13
Nov

Anhinga and Wood Stork – birds I rarely see…..

A Wood Stork in flight. This is exactly what I saw – I was on an elevated part of an interstate, so the bird was just about at eye level. And you can see how big it is – compare it to the utility wires and the part of the tower you can see in the photo.  The bird is 40″ long and weighs between 5-6 pounds.  It has a 5-foot wingspan.    Photo by Lars Portjanow on Unsplash.

I was riding in the back seat as Cleon, our friend Matt, and I drove to the Magnolia Plantation I wrote about in my last blog.  As usual, I was scanning the skies for birds – and clouds.  I have rediscovered the joy of watching clouds form, reform, and then reform again – constantly changing shape.  I remember spending much time as a child, lying on my back in the grass, and just watching fantastic creatures, all sorts of animals, and even Santa Claus appear and then disappear as the cloud floated by.  Somehow when I became a teenager, I lost sight of all that – which continued until recently, when I have finally slowed down, got my priorities in order, and now try to spend time each day – or at least every few days – just sitting outside, or gazing out a window, to simply watch the clouds and be still in my surroundings.

This is what you would see if the stork was in its favorite habitat – a shallow, muddy pond. Great toes!!! Photo by Paul Crook on Unsplash.

So, as I was gazing – and daydreaming – a BIG bird caught my attention.  White and black.  As big as the much more common Great Blue Heron, but with its black head and white neck outstretched, not retracted as in the heron.  White wings with large areas of black, strongly and rhythmically flapping – no soaring.  A Wood Stork!  And I was thrilled!!!!!  I have not seen one in a very long time.  They are ‘Uncommon’ at best – and often ‘Rare’.  Charleston, SC is about as far north as the year-round range of this bird extends.  I am quoting from my David Sibley’s The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition:  “Uncommon and local in muddy ponds where receding water levels concentrate fish.”  So, where did I see this Wood Stork?  In the air, flying over a building and street-filled Charleston!  Birds never read their entries in the field guides.  If they did, birding would be so much easier!

This was the pond. The stump is the very light brown upright sort of rectangle along the right bank – about halfway between the top and bottom of the photo. Believe it or not, that is not all stump – there is an Anhinga sitting on it.  Just looking at the photo, you can probably understand why I spent time on the bridge just gazing at all this beauty.

But it was at Magnolia Plantation where I saw one of my favorite weird birds – an Anhinga.  And just like the Wood Stork, I certainly did not have an Anhinga on my mind at all.  When I think Anhinga, I think Florida.  But here I was, outside of Charleston, SC and on the footbridge that spans one of the ponds at Magnolia Plantation.  Leaning on the rail and watching the reflected trees in the water.  So soothing and such a lovely sight.  On the right bank was a good-sized stump which was somewhat shadowed by the surrounding reeds.  I like stumps – they attract all sorts of living creatures:  snakes, turtles, frogs, dragonflies, ducks – just to name a few.  I looked through my binoculars and that was not all stump!  Sitting on it was a female – or juvenile – Anhinga!  This is another one of those truly big birds that blend in so well with their surroundings, they are hard to spot.  And I never would have seen this bird had it not been constantly moving its neck.  I saw the movement.

This is a female or a juvenile Anhinga – the male has a black head and neck. This is a pose you will see quite a bit if you spend time watching this bird. It holds out its wings just as the much more common Double-crested Cormorants and Turkey Vultures do. Photo by Paul Crook on Unsplash.

Charleston, SC is the northern tip of this bird’s spring and summer range.  It is generally listed as ‘Uncommon’.  It is my guess that in November, this bird is ‘Rare’ in Charleston.   Their year-round range in the U.S. is Florida and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

A common nickname of Anhingas is Snakebird and in this photo, you can see why. With their bodies totally submerged, all that is visible are their slender necks, heads, and beaks. And this bird has a habit of keeping its neck in almost common motion. It will sway it from side to side and in circles – almost like a cobra who is in a basket swaying to the flute of the Indian sitting in front of it.  And as shown here, Anhingas do normally spear their fish.  Photo by Richard Segredo on Unsplash.

Anhingas are freshwater birds – they are rarely/never found in salt water.  And they like slow-moving, more shallow ponds.  Their main food is fish, and they do dive and swim underwater.  Like the more common Double-crested Cormorant who also dives, swims underwater, and catches fish, Anhingas do not have nearly as much oil on their feathers as do waterfowl like ducks, geese, and swans.  Cormorants ‘ride low’ in the water – more of their bodies are underwater than a Mallard’s.  A Mallard is much more buoyant.  But the Anhinga also has denser bones than any other waterfowl and so rides even lower.  Often it is only their necks and heads that are above water.

This is the bird we saw – and notice its BIG feet!

Anhingas are big birds – and yet they do nest in the forks of trees and often in colonies.  They are about 30-40 inches long and weigh about 3 pounds.  Their wingspan is about 4 feet – and these birds seem to love to catch thermals and soar.

Click on this link to watch the video I took of this Anhinga – watch how it moves its neck.  Anhinga