You have to love the pink. Actually, what’s not to love about a Spoonbill?
The profile of a mature Roseate Spoonbill in flight shows off that fabulous pink and the bill well adapted for feeding in shallow water.
The Spoonbills in this group are younger with less color, but still something to look at.
Their flight seems effortless and like most of the large wading birds they are masters of the glide.
Dwarfed by the reeds and grasses growing at the edge of the marsh this immature Little Blue Heron squawked his way to a landing then seemed unsure what to do.
His mottled coloration made him stand out nicely from the green background as he took a stroll along the irrigation canal bordering the marsh.
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Several Green Herons were sitting around a pond with the early morning sun highlighting their beautiful colors. The first one had the most elegant surroundings, dripping with Spanish Moss.
This one was concentrating for hunting, but never left the branch.
This perch didn’t look like much to me, rather high off the water for fishing but this Heron defended it from another who wanted to at least share the space.
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Here is a selection of juvenile Little Blue Heron portraits with nature provided backgrounds. You can just start to see some color in the tips of the tail feathers.
The pin head feathers aren’t as prominent as the chicks get older, although in the right light and humidity conditions they still stand up.
I liked the way the pine branched framed the back of this one and was wishing I was a foot or so taller to line it up better.
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I’ve not had much success getting shots of the larger wading birds in flight with any context even with all the recent photography opportunities nearby. They are so big it’s hard to get a good angle that includes so much as a tree.
These photographs of a Wood Stork do give a sense of their wingspan, even with nothing else but the sky in the photos. And their subtle green color is shown off when the wings are flapping “down.”
It was a hot afternoon at the swamp and now that nesting season is about over the Great Egrets that are still around don’t have much to do when they aren’t feeding.
Scratch in itch, if you can reach it with your beak.
Or go the traditional route, showing off a one-legged stance.
Itch satisfied let’s survey the swamp.
Or catch a few ZZZs.
These dead tree branches add nice interest to the photographs, but the sky was dull. I used some filters in Nik’s Color Efex Pro to add some depth to the background.
Adult Little Blue Herons teach their young to fly by encouraging them, sometimes with food, out to the end of a branch. The adult then takes off, hoping the juvenile will follow.
Although the juveniles have been venturing onto the branches for a couple of weeks, In the beginning actually lifting off is a tough sell.
Many of the families have three or four chicks and the sibling competition seems to spur them on. This fellow appeared to be an only child, or maybe the others have already moved on.
“I don’t know if I can do this!”
Success! It was a short hop but he made it and landed successfully.
Staff periodically allow the water to drain out of the man made ponds they manage in the South Carolina Wildlife Management Areas. Any fish and other delectables for wading birds get concentrated in the remaining water pools for easy eating for the wading birds.
Don’t mind me, I’m just passing by.
The wading birds rarely show any acknowledgement that an Alligator is in their midst. They just keep on doing what they were doing, in this case looking for breakfast.
The Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron was part of the wading bird mix in the receding waters of this pond last week. Despite their name we do see them out during the day hunting while the hunting is good.
His shorter legs did not slow him down as he worked the water along with the other birds looking for food.
The mud, however, is more of an impediment when most of your legs and feet are in it.
Here is view of a cleaner bird after he flew into a tree for a safer vantage point of the pond activity.
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