Tag Archives: Juvenile Bird

Little Blue Heron Checking The Sky

This Little Blue Heron has just a few remnants of his juvenile white feathers. By next year’s breeding season he’ll be a full adult and completely blue.

Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron

He seemed to have something to say, and I was expecting him to fly.

Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron

What?

Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron

I have no idea what caught his eye, but he did not fly.

Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron

He did, however, give the sky a good look.

Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
August 20, 2023

Brown Pelican Chicks, Ground Nests 2

Another few Brown Pelican chick pictures… I’ve run out of things to say about them other than they are so interesting to see and I’m rooting for their survival.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelicans and Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks

The chicks need to be protected from the sun so the adults take turns providing shade. The darker brown on this adult’s neck is part of their breeding stage look.

Brown Pelican Chick Under Adult
Brown Pelican Chick Under Adult

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Other posts from this adventure 

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023

Brown Pelican Chicks, Ground Nests

Some of the Pelicans were nesting at the base of Castle Pinkney. The fallen bricks weren’t a deterrent.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks

On another side of the castle the remnants of a pier had been reinforced with stone, also not a deterrent to the nesting birds.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks, A Snowy Egret chick to the left of the center post

A few other birds, including some Snowy Egrets were also using this rookery.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks, Snowy Egret flying By

The chick in the center of this image has started to change color from the all white at hatching to brown.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks

Another view near the pilings.

Brown Pelican Chicks
Brown Pelican Chicks

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Other posts from this adventure 

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023

Brown Pelican Chick

These bricks are on the Castle Pinkney grounds, maybe an old wall that fell, or debris from the castle itself. This older chick could walk around and had started to change into the adult brown colors.

Brown Pelican Chick
Brown Pelican Chick

An adult Pelican, sporting the dark brown breeding plumage on its neck, wasn’t far off, keeping an eye on the chick.

Brown Pelican Adult and Chick
Brown Pelican Adult and Chick

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Other posts from this adventure 

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023

Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks

This structure is part of Castle Pinkney in Charleston Harbor. Brown Pelicans are using the land around the castle as well as the castle itself for nesting.

Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
Adult Brown Pelican,  Laughing Gull Flying In, Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks, ANother Adult on nest to the right

The guide on this trip thought these two chicks had probably hatched within the proceeding 24 hours.

Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks

As we slowly went by I captured the pair with different backgrounds.

Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks

I researched Castle Pinkney when I got home wondering how thick that wall is. I did not get a definitive answer, but it is likely 2 to 3 feet (1 Meter) so these two young birds weren’t in immediate danger of falling backward. Forward of course looks like a huge risk.

Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks
Pair of Brown Pelican Chicks

Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to Charleston Harbor and the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Other posts from this adventure 

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023

Castle Pinkney, Charleston

I went on the Baby Pelican Cruise with Coastal Expeditions on Friday, leaving from Daniel Island on the Wando River side down to the New Crab Bank just off Shem Creek.

Shutes Folly is a small island in the Charleston harbor channel, easily seen from the Charleston Waterfront Park and from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. The island has been various things over the years with the first fort constructed in 1810. The island is slowly being washed away by storms and the existing brick structure, Castle Pinckney, is falling apart.

Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor
Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor

Birds are very adaptive, several of the lookout windows were occupied by Snowy Egrets.

Snowy Egret Nesting in Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor
Snowy Egret Nesting in Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor

The mature adult Brown Pelicans have white heads, the all white youngster in the middle of the next image is this year’s chick. The parents and other adults in the community keep a close watch on the chicks that do not fly until they are at least nine weeks old.

Brown Pelicans
Brown Pelicans on Shutes Folly

Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023

GBH Triplets In The Skinny Tree, Foggy Morning

It was a foggy morning and I had just missed the adult Great Blue Heron feeding the chicks.

Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks

The adult was showing signs of leaving…

Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks

…and away s/he went.

Great Blue Heron Leaving The Nest
Great Blue Heron Leaving The Nest

The chicks hunkered down.

Great Blue Heron Triplet Chicks
Great Blue Heron Triplet Chicks

One was a little more curious, soon they will be wing flapping.

Great Blue Heron Triplet Chicks
Great Blue Heron Triplet Chicks

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 15, 2023

GBH Triplets In The Skinny Tree

The Skinny Tree is hanging on and once again hosting a Great Blue Heron family.

Great Blue Heron Feeding Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron Feeding Three Chicks

There are three chicks, and amazingly all three appear to be thriving.

Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks

Other nests with triplets that I have observed over the years have at least one chick being much smaller and not surviving.

Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks

This year’s nest is pretty small compared to other years which will be a challenge for the family as the chicks grow.

Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks
Great Blue Heron and Three Chicks

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 12, 2023