Belly full, this Cattle Egret makes a sweeping entrance through the trees to her nest and three hungry chicks whom she will soon be feeding. She has her wings up to start the braking process and then will pull up and drop her toes on a skinny, but sturdy enoug,h branch to absorb her landing energy without breaking. The ruckus of the chicks will start immediately -- fighting over who will be first to get a beak full. It can sometimes get very violent.The Cattle Egret is a recent arrival into the U.S. -- being brought from the Old World in the 1940's to help protect cattle from parasites, but colonies had no natural predators and grew rapidly here. This picture is a the rookery at Oschner Island in Audubon Park of New Orleans.
--steve buser
13 comments:
Oh how fabulous! I've been so enjoying your bird photos - loved Limb Walker and Gliding lessons. You have the most beautiful birds in your area. And your photos are superb.
Steve,
Thank you for the compliments that you have left on my relatively new Daily Photo site for Tamarindo, Costa Rica.
Your bird photos are superb. We have cattle egrets in Costa Rica, as well, and in the future I will post photos showing dozens of them in a single tree.
Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be posting photos from a wetlands national park that may look familiar to Louisianans. There will be a close-up of an American crocodile, followed by a bare-throated tiger heron.
I've never heard of these birds before...interesting text and beautiful photo.
Thank you Steve for this and so many other wonderful photos!
What a beautiful shot gliding through the sky ~~ Looks like you should mat and frame it!!
This one is perfect! We have these here, and I love watching them wade in the water, but I don't often catch them actually flying. Great shot!
That bird in motion is spectacular. I see I am not the only one who admires your bird images. hey really are a cut above. Thanks for letting me now wbaout your new stuff too.
What a great photo! Interesting info about the egret too.
Well captured Steve. I like the heron featured below this too.
I've really enjoyed your bird pictures! I especially like when you capture them in flight, like this shot.
Thanks for the warm welcome on my rural Seguin Daily Photo site! This is a beautiful shot!
I agree one hundred percent with Jilly! And I'll bet you're having a grand time watching all of this and taking these photos, Steve. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed the Karmann Ghia at Portland Oregon Daily Photo.
Interesting post. Learned something too. I like your photos and I liked your post yesterday.
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