A few Great Blue Herons have started their nesting rituals around the Ravenswood Pond rookery. This one was mostly showing off his snazzy neck and head feathers.
Every few minutes he fully extended his neck and called, presumably for any listening potential mate.
Unfortunately the sun light was not at a good angle for exposure but the silhouette is unmistakable.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
December 24, 2023
Brown Pelican nests don’t amount to much and if this is all you can deliver at one time it is a good thing.
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.
Hmm, which one is MY mate?
A very delicate pass-off maneuver with those big beaks.
Success!
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.
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 adventureÂ
Charleston Harbor, SC
June 23, 2023
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.
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.
A closer look at the nest shows detail of the variety of nest material around what turned out to be five eggs.
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
This Black-crowned Night-heron landed in a tree to locate some nesting material.
Who knew? They are all attached.
He finally snapped off this little piece.
But dropped it when something larger caught his eye.
This was a marginal improvement; he turned and flew away from me to the small island rookery.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 15, 2023
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.)
They brought all sorts of little bits and took turns working them down into the bowl of the nest.
One of them got right down in there, presumably smoothing out the interior.
A lot of the pieces looked like shredded leaf or lichen.
They were flying into the woods and on most trips landed in this nearby tree…
before zipping to the 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
The mated pair of Great Blue Herons that is nesting on the skinny tree swapped egg protection duties shortly after sunrise.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 14, 2023
It took me awhile to spot this Red-bellied Woodpecker after listening to the rat-a-tat for several minutes.
He was working very high up in a dead pine tree on what I presume will be a nesting cavity.
All in, the pecking continued.
He took a few pauses and you can see there are several other holes.
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.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 11, 2023
Back and forth from the nest, the Great Blue Herons continue to work on the nest even after the eggs are laid and hatch.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 5, 2023
The Skinny Tree saga continues as a pair of Great Blue Herons were busy working on the nest last week.
The male didn’t waste much time between trips fetching nesting material like they sometimes do.
Look closely and you can see the tree is still alive, a few branches have green leaf buds.
There may be eggs, too, as the female spent a lot of time laying down while her mate was on material runs.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 5, 2023
Most of the bigger birds I’ve watched nesting gather sticks off the ground or take easily snapped dead limbs for their nesting materials.
Anhingas prefer live branches.
It may have something to do with their feet and ability to land in live trees.
This fellow wasn’t having much luck and dropped at least one branch in the water below.
He made an empty trip back to the nest but pretty quickly returned to try again.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
February 23, 2023
