more than sand bars off the Charleston, SC coast. Storms and the tides shift the availability and viability of nesting sites from year to year. I had the privileged to observe one of these sites this morning, where the Pelican chicks are out of their nests but not yet flying or getting their own food.
This particular island was re-nourished with sand dredged from the Folly River last year with spectacular results for this year’s nesting Pelicans.
Shore access is not allowed during nesting season; these images were all taken from a boat at a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second to help compensate for the boat movement.
It was a delightful outing and seeing these Pelican chicks was a real treat. This appears to be two sets of chicks, with the younger group testing out their bills in the water.
One Black Australian Swan pair had a single cygnet on my recent visit to Swan Lake and Iris Gardens.
The youngster was all about practicing his swimming skills.
He didn’t get too far from the parents, who were quick to catch up with him if he paddled off.
Just a little ball of fluff, he exhibited no concern about forging ahead.
Owned and operated by the City of Sumter, SC, Swan Lake Iris Gardens is home to all eight known species of swan.
