Category: Interesting Information

***Answer in text.

Tall, white, long neck, short yellow bill, black legs:

It’s a Great Egret.

Here’s a link to more information and pictures:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/id

Beloved neighbor and I saw another big wading bird when walking the other day.

What is it?

Note the black on the head and on the belly area (folded wings?), the chestnut area on the neck, the yellow bill, the pale legs.

And in this picture, the long neck is folded down:

It’s a Great Blue Heron.

There are some beautiful pictures on the Kiawah Conservancy web site:

Great Blue Herons

And below is information from the online AI search site that appears when you search Great Blue Heron:

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large, grayish-blue wading bird common in South Carolina’s wetlands, marshes, and coastal areas like Hilton Head and the Sea Islands, known for its patient hunting of fish and frogs in shallow waters, often seen near lagoons and tidal flats, and building large stick nests from December to March. These graceful birds, standing up to four feet tall with a six-foot wingspan, are a beloved part of the Lowcountry’s ecosystem, easily spotted due to their distinct blue-gray plumage, long legs, and S-shaped neck. 

Key Characteristics in SC:

• Appearance: Large, grayish-blue body, white head with a black stripe, long legs, and a dagger-like bill.
• Habitat: Found year-round in various watery environments, including marshes, rivers, mangroves, and coastal areas.
• Behavior: Solitary hunters that stand still or wade slowly, using their long toes to attract prey before striking quickly.
• Diet: Primarily fish, but also frogs, reptiles, small mammals, and insects.

• • Nesting: Build large stick nests in trees, with mating and nesting occurring from December to March in the Lowcountry. 

The Muhly Grass here has been blooming for about 2 months. I love it when the rising or setting sun lights it up.

The sun makes it glow.

I took these pics yesterday when I walk late afternoon.

The strands from this grass are used by the sweetgrass basket makers, so in some public places, the plants are seriously trimmed to supply fodder for the baskets. Stealthily, of course.

Yesterday I put protectors on the two camellia bushes as we were expecting temps in the 20s last night. Here in SC, our water heaters are OUTSIDE, attached to a house wall, and houses are either on the ground or on high supports. Either way, pipes are…exposed or on the ground. And they will freeze easily.

When I woke this morning, it was 28 degrees on my porch. It’s a good thing I dripped water upstairs and in two faucets downstairs.

I brought in the Kalancho plant, which is going to bloom again. And the geranium which is on its second year and going strong. The hibiscus on the porch took a hit. Time will tell.

It will be very cold again tonight. Cold for SC, that is.

Beloved neighbor and I saw this very interesting, very big bird while walking the other day. Neither one of us had a clue as to its identity. It was not alarmed by our presence, unlike the usually wary wading birds.

It continued to stroll slowly along the ditch, which is part of the elaborate system of flood management in the “Low Country.” Water in ditches like this one is channeled out to the coastal marshes. This bird’s strolling involved standing momentarily on its left leg while using its right foot to wiggle and scratch the botton of the ditch.

And:

Neither of us surfaced the word “stork” to identify this bird. We were more focused on heron, crane, ibis, egret, and so on. Note the bald dark head, the sturdy dark beak that turns a kind of tan at the end, the black legs, the black feathers at the tail and along the bottom of the folded wings.

It took me a little time, but I finally identified this fascinating bird. And I learned that the black on the wings is much more prominent that one might expect when they are folded.

Here’s some more info on “Wood Storks” from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

“Large, white Wood Storks wade through southeastern swamps and wetlands. Although this stork doesn’t bring babies, it is a good flier, soaring on thermals with neck and legs outstretched. This bald-headed wading bird stands just over 3 feet tall, towering above almost all other wetland birds. It slowly walks through wetlands with its long, hefty bill down in the water feeling for fish and crustaceans. This ungainly looking stork roosts and nests in colonies in trees above standing water.”

And for Cornell labs:

“Wood Storks occur only in a few areas in the United States, so to get a look at one, head to a wetland preserve or wildlife area along the coast in Florida, South Carolina, or Georgia. Wood Storks tend to be busily foraging with their head down and body held horizontally, but their large size should help them stand out amongst the other pale herons, ibises, and egrets in wetlands even if you can’t see their hefty bill. If they aren’t foraging in areas with standing water, check nearby trees for groups of roosting Wood Storks, or look up in the sky for soaring birds with black-and-white wings. They are mostly silent, but during the breeding season, sounds of begging chicks might help you find a colony.”

This Wood Stork was our gift of the day from…nature.

My younger son’s family LOVES to hunt for beach treasures after a storm. Sharks’ teeth are a coveted find. After hurricane Erin’s winds crashed on our shores, they went out to hunt.

Here are their finds: small shark teeth…

And TWO really big ones, which are a rare find.

They showed me with faces still lit up with excitement and joy.