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.
The Great Egret chicks waste no time when the adult returns to the nest with food. It’s every chick for himself, and the first order of business is to latch onto the adult’s beak or neck.
The egrets’ necks are very flexible and the chicks know how to encourage the regurgitation of their dinner.
The adult always takes a pause and looks skyward before producing the meal.
Then he bends one more time and one chick opens wide while the other watches.
It was hard to tell if they both got something this trip. The entire maneuver got repeated but they were all moving around so much I lost track of which chick was which.
When the chicks were smaller the adult would supervise and maybe have to do some enticing with the food to get them to eat. Now that they are nearly full-grown the adult quickly moves out of reach of those sharp beaks.
Taken 5/29/2019
A few wading bird pairs are just now hatching young even as some of the older chicks have fledged. I saw just one tiny chick underneath this female nesting Anhinga–you can just see the head at the lower left of the adult. Some of the other broods this year have had four chicks.
There may be more to come in this nest as the eggs may hatch over several days.
Anhingas feed their young by regurgitating food which the chicks actively retrieve by sticking their heads up the parent’s esophagus. Painful looking, especially when the chicks get bigger.
Click on images for larger view.
The chicks have little control over their movements, they flop around the nest fighting to stay upright.
I marvel every year I watch this that any of them manage to stay in the nest.
The adults never take action to reign them in, but do provide some protection when they are this age from attackers.
5/22/2019
