On this post Im sharing a day when I went to Marion County to fill in the blank county where my bird listing is concerned. Marion is a small county and when I looked at the map to see maybe where I could go to spend a little time, I really saw nothing! No parks, no wildlife areas, no preserves...So I decided to just do some roadside birding. I mapped out a route that would take me on a loop and I could stop and visit the Egret Rookery which is in Marlboro county...I showed you a while back all the Egrets sitting on nests with their beautiful blue eggs...
I could hear the chatter asa I exited the van. A whole bunch of chicks begging to be fed is quite a roar! Not only Great Egrets are nesting here but also Anhinga, Green Heron, Cattle Egret, and more. Since it is private land owned by a hunt club, no one is in residence, but it's marked private keep out...so under the chain I dodged only for 15 mins total. If I had permission to walk down the road or put a small boat in the pond I could see much more.
I knew some of the adults would freak out so I tried to stay low and behind cover, some flushed but some just gave me the weary eye and continued on with tending their nestlings...
They settled nearby to keep an eye on things,
Most nests had more than one chick....this one had 3,
The insistent calling must be exhausting for these little fellows...
But it works! Here comes Dad with a meal! The female stands aside and gives her mate room to feed the chicks...(I don't really know who is dad and who is mom, I'm just guessing)
The chicks grab his face to encourage him to regurge the food he is carrying in his stomach...
This could be a dangerous experience for dad, those little beaks look sharp!
Nesting Spots seemed pretty tight this Cattle Egret is either stealing a nest or building right next door! Reminds me of my van in an empty parking lot...lol
And I had a pretty good look at this nest with 3 Anhinga youngsters, how stunning they look...
Then my 15 mins were up and so I took off...headed to Lake Wallace and had lunch with some more young birds..
Then I drove a few miles to Marion County, I was told by the nosy man who stopped to inquire what was I doing, this was God's Country...but it looked like every other place I see every day to me...
I got a list of about 13 birds, then headed back to Horse Country, where I live! And while I drove I thought about the little chicks just beginning life on this planet and all the challenges they will face, the uncaring person who tosses plastic in the rivers and oceans, the oil spills, the chemical's sprayed by farmers, the uncaring fishermen who leave line all over the place, developers that take away the wetlands these birds need to survive, all the beaches with high rise hotels and luxury homes, surrounded by man made landscapes, and even the Wildlife Preserves are being overseen by a government whose interest is in Oil and Gas and off shore drilling...then I question.humanity..I can't repeat to you how many times I've heard someone say, "Yes there is a God, just look around you..." and my answer to that is...
"I am looking, are they?"
"I am looking, are they?"
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
Oh what beautiful babies and adults. Nice day to take pictures. Love the short videos.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, thank you very much...I was amazed at the number of chicks I could hear asking to be fed.
DeleteEgrets are so elegant. About 50 years ago I bought a good bird guide and at the back it had a list of rare visitors to the UK and the egret was one of them, nowadays they are resident all year and are a common sight. How things have changed.
ReplyDeleteHI Dave, how right you are, people nearly destroyed this bird just for the feather, and yet look at the Rhino and Elephant...*sigh*
DeleteIt's amazing how people think they have a right to ask you what you are doing! Depending on my mood I sometimes tell them, but I have also been known to politely suggest that I am minding my own business and they should do the same. The egret Dave above is referring to is Little Egret, not found here in North America, but Great Egret is beginning a colonization process there also. Cattle Egret will not be far behind. It is quite wonderful to see all this breeding taking place and your lunch looks pretty good!
ReplyDeleteHi David, yes I do get perturbed by people asking me "what are you looking at" or something along those lines...it does get old. I always bring some food along with me everymtime I go out...it's a good idea.
DeleteDavid all three species now breed here, although the Cattle Egret to a lesser degree.
DeleteHI Dave, I hope the Egrets are successful there in their colonizing, they need all the help they can get.
DeleteHello, I love hearing the clatter these chicks make, they are so cute. What a great visit to the rookery. Love the videos and photos. Your lunch looks yummy. I am disgusted by the piggy people who throw out their plastic bottles and trash. Happy Birding, enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen, I have seen so many one legged birds especially shore birds...and heard horror stories of egrets with bottles stuck onto the beaks and honestly I don't understand it at all!
DeleteHard to be,I even a County with no parks at all, but you saw more birds than I would in a county with many of them. And you got to stop at the wonderful Rookery! That’s good birding .., I loved the too few times we’ve been able to see them.
ReplyDeleteHi Sallie, I'm whittling down that county list...that particular county there was no park, no public areas I did end up in a cemetery usually I can bird unbothered but that guy had to come by, and really put me off...This is what he said "That guy over there was a CSA vet you know back when we had that northern agression." so I said, "oh like the kind we have now from a NYC millionaire who is not fit to lead",,,he then says "I think he has some southern in him." OMG I said "none at all he is German and Swedish" which he is, these people who support Trump make up their own truth.
DeleteA great update, they birds are doing so well and oh my gosh the Anhinga's are so cute, I didn't realise how light they are when they are young!
ReplyDeleteThis was the very first Anhinga chick I've ever seen.
DeleteHow cool to see all those youngsters, especially those Anhingas. Birding a new county is always fun for me, everything new again from a listing perspective.
ReplyDeleteHI Jen, the Rookery was fun, there is another one, closer to me, that I visited recently usually there is a locked gate and I found it open and NO sign they may allow fishermen in during summer. The man really put me off I had wanted to do more in that county but his talk of Trump and how "they" are giving him a hard time...omg I just wanted to get the heck outta there. SO happy to have that dark corner done!
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