At the darkest point of winter the end of my favorite pond where much of the Great Blue Heron nesting activity is in shadows while the Herons are still working at attracting mates.
The White Ibis wasn’t impressed with the song and decided to move on.
The GBH remained hopeful, long feathers up.
I moved a bit further on, and the ritual began again.
January 3, 2021
A Little Blue Heron sizing up a cherub statue …who can stand still longer?
The Little Blue Heron blinked.
A wider view of the Long White Bridge, the cherub reflecting underneath.
November 2020, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Charleston, SC
A Little Blue Heron was looking dapper beyond some swaying Spanish Moss.
The thick grass at the pond edge made a nice backdrop.
Some of this year’s juvenile Little Blue Herons are still hanging around the swamp, now on their own. The parents have moved on, no longer providing meals.
I was not expecting him to fly and he almost flew out of my frame. I liked the fall-ish background so kept the image even without much leading space in front of the bird.
He didn’t go very far and when I rounded a corner on the trail he was in front of me again.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron struck a pose in a dead tree snag just off the pond.
He’s mottled, rather like the sky behind him. Little Blues turn from solid white to blue gradually between one and two years old.
August 4, 2020
The last few groups of this year’s juvenile Little Blue Heron are learning to fly.
It was a dull day and the adult Little Blue doesn’t show up that well, but it was fun to watch.
The little fellow wasn’t that interested. Maybe he knows this is the end of “food delivery by mama”.
After unsuccessfully trying to lure the youngster upward, finally the adult tried pushing.
Junior flew out onto a nearby branch. Now what do I do?
A juvenile from another nest shows how it is done.
Not far from where I saw Juvenile Little Blue Heron Hunting this fellow was feeding more out in the open and may even be the same bird.
He was catching little creepy-crawly things in the shallow water, swallowing before he lifted his head.
A juvenile Little Blue Heron poked along the edge of a pond in between some Cypress knees looking for a meal.
He quickly swallowed a couple of small finds.
After a bit he flew up onto a bridge railing and showed off his mottled blue coloration. Sometime in their second year the Little Blues become fully blue.
I missed the Little Blue Heron catching his lunch, but did see him wrestling a bit with it.
Seeing the action from behind the bird gave an interesting view of the fish.
Finally, lined up correctly…
… and down the hatch.
Herons like to land on things sticking out of the water rather than jumping right in if possible.
Sticks, rocks, and yes I’ve seen them land on Alligators.
This time the landing pad turned out to be a log.
The nearby Alligator didn’t seem to pay much notice as the Little Blue strutted by.
However, as the Little Blue turned, the Alligator sunk down.
Certainly the Little Blue Heron is not a threat to the Alligator, but he may not know that.
