Reddish Egret

[Whyone?]

Well it has been an awful long time since I posted in the photography forums here, but a few weeks ago we finally traveled outside of the UK for the first time since Covid struck and new photo opportunities presented themselves.....actually, having visited Skomer this year, I really shouldn't have waited for variously gaudy and demented Floridian birds for an excuse to post here...I'll dig out some Puffins and Razorbills in due course!

 

 

We thought we would start gently with somewhere we are very familiar with - the 10,000 Islands area of SW Florida.  Little did we know when we booked the trip that the US would remain one of the very few countries in the wold requiring a negative Covid test upon entry....youngest son attending a wedding 2 weeks before we departed and catching Covid did little to calm our nerves in advance of departure!!!!

 

Anyway, long story short, we made it and I was able to spend the pre-dawn and early morning hours happily wading about in a tidal lagoon getting eaten alive by mosquitoes

 

I am slowly sorting through my photo's and the first few which I hope are fit for public viewing are on one of my favourite Floridian birds - the reddish egret.

They are endlessly entertaining birds to watch...having what appears to be a somewhat demented hunting strategy.

They charge about the shallows, zig-zagging furiously, flapping their wings and stamping their feet.

 

This of course is all to startle small fish, which the Egret is then very adept at catching....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2022 by Whyone?

[Kitsafari]

A manic bird!  the close-up was great. 

[Zim Girl]

Lovely pictures, it is a very attractive Egret!

[Caracal]

On 7/15/2022 at 7:29 PM, Whyone? said:

.actually, having visited Skomer this year, I really shouldn't have waited for variously gaudy and demented Floridian birds for an excuse to post here...I'll dig out some Puffins and Razorbills in due course!

Yes please I'll be waiting - I well recall visiting Skomer on a family holiday in the 1950's when we stayed in Pembrokeshire.

 

In the meantime I'm enjoying your great photos of the reddish egret's hunting strategy.