Great Egret In Morning Light (Photo of the week)

A great egret perches in early morning light, Redwood Shores, CA

This week’s photo is another of the great egrets that populate the area around my home. I took this photo at one of my favorite morning spots, where various egret species tend to congregate. This egret was in a great position to catch the early morning light. I set up my shot and waited until the first rays of the day turned his delicate white plumage a soft orange. Lucky, he seemed in no great hurry and posed for me for quite some time.

I was happy that this morning payed off. Being in the summer months, it is much more of a sacrifice to be up and photographing at dawn (which is currently at 5:45 AM). The weather, light, and yes, the birds must all be cooperating to allow successful images to be made.

Snowy Egret Feather Shake (Photo of the week)

A snowy egret shakes back and forth, rufflings its feathers.

This week’s photo is a snowy egret just after shaking his body to resettle its feathers. He had been fishing along the bank of a slough, and the wind kept disturbing his feathers. He shook his body vigorously to fluff all of his feathers, so that they could resettle into a natural insulating layer.

This type of shake will rearrange the micro-structure of a bird’s outer feathers, keeping water from penetrating the inner feathers. Usually a resettling of the feathers if followed by preening and a little oiling (if the bird has a preen gland). This egret didn’t bother preening at this time, as he seemed very focused on catching dinner.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen