Egret shows mating signs

This is a photo from a few years ago.  Notice the green around the egret's eyes-- it appears when they are in mating.  Also notice the showy feathers -- another mating sign.  The photo is from the lagoon island in Audubon Park, New Orleans, LA

Great Egret takes a new tack at fishing

Our Great Egret from yesterday suddenly changed his tactics. Instead of standing straight to look for fish, he suddenly started leaning his head way over to the side -- further that what you see here, but I did not get a good picture of that. Then, when he spotted his meal, he would take a sideways jab into the water, somewhat parrellel to the water's surface. The tactic proofed worthwhile. He got plenty to eat.

Obviously our 4-foot bird with about 5-foot wing span, is not the bird brain I took him for. I bet his has a bunch of other fishing tricks up his sleeve.

By the way, thanks for coming back from yesterday to check this out.

--steve buser

Great Egret shows off fishing skills

Heading down the I-10 I spotted this Great Egret fishining in some dark waters at the ponds edge. He was making a pretty good go of it. You know Egrets have those very long necks -- maybe a couple feet or more. (This bird's wing span seemed about 4 or 5 feet in width and he looked about 4 feet from head to tail. ) It makes a pretty good fishing tool. You just thrust it out and down in the water when you see a fish and whamo! you've got food. In the picture below our hero enjoys the fruits... er, make that ... fish of his catch. He picked up about six fish while I was watching. This is all as you expected. What came next is what surprised me. I tell you what. Give me some time to get those pictures ready and you come back tomorrow, for "the rest of the story."


--steve buser

Grace is in the eye of camera

You know how those airplanes shoot out of the airport and then make a sharp turn to avoid making a lot of noise over a residential area. That's kind of what the Great Egret on the left is doing. After taking off, he is trying to bank away from the dock and out over the water. Of course, noise is not an issue for this 10-foot-wing-span bird -- they move as noiselessly through the air as a feather moves down a stream.

The fellow on the right however, is trying to look as graceful as he can, clinging to a boom. I suppose he can't hang on by facing perpendicular to the pipe because it its too slippery to hold on to. So he chooses the parallel method, bending both knees out to try to get some opposible pressure to keep him up. Luckily it was near night fall with little wind.

The Photo is from the area of Des Allemands -- a community Southeast of New Orleans in the bayou country.

--steve buser

Galloping grace

Grace under pressure. Heard that one?

I came up over this mound at the spillway out to the west of New Orleans a few weeks back and this egret and I came almost eye to eye. When you're carrying a wingspan of a dozen feet, it is always better to get a forewarning that something is coming. Surprises are not good. That's because these big birds take a bit of energy to get up into the air. Though I knew he was moving as quickly as he could -- it's neck stuck straight out and he flapped mighty gust of winds down at the surface of the water -- he was slow to get any real speed. It all looked so graceful. So slow motion. So much grace under pressure.

Then he was airborne and swooped around in a large arc, settling around 300 feet away in the high grasses. Gracefully.

Hey, this is a SkyWatch Friday Post. Click THIS LINK to see other SkyWatch Friday posts

--steve buser

Bayou Des Allemands fills birders needs

Bayou Des Allemands is a birder's paradise. The bayou flow from Lac Des Allemands through the town of Des Allemand and into Lake Salvador. I pulled off at Des Allemand and cross back over the Old Spanish Trail bridge, winding my way over the rail road tracks to Up the Bayou Road. (Down the Bayou Road looks like a good birding spot, also, but I didn't have time this trip.)

Along the road, houses on one side and the bayou and fishing piers were lines on the other side.

Large Great Egrets and Blue Herons gracefully swept down the bayou from one perch to another as night fill began to descend. This Great Egret seem curious as to what I was doing, but not curious enough to hang around. He looked as though he were announcing the imminent arrival of the moon.

The moist smell of the bayou and the cool are of a passing warm front made a perfect time to sit by the side of the road and shoot.

It is a time of day when the birds return to their roost, bellies full and in no particular hurry.

--steve buser

Fishing buddies

Did you get in some fishing this weekend? Bet you had a buddy along. It's always a more pleasant experience with someone to chat with and to share your catches. Even someone to verify that you did catch the big one.

It would seem from the photo above that birds share that comfy feeling. The great egret on the left seems to relish the presence of his smaller friend as they search the waters of the Audubon Park, New Orleans, lagoon. Occasionally, they would wade to a another location for a little variety, but this day, the pickings seemed slim.

--steve buser

Egret squatter (Ardea alba)

You know, if humans don't want this old building, it has a squatter ready to turn it into a very fine bird house. Our main character here was just enjoying a bit of shade, standing on the edge of the bayou that runs in front of this disheveled building. Maybe he was thinking the shade would bring up some tasty treats like crawfish or tadpoles.

