Tag Archives: Nesting

Shore Birds

Brown Pelican, Nest Material

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Brown Pelican  nests don’t amount to much and if this is all you can deliver at one time it is a good thing.

Brown Pelican Flying In With Nesting Material
Brown Pelican Flying In With Nesting Material

I try to avoid “the hand of man” in my nature images, but the closeness of this sign  and the blurred boat above show how intimately entwined these birds are with humans.

Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material

Hmm, which one is MY mate?

Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material

A very delicate pass-off maneuver with those big beaks.

Success!

Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material

The bird on the nest didn’t get up so I suspect there might already be eggs or new chicks under her. From a bobbing boat you don’t always get to see the full story.

Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material
Brown Pelican Bring Mate Nesting Material

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

Songbirds

Bluebird Data Collection

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I went with a friend yesterday who is volunteering with Audubon SC on a project that is monitoring about a dozen Bluebird nest boxes. This was her first stop, where we saw a Carolina Wren peaking out of the box.

Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren
Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren

The process is for her to tap the side of the nest box so any adult present flies off, open the box, take a quick photo in the nest with cell phone, then close it back up and retreat. There were five eggs nestled down inside. The boxes get checked once or twice a week until just before the time the chicks are expected to hatch.

Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren Nest
Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren Nest

A closer look at the nest shows detail of the variety of nest material around what turned out to be five eggs.

Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren Nest
Blue Bird Box with Carolina Wren Nest

Most of the boxes were not in use, but a couple of the others had Bluebird eggs. Bluebirds often have multiple broods so the boxes may already have been used this year and may be again.

May 29, 2023

Wading Birds

Black-crowned Night-heron Stick Shopping

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This Black-crowned Night-heron landed in a tree to locate some nesting material.

Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks
Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks

Who knew? They are all attached.

Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks
Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks

He finally snapped off this little piece.

Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks
Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks

But dropped it when something larger caught his eye.

Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks
Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks

This was a marginal improvement; he turned and flew away from me to the small island rookery.

Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks
Black-crowned Night-heron Hunting For Sticks

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

Songbirds

White-eyed Vireo Building A Nest

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I happened upon a pair of White-eyed Vireos today that were working diligently on their nest. It would be fascinating to know how long it took them to get this far. (All About Birds says it takes 3-5 days to complete.)

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

They brought all sorts of little bits and took turns working them down into the bowl of the nest.

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

One of them got right down in there, presumably smoothing out the interior.

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

A lot of the pieces looked like shredded leaf or lichen.

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

They were flying into the woods and on most trips landed in this nearby tree…

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

before zipping to the nest.

White-eyed Vireo Building Nest
White-eyed Vireo Building Nest

March 21, 2023

I saw a White-eyed Vireo nest one other time, in June 2020. You can see that post at White-eyed Vireo on Nest

Birds

Red-bellied Woodpecker Working Hard

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It took me awhile to spot this Red-bellied Woodpecker after listening to the rat-a-tat for several minutes.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

He was working very high up in a dead pine tree on what I presume will be a nesting cavity.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

All in, the pecking continued.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

He took a few pauses and you can see there are several other holes.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

I tried for a different angle, and this isn’t a great image of the bird but it shows off more of the well-used tree.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 11, 2023

Wading Birds

Great Blue Heron Flying With Nesting Material

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Back and forth from the nest, the Great Blue Herons continue to work on the nest even after the eggs are laid and hatch.

Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying For Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying With Nesting Material
Great Blue Heron Flying With Nesting Material

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 5, 2023

Wading Birds

Great Blue Herons Nesting In The Skinny Tree

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The Skinny Tree saga continues as a pair of Great Blue Herons were busy working on the nest last week.

Great Blue Heron Leaving the Skinny Tree
Great Blue Heron Leaving the Skinny Tree

The male didn’t waste much time between trips fetching nesting material like they sometimes do.

Great Blue Heron Leaving the Skinny Tree
Great Blue Heron Leaving the Skinny Tree

Look closely and you can see the tree is still alive, a few branches have green leaf buds.

Great Blue Heron Pair At the Skinny Tree
Great Blue Heron Pair At the Skinny Tree

There may be eggs, too, as the female spent a lot of time laying down while her mate was on material runs.

Great Blue Heron Pair At the Skinny Tree
Great Blue Heron Pair At the Skinny Tree

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 5, 2023

Water Birds

Anhinga Gathering Nest Material

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Most of the bigger birds I’ve watched nesting gather sticks off the ground or take easily snapped dead limbs for their nesting materials.

Anhinga Gathering Nest Material
Anhinga Gathering Nest Material

Anhingas prefer live branches.

Anhinga Feet
Anhinga Feet

It may have something to do with their feet and ability to land in live trees.

Anhinga Gathering Nest Material
Anhinga Gathering Nest Material

This fellow wasn’t having much luck and dropped at least one branch in the water below.

Anhinga Gathering Nest Material
Anhinga Gathering Nest Material

He made an empty trip back to the nest but pretty quickly returned to try again.

Anhinga Flying
Anhinga Flying

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
February 23, 2023