We went back to where the Black-crowned Night-herons are nesting at Cypress Wetlands yesterday.
This one was busy preening, standing on one leg with a toenail of the other poking out through his feathers and casting a shadow on his wing.
This pair were working on their nest with the male delivering sticks…
…which the female worked into a perfect spot.
Dozens of Yellow-crowned Night-herons were paired up and working on nests at the back rookery area at Cypress Wetlands. The vegetation is dense.
Black-crowned Night-herons were nesting around Cypress Wetlands in their preferred denser nesting spots like this Bald Cypress tree. You can see one occupied nest up close to the tree trunk, and at least four other herons perched in the tree.
This heron was unsuccessfully trying to snap that attached twig for nesting material.
Others were tucked into quiet spots in thicker trees.
Amidst the nesting activity at the Cypress Wetlands rookery I spotted two Cattle Egret, including this one that was looking for a quiet spot.
The rookery at Cypress Wetlands is bursting with nesting activity. Great Egrets were mostly settled in last week, with many laying on nests and just a few displaying mating behavior.
These were the only eggs I saw, the nest was at the perfect height with the Egret stood to tend the nest.
The vegetation on the center island of the rookery was not fully leafed out, allowing good views of the action.
Black-crowned Night-herons have arrived at Magnolia: I saw at least twenty fly in, some singly and some in groups of three or four, and disperse into the trees. Previous years they have nested here and I’m hoping we’ll see that again.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 26, 2026
I’ve never seen a Pied-billed Grebe display like this, and have never been aware of any nesting in the bird places we visit.
A nearby potential mate was less than impressed.
Per All About Birds, they make open bowl nests on a platform of floating vegetation and can have from two to ten chicks.
And those chicks will ride on a parent’s back for the first week after hatching. That would be something cool to see!
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 26, 2026
A pair of Great Egrets was having an affectionate greeting as one returned to the nest.
Then a third tried to land and was quickly run off.
I’m not sure if he was trying to take over or just landed in the wrong spot. Great Egrets can be very aggressive so either is possible.
With nests all around how do birds manage to fly back to the one that is theirs? A big mystery.
Number three circled around and landed in the same tree in a higher branch out of my view. These two went back to being happy.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 26, 2026
Taken with my recently repaired OM 100-400 lens — all seems good.
An immature Wood Stork still sporting some fuzzy feathers on his head provided me with left and right profile views while a young White Ibis looked on.
Titusville Road, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL
February 25, 2026
We saw very few Black Skimmers on our recent trip to Florida, and this was the only one I caught in flight.
The Glossy Ibis and Grebes paid him no attention as he performed the classic beak dip as he hunted.
He passed on by and they never even looked up.
Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island, FL
February 25, 2026
