Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Great Egret

I promised yesterday that I would show you some of the pictures of the birds I took when I found a new boardwalk nature preserve. I decided not to wait to show you my absolute favorite. I have many more pictures that are every bit as good, so you may like some of those even better.

This bird is a Great Egret. Of course I'm never one hundred percent sure of the identity of any of these animals. This one is very similar to the Snowy Egret, which is what I thought it was at first. The snowy egret is supposed to be more plentiful where I live so it's an easy mistake to make.

There are some distinct differences though. The great egret's bill is yellow like the one in my pictures. It also has black legs and feet. The snowy egret's bill and legs are both black, while their feet are yellow. These egrets are also both a kind of heron.

Speaking of herons, do you remember my last pictures of a heron? I was after a great blue heron, but I was having great difficulty with my camera at the time. The pictures turned out very odd, but as you can see I have improved things greatly since then. Great!

I took very many pictures of this big bird, but unfortunately I'll only be able to show you these few that you see here. If I show you too many I will run out of space and I won't get to show you any more at all. That's a small part of the reason I stretched out my raccoon story to a fun trilogy.

You know, while I was watching this great egret it decided to fluff itself up until it looked like a great puffball. It was a wonderful sight, and I have some of it here for you. While it's not all puffed up like that its tail feathers hang down and blow in the wind.

These flowing misty white feathers made the bird look like a good spirit when the wind blew in the evening light. It seemed almost magical at times. This white bird seemed to glow in contrast to everything around it in the fading day. I don't know how many more ways I can describe the wonder I felt at seeing it perched majestically in the middle of the pond.

This just goes to show you what you can find if you just look around long enough. Of course I had the help of my new GPS, but I've seen this place before without it. I find many of these places just from driving around. Even looking out your own back window can sometimes bring you wonders of the natural world.

I'll be back tomorrow with another story and more pictures. I'm still falling behind here though. My backup computer just died on me, so that is taking up some of my time. I can rebuild it. I have the technology. Hiking and my all time favorite thing, sleeping also seems to take up more time. It seems I have more time lately but I'm having more trouble using it efficiently.

Okay, that's enough of me for now. See ya!

13 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos of a gorgeous bird Ratty! Well done!

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  2. That is one beautiful bird and you took a nice picture of it too...

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  3. Beautiful bird, and great photos!

    I agree completely with you about finding interesting things in your own backyard if you look long enough..

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  4. I love the way the sun is glowing around the bird. I didn't realize those guys were coming so far north. We see the smaller cattle egrets here some.

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  5. The first picture is really a good one with the tail glows in the sunlight. The best one I have ever seen from you.

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  6. Fantastic photographs! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that bird! He does look mystical, doesn't he? Great pics,Ratty!

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  8. the way you captured the bird with the glow is magical.

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  9. Wow so fantastic and beautiful !! This is simply great..Unseen Rajasthan

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  10. Beautiful photos of a very beautiful bird. The glow created by the sun is, I believe some one else said this also, very magical.

    Looking forward to the next photos.

    SQ

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  11. Kallen - Thanks, I was really excited when I saw it, but I found another bird there that was even more exciting.
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    Kruel - Thanks, I mostly got lucky because of the time of day.
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    Icy BC - Yeah, a backyard has plenty of nature too. Most people forget that.
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    Sharkbytes - The online guide that I read only listed snowy egrets for around here, so I had to do some checking to make sure I had the right bird. I ran across cattle egrets too while doing my search.
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    Rainfield - Thank you, that's a huge compliment. The setting sun played a huge part in that picture.
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    Glynis - I'm glad I was able to bring this one to you.
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    The Retired One - Yeah, he almost looks like a ghostly guardian of the pond.
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    PJ - I got extremely lucky with my pictures that day. I have many more to show you from there.
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    Unseen Rajasthan - I hope I can get more as good someday.
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    SquirrelQueen - The sun and the bird did most of the work. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

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  12. I agree with all the comments and compliments. Lovely and magical pictures.

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  13. I agree with all the comments and complements. You have done very well.

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