I first spotted this Snowy Egret sitting low in the water.

As I expected, he dunked.

Then gave a big shake.

A couple minutes later he did it again.

A Great Blue Heron was stalking in chest high, to him, Iris fronds, at one of the small ponds at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. A few blooming Azaleas can be seen in the background.
I moved right, the GBH moved left, and briefly got him lined up with the color.
The Great Blue kept on moving down into the water giving me a different perspective of the pink reflections.
March 23, 2021
This log at the edge of one of Magnolia Plantation’s ponds is often occupied by a drying Anhinga, but on this day a Double-crested Cormorant had possession.
I have rarely seen one this close, and he seemed to only be paying attention to the warm sun.
About an hour later when I passed back by, sunlight was no longer shining on the pond or the bird, and the Cormorant was in the same spot.
And he was just as uninterested in passers by.
Slowly, slowly a Great Blue Heron waded into the pond.
Something in this tangle of last year’s hibiscus growth caught his attention.
He tried a couple of “foot up” efforts to lean in.
I kept expecting him to reach in and nab something, but he had to get closer…
…Ā it wasn’t a very graceful maneuver.
He got his balance.
Then stared into the vegetation, and stared some more.
Finally I moved on and when I’d rounded the cornerĀ the GBH was flying to the bank.Ā I couldn’t tell if he had success on his hunt or not.
I think that cement thing is an old planter and one of the smaller bridges to nowhere is beyond it.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
March 12, 2021
I like to photograph wildlife with water reflections and even when they aren’t a mirror image they can be interesting. The ripple in this water gave the reflection of the Mute Swan a groovy beak and two eyes.
Less than a second later the reflection had a new shape with two distinct heads.
A few more images of the Mute Swan BuskingĀ , after he had moved further into the pond, but still displaying with his wings raised.
As the Mute Swan got further from me the reflection of the sky in the water was quite different and the sun created a nice rainbow in the fountain.
Lastly, a nice front view with a few drops of water from his beak.
Middleton Place, Charleston, SC
January 29, 2021