Baby Green Herons at Pinckney Island Rookery

Birding Hilton Head Island, SC and Pinckney Island NWR 

(...continued from Friday's post on the rookery)

I don’t know how long I just stood there listening to all the sounds and trying to take in the sheer volume of birds in this small area, but it was a while. Eventually I walked down a small hill to a well-worn path under a willow tree that lead to the water's edge. The water was sooooo green there and covered in what looked like the duckweed. I don’t know much about alligators, but it seemed like the perfect place to hide (and that scene from Crocodile Dundee where the heroine is leaning over to refill her canteen popped in my mind…Yikes! I quickly scanned the shallows looking for hidden nostrils and non-blinking eyes, but all was clear). About 10 feet away in the roots of a tree half in and half out of the water, I noticed movement, and there among the knobby protuberances were two juvenile Green Herons climbing up and down and around, practicing their hunting postures, and when they felt sure-footed, searching for food in the mucky green water. I don’t know how old these two Green Herons are, but they still have baby fuzz on their heads, and I don't know if they could look any cuter!