Snowy Egret -- St Pete Beach

All of these photographs of the Snowy Egret were taken
at sunset along St Pete Beach, Florida.
This Egret has one injured leg, but he did fine with it.
We saw him several different days along the edge of the water.

Snowy Egret at St Pete Beach - October 2008

These Snowy Egret photos were taken on St Pete Beach,

when we were there in October 2008.

That trip we saw more than usual of the egret, herons, and pelicans on the beach.

I have been really busy filling greeting cards orders during the last week,

especially people planning for Mother's Day. Sorry for the rushed post here.

Right now I am going to meet some of the ladies at church

for a peaceful lunch before going to work this afternooon.

Great Egret at Lake Seminole Park - Feb 2009

Reddish Egret, White Morph

These were all taken at the Rookery in the St Augustine Alligator Farm, April 12, 2008.

I was totally confused by this one. Could not find any reference to the black bill, with the red close to the face.

I have 4 reference books now. The Sibley, National Geographic, Peterson, and the Stokes.

I don't use the Peterson and the Stokes very often anymore. But I was struggling with the id on this bird. Finally found it in the Stokes, then can see it in the Sibley, but I don't think it says enough about it for me to ever have found it in the Sibley.

The rookery is awesome, I will be posting some more photographs from the Rookery after I return from vacation. The birds are not in captivity, they just show up there every year. In addition to these Reddish Egret White Morphs I photographed Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, and Great Egrets (if I didn't forget something). The Great Egrets already had babies.

UPDATE: Hap from New Hope has gotten me again. Not a Reddish Egret, White Morph. A breeding Snowy Egret. Hap I need your email so I can use you as a consultant before blundering right in on these hard ones.

Snowy Egret at St Pete Beach

A couple more Snowy Egret, both appear to also be juveniles. Notice those legs.

LOOK at this legs, and I don't just mean the color now. He looks like he broke them both, in relation to how ours bend, that is.

His bill is covered in feathers, and you can see why.

Snowy Egret at Lake Seminole Park

These are photos of a Snowy Egret at Lake Seminole Park, taken October 28, 2008.

This is a juvenile Snowy Egret, notice the legs.

Great Egret at Lake Seminole Park

The Great Egret is a beautiful bird, not as large as the Great Blue Heron,

but every bit as impressive.

The top photo was taken when I still just had my point and shoot digital, in February 2008.

The rest of the photos were taken October 2008.

All of these photos were taken at Lake Seminole Park.

Today and tomorrow I am going to have several post, comparing the white egrets and herons I have photographed in Florida.

Snowy Egret at St Pete Beach

This Snowy Egret was at the end of St Pete Beach where people go to fish.

He was fishing too, I just didn't capture a photograph in action.

Great Egret at Lake Seminole Park

These photographs of the Great Egret were all taken the same afternoon, but I do not know if they are the same bird or not.

He is putting on a display for me here. Just can't see his head very well.

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret landing at John's Pass in Madeira Beach, Florida.

April Events

April has been a very busy month for me.

Early in the month I attended the Birding FotoFest in St. Augustine, Fla. It was a great experience and I left with several thousand photos. Took in some photo and birding classes, but was mostly in the field. Since I was in Florida I was naturally on the water alot. I also visited the Jacksonville Zoo and the St. Augustine Alligater Farm. Both of these had areas of migrating birds nesting in their natural environment. For any bird lover the St. Augustine Alligater Farm Wood Stork Rookery is a must see in April. It is unbelievable. I came away with hundreds of photos from that one afternoon. In the 4 days I was there I saw 7 Bald Eagles. This photo of a Little Blue Heron fighting a Egret for the same tree was taken at the Wood Stork Rookery in the St. Augustine Alligater Farm. I did walk away before a decision was made because I did not really care to see one hurt the other. Although I do like the photo.

Later in the month I attended the 58th annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since my great photography love is macro photography I was in photography heaven. I just attended morning sessions because I still had to work at my 'day job' during the evenings. I actually saw a Yellow Morel mushroom 3 days in a row, on 3 different trails. The wildflowers are absolutely gorgeous, and I cannot begin to list everything I saw, but I have plenty of photos to show for the trip.