Learning how to balance and how their wings work are big steps for young birds. I wonder if they learn from watching their siblings.
The Magnolia Plantation and Gardens Rookery is full of young egrets and herons learning the basics.
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A small patch of Bee Balm at the entrance to the Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation attracted this pair of Swallowtails.
They performed an intricate dance that included some rapid vertical maneuvers as well as these side to side moves.
One finally paused for a few moments before zooming away with the partner right behind.
Elegant flyers, gulls winged up into the blue sky with a clams and other treasures pulled from the surf at Long Beach in Stratford.
Let go.
Then chase it to the ground hoping to be the one to retrieve the released lunch.
Caught this hawk watching over our backyard bird feeders. The small birds were aware and safely hidden.
It was not the “fire in the sky” sunrise I was hoping for, but just a warm glow for a few minutes before the sky turned dull.
The tide was in, which was good for the Double-crested Cormorants to swim and dive in the flooded marsh at the edge of the creek, but there were few wading birds around.
This Tricolored Heron made a few passes around the quiet sailboats.
The Pineapple Fountain at the Charleston, SC, Waterfront Park.
Decommissioned in 1970, the USS Yorktown started service in World War II and is now the centerpiece of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, SC.
Way down in the ship an amazing array of dials that monitored and controlled a complex and massive engine system.
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The Yorktown from the Mount Pleasant Pier. Learn more about the Yorktown.
The sun was going down and the tide going out. This Great Blue Heron was looking for a spot to settle.
Looking out Shem Creek, Mount Pleasant, SC.
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On a return trip to the Audubon Garden at Magnolia Plantation I was able to focus more on the non-heron activity. Their nesting activity was still amazing to watch, but these birds also caught my eye.
A number of Blue-winged Teals were zipping about, mostly ignoring the Red-Shouldered Hawks watching from the trees.
This Ruby-crowned Kinglet was one of a variety of elusive small birds darting through the thick underbrush.
On this visit the only Woodpecker I saw was this Red-bellied, nicely offset by the Spanish Moss.
Following a ritual herons around this pond went back and forth fetching nesting materials.
These beaks weren’t made for carrying and much of what he picked up was lost.
Sticks seemed to be the favored material based on reaction back on the nest.
“Let me help you with that.”
