A pair of Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1/5000, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I’ve seen more and more Snowy Egrets the past few weeks but haven’t had any great opportunities to photograph them yet this year. When I lived in Florida I saw these wading birds all year long but here in Utah they are migratory and are only here for a few months like the Cattle Egrets that are also migratory here.
In Florida these birds nested in trees as a colony and here in Utah, at least at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, they most likely nest in the marsh grasses because there are very few trees on the refuge. They might have a rookery at nearby farms where cottonwood, poplar and other tree species have been planted. I am just not sure.
But they are very attracted to the marshes at the refuge and at times they congregate in groups of 20 or more to forage in the shallow waters. I saw one at a stinky, spring fed pond in northern Utah last week and it reminded me that I hadn’t posted this image yet. When I photographed these two Snowy Egrets at Bear River MBR last August they were already through raising their young for the season. There were also immature egrets nearby when I photographed this pair.
Admittedly I took seeing Snowy Egrets for granted while I lived in Florida but since I moved here I find myself being more appreciative of their presence at the local areas where I photograph birds most often.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my Snowy Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.
Lovely things – and I love the ‘do’ on the one at the rear.
Ahh these look AMAZING. They’re beautiful!
Beautiful image…love the contrast between the snowy white birds and the dark water…(Are you sure the “bird” on the right is really a bird– and not Bernie Sanders???)
Gorgeous image, Mia. The eye focus is impressive.
I’m guessing that when you photograph Snowy Egrets at Bear River it brings back
memories of your days spent photographing them in Florida. Too bad that we don’t
have a couple of lifetimes to photograph all the wonderful subjects around the world,
but since we don’t, we must take advantage of every opportunity to get out into the
field, and click a shutter. Snowy’s always make great subjects. Keep your great
images coming… ;-)))