When I first saw these flashes of white from the road I thought they were birds. It was a nice treat to find water lilies, even though I couldn’t get very close.
There was a small grouping of lilies closer to the dike that runs along the side of the pond.
A stiff breeze was flapping the lily pads out of the water in an open area where a single Cormorant was fishing.
The sky was filled with fluffy white clouds and the water was still, making beautiful reflections.
Both images were taken from the more manicured short side of this rectangular man-made pond, looking towards the far end. The corner where I took the first one widens a bit into an overflow outlet where I was standing.
The second image was taken from the other end of that short side. The trees standing in the water and small island are home to many of the wading bird nests I photograph.
April 5, 2019
The old rice fields along South Carolina’s coast that are maintained as part of the wildlife management areas are connected by canals and the water flow is controlled by opening or closing a series of “trunks.”
Taken March 28, trees are budding and leafing out all around but there are still a lot of brown dead reeds from last year on the edges of the canals.
This second view is the same canal from a slightly different angle without the trunk.
Lines going every which way occupy this space under an arbor.
Click on image for larger view.
This image was taken the same morning as my post Roseate Spoonbills on Foggy Pond. Surprisingly for such foggy conditions there was no issue with condensation on my lens.
A small group of Roseate Spoonbills was standing around in the middle of the pond on a foggy morning.
Click image to view larger version.
March 3, 2019, Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
At the far end of the pond where I photographed Spoonbills in the fog a Bald Eagle was watching me.
March 3, 2019, Bear Island Wildlife Management Area.
These three trees at the end of the swamp are popular nesting spots. There is a Great Blue Heron tucked down on a nest in the upper right and the Great Egrets are looking around for the best spots.
Taken 2/26/2019 before the Great Egrets started to build.
On a recent grey day a few Snowy Egrets were occupying a dead tree that stands in the pond at Magnolia Cemetery. The Live Oak limb with Resurrection Fern and Spanish Moss make a classic South Carolina scene.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC 2/24/2019
Mindful that darkness was coming I stopped to take a few images of a Great Blue Heron overlooking the swamp from his tree perch. Sometimes the receding color in the sky is spectacular here; this night the color was more subtle.
