Tag Archives: Reptile

Wildlife

Turtles Extreme Posing

4 Comments

On Sunday I posted photos of turtles posing on an Alligator ramp and logs to sun themselves out of the water. Yesterday in the same spot an Alligator was using a turtle as a head rest and more turtles were clambering to join the group.

531a7224

Further along in a different pond a similar activity was taking place with a much larger Alligator, only this time the turtles were on top.

531a7288

Do they have no suspicion that they might be lunch?

531a7294

We returned by this spot about an hour and a half later to find the Alligator had changed position but at least one free-loader was still in place.

531a7633

The nature guide at Magnolia Garden identifies these turtles as Yellow-bellied Sliders.

Click on photo for larger view.

Wildlife

Turtles Posing

Leave a comment

Singly or in groups, the turtles around the swamp like to climb onto about anything that protrudes out of the water on nice days.

531a6680

This one came up through the duckweed leaving a shiny green coat.

531a7111

They seem oblivious to the activity going on in the water around them, be it another turtle or an alligator.

531a7107

This alligator platform was fair game for the turtles while it was in the shade. As the sun comes around they will likely get pushed off.

531a4669

Click on any photo for larger view.

Audubon Swamp, January 2017.

Landscape, South Carolina, Wildlife

Too Many to Count

Leave a comment

One Roseate Spoonbill perched in a tree above a pond full of Alligators. I stopped counting at 60 and I’m sure there were more hidden in the reeds and along the banks.

531a9300-2

From a distance the alligators looked like logs bobbing in the pond. Most of them didn’t move much but make no mistake they were alive.

531a9265

Don’t fall in!

Donnelly Wildlife Management Area, Colleton County, South Carolina, 11/25/2016.

Birds, South Carolina, Wildlife

American White Pelican and Friends

4 Comments

This group of four American White Pelicans swam round and round for over a half hour, occasionally using their bills to scoop food.

531a9232

They seemed oblivious to the alligators floating nearby, but did mostly stay in a tight group, perhaps for safety. The reptiles were not moving much and were clustered near shore. It was hard to see how deep the water might have been and how that might have affected both the birds’ and the alligators’ movements.

531a9249-2

I was hoping the Pelicans would display their flight skills, but they just continued round and round, eventually disappearing beyond the bend in the pond.

531a9212

Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, 11/25/2016.