Glowing Snowy Egret In A Ray Of Morning Light

Snowy Egret in a ray of morning light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 640, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Yesterday morning it was cold at Farmington Bay, cold enough that I think it is time for me to start layering my clothes again. After a long, terribly hot and smoky summer it feels nice to have cool air on my skin once more.

I was happy to see that there are still some Snowy Egrets at Farmington Bay WMA although there aren’t nearly as many of them as I saw last month. On the 25th of September I saw at least 100 Snowy Egrets foraging in the marsh in just one location at the WMA. I didn’t photograph them because they were on the wrong side of the road and the light.

One of the Snowy Egrets that caught my attention yesterday was hunkered down next to the water and as the sun came up over the mountains it caused a ray of light to fall on this bird. At first there was too much of a shadow on the wing of the egret to be appealing to me but after a few minutes the shadow moved lower as the sun rose higher.

The stark contrast of the white plumage of the Snowy Egret against the darkness of shadows on the vegetation and water made the egret appear to glow.

It won’t be long before all of the Snowy Egrets that breed here in northern Utah will be gone and they won’t be back until sometime next April on their spring migration. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to take photos of this one glowing in a beam of light yesterday.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Snowy Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.