Ardea alba
Great Egrets are tall, long-legged wading birds with all white plumage, yellow bills and black legs.
Is this a landscape photo with a Great Egret in it or a bird image with a bottomlands hardwood forest habitat in it? You get to decide, it doesn't matter to me.
I took this Great Egret photo yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. Even with the morning mist, I could tell something fluffy was stuck on its bill.
I took this Great Egret portrait at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma in June while I was visiting my friend and fellow photographer, Steve Creek.
When I visited my friend Steve Creek, I photographed this Great Egret at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. The red vegetation floating on the water is azolla.
When I took photos of this Great Egret with a twisted neck and buggy eyes at Fort De Soto I didn't think I'd still be laughing at them fourteen years later.
The Great Egret landed where I had views of Hooded and Common Mergansers and three Mallards resting on the ice on the Bear River.
I haven't been outside to measure the snow but I'd estimate that 6 to 8 inches have fallen already just by looking out my living room window.
One week ago today I found a Great Egret in the marshy wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge that was close enough to photograph.
February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.
One of the birds I found that summer morning was a Great Egret perched on a stump that the waves of the Gulf had deposited on the shore of the beach.
I was thrilled to have this big, white wading bird where I could take photos of it in what was on that day a winter wonderland.
It is winter here but the birds know that spring is around the corner and more gatherings like the ones I saw two days ago will happen again and I hope I am able to slow down and enjoy it.
The sun hadn't yet come up when I spotted this Great Egret in the tidal lagoon with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background and it looked like the water was on fire.
There are some other differences between Great and Snowy Egrets in appearance of course but I think the comparisons I have written about are the most helpful for me in the field for identification and may be for other people too.
I don't often see wading birds in flight with large prey in their bills so in April of 2009 I was excited to see a Great Egret landing in a lagoon with a large fish in its bill.
The Great Egret struggled to swallow the large fish and even though it readjusted the fish in its bill several times it never swallowed the fish before it dropped it into the lagoon and flew off.
While walking the boardwalk at the small rookery I was able to get close to this Great Egret that was resting under the canopy of a large tree and took this portrait of it.
This might be the only image I have in my portfolio that shows a Great Egret with a loose head feather waving above its head at a jaunty angle.
I was quite pleased to find this Great Egret resting in snow yesterday while I was photographing other birds at the WMA.
The best light can be fleeting though so it is always best to photograph as much as you can during the "golden hours".
After posting Great Blue Heron images yesterday I decided to post images of Great Egrets which are also a large wading bird species this morning.
Five years ago today I photographed this Great Egret foraging in a wrack line along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida at Fort De Soto.
Just a simple Great Egret hunting in a quiet tidal lagoon today that takes me back to warmer memories spent with good friends on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Back in March of 2009 while I was photographing a Great Blue Heron on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida a Great Egret flew in and walked close to the Great Blue Heron and me.
Great Egrets develop fancy plumes when they are in breeding plumage and seem to be quite famous for that but their lores also change color from yellow to a lime green
Some days I find myself missing Fort De Soto so much it hurts, the birds I found there and the entire experience of just being there. It is just such an amazing place, how could I not miss it?
Five years ago today I headed to the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park despite knowing that there were looming storms off of the coast hanging just off shore over the Gulf of Mexico and I am glad that I did because the light that day on the beach was exquisite.
Even though I only got out to photograph birds three times this week each of the days I did get out were very memorable!
These two "Great" images were taken two minutes apart of two different "Great" wading birds in Florida.
This Great Egret image was taken in Florida in 2009, the beautiful blue in the background is the water of the Gulf of Mexico.