Snowy Egrets: The other white bird

The other day I wrote about the Great Egret well, the Snowy Egret is the other white bird you often see in the marshes and along the ditches with the Great Egret.  I have had many people inquire if these were "baby" Great Egrets.  The Snowy Egret stands about 24" tall with an all white body and long slender neck, much like the Great Egret, but, the Snowy Egret has a Black bill, long slender mostly black legs with amazingly bright yellow feet!  During breeding season, they too get thee long lacy feathers to use to entice their mate and they eye patch which is usually yellow turns red.



 Here are some Snowy Egrets hanging out on the bank of Clam Creek on Jekyll Island.  This is probably their idea of getting together for lunch with friends, hoping whomever catches the minnows or tadpoles will share their good fortune.

This sassy little Snowy shown above was in a quiet little pond in a residential neighborhood.  She still has a lot of the breeding plumage along the crown, chest and tail.  But, I think she may be embarrassed about her yellow feet. 

The net two photos shown below were taken at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.  As I mentioned before if you want to be able to get up close a personal with some of the wading birds this is the place to go.  The first one is a Snowy displaying its fancy plumes in hopes of finding a mate. 

 

In the photo above is a Snowy tending to its nest and carefully turning the eggs.  I was able to get almost within hands reach to lovely bird.  Yet she paid me no mind, she obviously has her priorities straight; Family First!

Great Egrets

In keeping with the bird theme, today I would like to talk about the Great Egret.   Whenever I see a Great Egret; I think Simple Elegance.  The Great Egret stands about 39" tall, is all white with a yellow bill and long slender black legs and feet.  They look sort of prehistoric in light with their long neck tucked in.   During breeding season they get a greenish blue patch in the corner of their eye.  I always tease and say they are wearing their eye shadow.  This bird is so familiar to almost everyone along the Georgia Coast, we see them all time along the marshes, roadside ditches, ponds and even on the beach.  But, have you ever stopped to watch this Egret hunt its prey; they gracefully high step along the muddiest river bank and never seem to get dirty.  Then in a instant they seem to freeze so they cannot be detected by their intended meal.  The pictures below show an Egret in the marsh and one perched in a cedar tree near Ski Rixen Pond on Jekyll Island,  In picture on the right you can see the long plume feathers the Egrets use to display and entice to their potential suitors during mating season.

   

These long feathered plumes almost caused the demise of the Great Egret and many other wading birds in the late 1800's due to hunting the birds for their plumes to decorate fancy hats and boas.  The formation of the Audubon Society surely helped restore these magnificent creatures back to a healthy population.  The picture below is two Egrets displaying and building their nest at Etowah Park which is located o Kings Bay Naval Base.  The Navy Base had originally intended these nesting platforms to be used by the endangered Wood Stork, but the Egrets, Anhingas and Herons moved in quite quickly.  These nesting boxes sit in the middle of a small marshy pond which has developed into a lovely little rookery.  If you take notice around the eyes, you can see the blue/green eye shadow I was speaking of.

These little chicks with bills that seem way too big for their bodies were photographed at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm..  Which I may add should be on your list of places to visit if you would like to see many wild birds up close and personal.  The Alligator Farm also serves as a natural rookery for many amazing wading birds such as the Great Egret, Wood Stork, Snowy Egrets, Tri-color Herons, Cattle Egrets and the always pretty in pink Roseate Spoonbills.

 

 Then last but not least, I leave you with one of my favorite images of the graceful Great Egret taking flight along the creek bank.  This photo was taken along Homer Wilson Way which is an Important Bird Area (IBA) located just west of Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick.