Tagged With: Wading Birds

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

Cathy, Dorothy, and I went for a drive this afternoon, going to a pond near Sunset Beach where we’ve seen alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). There was one close to the shore and I got a few pictures of it along with some water turtles. Then we drove back onto the island and to the east end, where I got some nice pictures of this great egret (Ardea alba) wading in the tidal marsh and finding fish in the shallows. We also walked on the beach at that end of the island and enjoyed the wind and the deeply colored, wine dark sea.

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Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

We did a few different things today. Late in the morning, Cathy, Dot, Tsai-Hong, and I took Silas and Eloise to the new playground near the island’s town center. They enjoyed climbing, sliding, and the playing in the fountain. A little later, Cathy and I went to the old ferry landing near the eastern end of the island and I photographed some wading birds. The tide was all the way in and most of them were far enough away that I wasn’t able to get many great photos, but we did see a bunch of different herons and egrets as well as a pair of wood storks. This shot of a snowy egret (Egretta thula) is really the only close-up shot I got, except one of a laughing gull on a post.

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Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (<em>Butorides virescens</em>)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

We went to the C&O Canal today, walking upstream from Riley’s Lock and the Seneca Creek Aqueduct. Past the far end of the turning basin we saw a family of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) but none of the males were in their fancy, breeding plumage. They are still pretty ducks and since we usually only see mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), we enjoyed watching them paddle around in the duck weed. We also saw a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) and I got quite a few nice photos of that.

On the way back, I saw something that didn’t register immediately but I stopped and backed up to take a better look. It was this green heron (Butorides virescens) on its nest in a willow hanging out over the water of the turning basin. I was able to get a pretty good show, in spite of the branches of the tree.

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Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

We walked on the beach at the east end of the island this morning. It was a clear day with very bright sun so I wore a hat and shirt and put sunscreen on exposed skin. We looked for shells but didn’t find many. Past years have been good for shell-hunting but there don’t seem to be as many this year. That means that the beach is almost pure sand, which in general isn’t a bad thing. But it’s one less thing for us to do. We saw a few sandpipers as we walked including this willet (Tringa semipalmata). They are very distinctive birds and quite common on the beaches of North Carolina.

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Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

After our walk in the Green Swamp we drove to the Twin Ponds overlook. We affectionately call it Alligator Pond because that’s what we generally go to see. The boardwalk style viewing platform is officially call the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk. There are also birds there, and today we saw this green heron (Butorides virescens) in the shallows. In years past the view has been obscured by rank growth between the viewing platform and the pond. Sometime since last year that has been cut down, making the viewing considerably better. We did see an alligator there today, but I think my best photo from the visit was this one of the heron.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (<em>Ardea herodias</em>)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

As mentioned in my previous post, we walked on the C&O Canal today. We saw this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) near the beginning of the walk and then again as we were returning. It was a good day for wildlife in general and we also saw (and I photographed) a hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus), a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), a few mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), a small group of double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum), a pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), and a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). All in all, an enjoyable outing.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

As mentioned in my previous post of the red-shouldered hawk on the street sign, we went to Lake Frank this afternoon. We hadn’t planned to walk as far as we did but ended up walking all the way around the lake. We saw two great blue herons (Ardea herodias). The first one was across the lake so I wasn’t able to get any good photos of that. Shortly after stopping to look at it, though, this one flew across in front of us. I didn’t have much time to focus, zoom, or frame the shot and was glad to get what I did. The very blue color of the bird has more to do with it being in the shadows than it’s natural coloring (per its name).

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