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!

Let's Talk Birds: The Great Blue Heron

I was trying to think of a way to share some of my favorite bird photographs, maybe some of the unique stories behind getting the picture and raise some awareness about the birds in our area and the habitat they chose to live in.

So the plan is over the next few days, I will chose a bird to share.  Since most of our wading birds here along the Georgia Coast are large and easier to see, I think this is a good starting point..  Today it will be the Great Blue Heron.  The Great Blue Heron is probably the largest wading bird in our area.  They stand about 47" tall and have a wing span of about 6'.  This is an elegant and stately bird with gimlet eyes that are ever watchful.   The Great Blue Heron is a sight hunter, wading quietly through the marshes looking for a fish to spear.  The photo below was taken in Jesup along the Altamaha River near the Doctor Town Bridge.  This bird was following a school of fish flying just a few feet at a time instead of walking along with them.  Maybe his feet were tired.  In this picture you can easily see the blue body, long graceful neck, strong legs and the large wings.

 

The Great Blue Heron is a solitary wading bird.  Rarely will you see more than one in the same area, unless it is during breeding season in a colony.  However, they can often be seen wading with Great Egrets, Wood Storks, Ibis and Snowy Egrets.  Although the Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron are both large wading birds, the Great Blue Heron weighs almost twice as much as the Great Egret.  Both of the photos above show the adult Great Blue Heron with all their colors and markings easy to identify.  The pictures on the left show a juvenile Great Blue with a small catfish he speared while fishing and the one below is a close up shot before he ran into the marsh with his prized lunch.  I can't help but wonder how he swallowed that fish without the fins getting caught in his throat.  As you can see in the photos the juveniles are much more muted in color.  These photos are actually some of my newest shots from this weekend at the Okefenokee Swamp Wildlife Refuge in Folkston.

Happy New Year

Hello again! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year. I decided to start my New Year doing one of things I love to do most. I grabbed up my camera and the keys to my trusty old truck and headed out to seek some local wildlife.

I started at the quiet little pond on Lanier Road in Brunswick. I haven't been there in quite a while and I was given a pleasant treat. As I pulled up a saw a Snowy Egret, a Great Egret, a group of Hooded Mergansers, a Little Blue Heron, a Great Blue Heron and that frisky little Kingfisher I have been trying to photograph for months. Well, the little Kingfisher must have been in a good mood, 'cause I finally captured a good shot. They are so quick and so shy. Here are the Hooded Mergansers, male and female, and the Kingfisher.

I was certainly off to a good start. I headed back toward Jekyll Island, I hadn't been there for a while, when I spotted this young Osprey having breakfast atop the telephone pole. He didn't mind giving me a photo op.

After saying goodbye to the Osprey I headed over to Ski Rixen Pond which is where Tidelands Nature Center is located and the Jekyll Island Boat Ramp. While slowly cruising thru the area I spotted a couple Snowy Egrets, a Great Egret and one of my favorite wading birds, The Little Blue Heron which I also managed to get several good photos. Check them out.

This was certainly my idea of starting the New Year off right. Then low and behold my electronic leash, (cell phone), started to ring. It was time to call it a morning, but I was anxious to check out the pictures I had taken anyway.

Once I got home hubby said we were going to go for a ride, maybe see what else I could find to photograph. Well we headed toward Camden County and started to hit some dirt roads. We came across some more Hooded Mergansers and a few wading birds but it was looking kind of slow until we hit Lampadoshia Road. As I was driving and chatting away, my eagle eye husband spotted a hawk sitting beside the road. I stopped the truck and turned off the engine. I was really expecting him to fly away. But, it didn't, I slowly got out of the truck with my camera in hand and started taking pictures. I probably wasn't more than 12 feet away. I couldn't believe my luck. After firing off several shots I decided to move closer slowly all the while snapping pictures. I could not believe my eyes, I was not no more than six feet away from this stunning creature. A Red Tailed Hawk. I have tried for months and months to photograph the Red Tailed Hawk on the Jekyll Island Causeway, but that Hawk is very smart, as soon as I take my foot of the gas pedal he flies away. Actually I think he just likes toying with me playing cat and mouse. But, now I was directly in front of this stunning raptor. The closer I got the more concerned I got, thinking this amazing bird must be injured, I asked my husband to call DNR. In the meantime a car pulled up with a guy named Joey and his friend, they were amazed to see this bird and me standing within only 3 feet of it. I was actually sitting on the ground beside the bird, it was awesome!!! While on the phone with DNR the Hawk starting moving around a bit and actually flew to another low hanging branch. I couldn't see any obvious injuries and the DNR Officer said as long as he was moving and using his wings that he would most liking be fine. He suspected that the Raptor has taken a glancing blow from a passing car and was a bit dazed. This Red Tailed Hawk will never realize the joy I got from photographing it and how incredible it was to be this close to one of God's amazing creatures. Here are several shot I took of the Red Tailed Hawk.

This Red Tailed Hawk was very lucky to not have been seriously injured. Well, I hope your year started off as good as mine did. Remember to slow down and appreciate all the Beauty that Surrounds Us.

Savannah Wildlife Refuge

So sorry it has taken me sooo long to post this. What a great weekend!! On Saturday evening I asked my hubby to join me for my Sunday Road Trip. He grumbled a bit when I told him if would have to get up at 5 am. But, he agreed. We ventured a bit further north than we usually do. We went to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge, which is just across the South Carolina border. This is a well managed and beautifully maintained Refuge. It has a four mile driving nature trail winding through the refuge. The dikes between the lochs are very well maintained and makes for easy walking or biking. My favorite part of the driving trail is the first mile. This area is chock full of water birds, wading birds and raptors. The day was picturesque. Cool, clear, crisp, a bit windy, but, blue skies were endless.

Our first encounter was a Great Blue Heron fishing in the reeds. As we rounded the next bend we saw this tree just chock full of Cormorandts and Anhingas.

The next picture is actually on of my favorite wading birds, the Little Blue Heron and right beside him was this feeding Tri-Colored Heron.

As we were looking across the marsh watching as Osprey fishing, that's when we noticed all the American Coots and Common Moorhens, they were out in droves.
We also saw a Harrier Hawk flying low over the Marsh and a Red Tailed Hawk, all within the first mile of the Refuge. As we continued through the Refuge at times you feel like you are in tunnels, the way the trees arch over the roads and meet together the light poking through every now and then. It is so peaceful.

At about the three mile marker we spotted this little Doe feeding quietly in the grass and just down from her we saw another pair of Red Tailed Hawk and a Vulture soaring over the fields. The only regular residents of the Refuge we didn't see were the Alligators, it must have been a bit chilly for them. I have seen some really BIG Gators out here. Here is picture of one I saw back in the summer.

Although this is a little further than my typical morning rides, it is definitely worth the drive. This is a place where beauty abounds.