Great Egrets

A walk is never complete without a camera. You never know what you might see. And when I am unable to carry my bulkier Nikon then my pocket-sized Canon always comes along. A tiny little PowerShot with a ridiculous 40x zoom that sits over a tiny crop sensor. It obviously cannot compete with my larger camera, but in good light, it can still take a photo.

I was walking past the Wetlands, rushing so as not to be late for an appointment when I glanced over, looking past the trees to the edge of the water. I noticed a group of white birds standing out among the lily pads. There were three great egrets (Ardea Alba) and one juvenile great blue heron (Ardea Herodias). There was no time for photos and I hurried on. Thankfully though, on my return walk home the great egrets were still in the area.


Two of the great egrets had perched precariously overhead on the dead limbs of trees. I snapped a few shots, hoping that a few would contain some detail and made a mental note to return the next morning with my larger Nikon.

Unfortunately, the bright sunlight was not present when I revisited the Wetlands, but the great egrets had returned in numbers. 

A total of five great egrets this time and the same solitary, bedraggled looking, juvenile great blue heron.

The wetlands had shrunk considerably in area with all of our dry weather, concentrating the fish and amphibians, like this green frog, into a significantly smaller area.

Making the task of catching the fish much easier for the great egrets.

There was the odd medium sized fish, but on the whole, the great egrets appeared to be snacking on tiny fish one after another in rapid succession.


The light was not good at all for photography, but I did enjoy watching the great egrets as they stalked their way through the shallows. 

The egrets are a welcome and now common sight. Thanks to the work of conservationists their numbers have recovered since they were devasted in the past by plume hunters.


My short walk home from the wetlands that day also presented photo opportunities. Blue jays (Cyanocitta Cristata) were noisily working their way through the trees along the path I was taking. 


The juveniles were still young enough to beg to be fed, but also old enough to be showing the vibrant blue of their adult plumage.


Kitchener's clear blue skies soon returned over the Wetlands, allowing the great egrets to display their snow white plumage and also allowing me to increase my shutter speed for frozen moments of the egrets in flight.


We'd had some rainfall which quickly spread out over the wetlands, but more dry weather followed and the wetland area shrank again, much to the delight of this lone great egret. 


It fished on its own and constantly changed position as it took aim at the targets which surrounded it.


The great egret was obviously excited by the number of fish it could see. 


The great egrets have been frequent visitors to the Wetlands through September. 


The white of their feathers now contrasting with the gloriously rich, warm colours of our fall leaves.


And one final photo of a juvenile great blue heron, not looking quite as bedraggled as the previous photo. It was enjoying the early morning sunlight and taking time to preen its feathers.


Copyright © scottswildencounters.blogspot.com 2020 Scott Atkinson All Rights Reserved.
Location: Kitchener, ON, Canada

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