Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta hula

Outback Key, Fort Desoto State Park, FL

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4

1/2000 sec. @ f/11

Pic of the Day

Snow Egret, Egrette thula:  Saint Augustine Alligator Farm

Saint Augustine, Florida

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula: Saint Augustine Alligator Farm

Saint Augustine, Florida

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta hula:  Saint Augustine Alligator Farm;

Saint Augustine, Florida

    I found this handsome fellow the first morning I arrived at the heron rookery in Saint Augustine, Florida.  When I first saw this snowy he was displaying on a lower branch.  I shot dozens and dozens of images, but the he was partially hidden and the full display of its’ beautiful aigrette feathers were veiled.

     Soon after my first round of images, the sun fully lite the egret while leaving the background in shadows.  As the egret continued its display the aigrette feathers glowed against the dark background, but the bird was still on the lower branch.  As I shot a few more frames I kept saying……”move up to the next branch, move up to the next branch,” and all of a sudden the snowy stepped up onto the arching branch and continued to display.  

     Now, fully in the open, I could get the image I was looking for, with the fine feather filaments standing out against the background.   Over the next three days I photographed this egret displaying against various tonal backgrounds, but it is this one with that shows the true beauty of this magnificent behavior.

Nikon D-800, Nikon 500mm f/4, 1/2000 second @ f/8

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta Thula:  Saint Augustine Alligator Farm, 

Saint Augustine, Florida: USA

    I have posted this image before. Back in August 2015, I posted it on my blog, and must confess that it is one of my favorites photographs.  It was shot in April the same year at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida.

The Alligator Farm is a great place to photograph nesting herons, egrets, storks and spoonbills.  On the north end of the facility is a lake, supplied by a natural water source.  Once Gators reach a certain size they are moved into the lake.  Trees surround the lake, and the wading birds move in each spring to nest above the gators. 

     Gators and nesting birds are about as natural as you can get, even though this situation is in one of Florida’s most popular tourist destinations.  In the wild, wading birds naturally nest over alligators as they provide protection against predators such as raccoons, opossums, and bobcats.  This is not to say that the birds are completely safe.  I have often seen nestlings fall out of a nest to be quickly gobbled up by a hungry gator. 

     Natural predators are not the real threat to this beautiful species.  The real threat comes from man.  This photo shows a male Snowy Egret with it aigrette feathers raised in nuptial display.   Aigrettes are graceful ornamental plume feather tufts of egrets and some herons in their breeding dress.  

    The demand for these delicate aigrette plumes in the millinery trade was the reason that these beautiful birds were driven to near extinction at the turn of the twentieth century. 

     The mass killing of egrets for the millinery trade was also the catalyst that initiated the formation of the Audubon Society.  Its members were instrumental in passing the Lacey Act (1900), which ended the use of birds and feathers in the millinery trade.

     Fortunately the conservation measures worked, and these exquisite birds made a tremendous rebounded.  However, now, more than one hundred years later these bird and others are being threatened by rapid habitat loss.  Habitat loss across the world is one of this century’s greatest threats and all will be lost unless we do something.  The real question is; what do we do?  Whatever the answer, it must be achieved on a global scale.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 300mm f2.8, 1/1250 @ f7.1

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:

Black Point Wildlife Drive; Merritt Island NWR near Titusville, Florida

     One of the things I had a great time doing on my recent trip to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was photographing backlit egrets.  This Snowy Egret was shot late in the day while driving around Black Point Wildlife Drive.  The sun low on the horizon produced a beautiful rim light while the clean background isolated the bird. 

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/800 second @ f/9

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  Black Point Wildlife Drive;

Merritt Island NWR near Titusville, Florida

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula

    These photos was taken during a feeding frenzy as a thousand-plus Great and Snowy Egrets, and Tricolored Herons lined a canal along the Black Point Wildlife Drive.  The Great Egrets and Tricolored Herons perched on mangroves and plucked fish from their leafy perches.  

     The Snowys were very active feeders.  They flew over the canal dragging their yellow toes in the water.  The technique disturbs fish causing them to dart away from the danger, but it made them easy prey for the snowys to snatch from the water.

Top:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 80-400mm f/3.5-5.6, at 400mm, 1/5000 second @ f/7.1

Bottom:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 80-400mm f/3.5-5.6, at 400mm,1/2500 second @ f/9

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  Merritt Island NWR near Titusville, Florida

     I found this Snowy Egret along with a couple of thousand more of his compatriots along a canal at Merritt Island NWR last Monday Morning.  It was a feeding frenzy like I had never see at Merritt before.  I spent about an hour and half shooting the snowys as they plucked fish from the canal.  This guy was perched about 12 feet away allowing me to get a nice close-up.  More to come, so visit again, soon.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/4000 second @ f/10

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  Viera Wetlands; Viera, Florida

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:

Black Point Wildlife Drive; Merritt Island NWR near Titusville, Florida

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  Saint Augustine Alligator Farm

Saint Augustine, Florida

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  

Saint Augustine Alligator Farm; Saint Augustine, Florida

     I first posted this image on August 27, 2014, (click this link for the What, When, and Where, about the color image, click; http://www.bobbyharrison.blogspot.com/search/label/Snowy%20Egret.  
    I love the color image, but I thought this would look good as a black and white photo as well.  The tonal values between the egret and background provide excellent separation, while the white tones of the egret shows superb detail. Contrasting tones are needed to render various gray values for a black and white image.  In this image those tones were in the dark backgrund, dark and light greens, and of course, the varied tones of the white egret. I burned the edges of the black and white image to place greater emphasis on the egret.  
     I am quite pleased with the results.  If you like the image; which do you like best?  Let me know in the comment section.