One of the young Black-crowned Night-herons that was gathered near the rice field canals, seen past a water control trunk.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 3, 2021
Juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron and Trunk
Tag Archives: Juvenile Bird
Multiple Juvenile Black-crowned Night-herons
A series of canals that run along and between some old rice fields has become a gathering spot for young Black-crowned Night-herons.
When the tide is out there is a buffet of crabs and other creatures exposed for lunch down in the canals.
When we passed through the tide was in and the birds exhibited heron patience in the trees.
A few of them swapped positions, pushing each other around, but this one just held his position.
A few more of the juvenile Black-crowned Night-herons were in another tree line but proved to be a bit more skittish.
Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker
This Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker’s movement in some dead trees caught my eye. I could hear cheeping from him and two or three others nearby.
The conundrum of where to look: I decided not to take my eyes off this one. If he flew I likely wouldn’t spot him as he blended in with the Spanish moss and snags. And I may not be able to spot the others.
He performed the classic rotation around the limb woodpecker maneuver.
He paused for a moment before zipping off into a leafy tree with no photo opportunity.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 19, 2021
Juvenile Herons Hanging Around
Breeding season is over but a few of this year’s young are still hanging around the rookery. I saw this young Great Blue Heron displaying the classic GBH patience. He was staring at the water when I went by, and twenty minutes later when I returned he was in the same spot.
Little Blue Herons are born white then slowly transition to all blue in their second year. This youngster took a spot surveying the pond, looking a little unsure of what to do next. Some of the LBH adults are still in the area, but no longer supply food.
King Rail and Chick
Cornell’s Merlin App has identified this as a King Rail, a member of the Rallidae Family, along with other Rails, Gallinules, and Coots.
Both the handsome adult and the distinctive all-black chick were new to me. I watched them for ten minutes and the adult kept this posture, perhaps a cooling mechanism on a hot August day, while the chick tottered around in the grass.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, Green Pond, SC
August 8, 2021
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron on Trunk
This Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron looks like he’d been fishing, and maybe fell in.
He was perched in a little patch of sun on a water control trunk at the edge of an old rice field pond.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
August 8, 2021
Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on Water Control Trunk
On my return walk on an old rice field dike a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was perched on another trunk, this time up on a cross bar amidst some spider webs.
The pressure-treated look of the wood and use of metal material indicate that is a newer, replacement trunk. Older ones are all wood, including the pegs that position the water control flap.
Management of these wetlands by the SC Department of Natural Resources is dependent on the functionality of these trunks for water level control.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
July 4, 2021
Pair of Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Herons
A pair of juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Herons had staked out one of the trunks along an old rice field dike to catch the early morning sun.
The dike is too narrow to sneak by; the one on the left flew off down the canal as I approached. This one followed soon after.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
July 4, 2021
Turkey Vulture Chicks
I mentioned in a previous post that the Center for Birds of Prey has hosted two wild Black Vulture nests this year.
The Vulture parents picked spots in between the captive birds’ enclosures, which mimic the dark recess they might find in the wild. The female lays her eggs on the ground.
The juveniles’ feathers were transitioning from chick fluff, making them look a bit scruffy.
The Center for Birds of Prey, Awenda, SC
June 24, 2021
Bird Chaos at Bird Key
Hundreds of birds nested on Bird Key this summer and the land and sky were full of activity on this July day.
Most of the birds on land seen here are Brown Pelicans, the smaller white ones are chicks. The chicks were awkwardly walking, but not yet flying. There were lots of Laughing Gulls that provided constant noise, and a few White Ibis mixed in.
On the outer edge of the island, the open Atlantic Ocean beyond, a sand bar has formed that was popular spot for preening.
Taken from a boat at Bird Key Stono Heritage Preserve
Between Kiawah Island and Folly Beach, SC
July 12, 2021