The building is on Airline Highway in St. Charles Parish in the New Sarpy area. Our squatting squatter is a Great Egret.

--steve buser

Water flying (Great Egret -- Ardea alba)

Look up flying in a Thesaurus. You'll find "quick, expeditious, fast, hasty, speedy."

Now look at the real thing. A Great Egret at City Park in New Orleans, pushed his wings out, leaned into what little wind there was and pushed the air back most unhastily. Having caught enough air to keep him suspended above the obscure bayou below, he set his sights on the tree lined shadowy realm on the other side. His silvery phantom sailed beneath the rippled surface as if it were boat of air holding him up into the sky.

Tell me again why flying is a an synonym for fast, hasty and speedy?

I can't hear you.

-- steve buser

Bad air day

You know it's true in your life. I am living witness of the fact.

You can try to be as graceful as you can, but something comes a long, a puff of wind, an unexpected thig-a-ma-jig right there where you wanted to land.

Whatever it is, it messes up your plans. You weren't expecting to have to make mid air maneuvers this close to the ground. You have no air speed left.

Flap your wings. Trim your feathers. Lean into the wind. Do what ever you have to so that you don't land belly first. Grace? We're talking about just salvaging the landing. You know: "Any landing you walk away from is a good landing."

This fellow at Audubon Park in New Orleans can tell you all about it. Even an Great Egret has a bad air day every once in a while. Hey it's life, you learn to live with it. Just remember all the good landings you had. That's the real you. Grace.

This ain't you.

--steve buser

Final Approach

I know it is an old joke, "just how final was the approach?" But watching this Great Egret circle in on the nest on a sharp downward spiral, was feeling awkward, for me. I've flown in airplanes with pilots like this -- real cowboys. Get 'er up and then Get 'r down. But this air ship is just a bucket of feathers and a hollow bones. Made me wonder if he saw something going on down in the nest that he didn't approve of.


-- steve buser

Limb walker

A Great Egret displays his dexterity in limb walking, spreading his wings like an acrobat for balance. This is from the rookery at Audubon Park in New Orleans -- just off St. Charles Street. The park was, of course, named after famed naturalist, John Jay Audubon, who lived in New Orleans in the early 1820's.

-- steve buser

Fishing lesson

I was wondering why about a dozen of these Great Egrets were hanging around this tangle of branches in the lagoon at Audubon Park in New Orleans. Then this guy leaned over and it hit me. These are the guys that taught us humans where to find fish. Even though the Egrets are white they kind of blend in with the light colored limbs to give them camouflage.

-- steve buser

My turn to go first

Despite the cries of "me first, me first," mom is resolute. It's not time for dinner yet. Apparently she is taking this New Orleans, slow-cooked, Southern cuisine thing a little to far. These chick are just plain hungry. The rookery at Audubon Park presents a good opportunity to see the lives of some handsome birds and to learn that sibling rivalries are not a uniquely human thing. Bring a pair of binoculars for great views

--steve buser

Meal time

These are our protaganists from a couple of weeks ago. I was filing away the photos when this one caught my eye. If you recall, the two chicks were fighting to be the first to eat. Mom was not ready to serve up the meal. I didn't realize I had caught the "dinner is ready" shot until I saw this one. Mom sticks her beak down the beak of one of the chicks and well... you get the idea -- a juicy meal.

Want to see some really amazing photos of wildlife in St. Bernard, you've got to check out Hippics -- his work just blew me away.

--steve buser

Glider

Your bones are hollow, your wings translucent. You are crafted to slice the wind. Let the wind slowly glide you down to your nest. Hundreds of feet of silent wind skimming. You are a Great Egret . You were born to be a brother of the wind.

From Audubon Park in New Orleans (make sure you click the photo to get the full effect.)

-- steve buser

You let go first

Great Egret chick 1: "I'll let go when you let go"
Great Egret chick 2: "No, you let go first."
Great Egret chick 1: "Both of us on the count of three let go."

Mom: "You both better pray you can fly faster that me."

Great Egret chick 1: "Don't let go."

These two birds on the left were fighting over who gets the first serving and when mom (maybe dad) tried to break it up, they both grabbed her by her beak. She forgot the old rule: never break up a bird fight.

The tustle went on for twenty minutes and was still going on when I left, though the Mom had escaped the beak lock quickly. She then let them fight it out between themselves and she stayed out of the way, looking off into the distance. "You bird brains fight it out. I've got no gator in this fight."

The fun was at the rookery in the lagoon of Audubon Park, New Orleans
--steve buser

Family feud

Mom sits up high out of the fray: "You chicks fight it out. When you're finished, we can all sit down to an orderly meal. If not, you will both starve to death."

To me, it looks like these two chicks need to be out getting their own meals. The rookery on the lagoon in Audubon Park, New Orleans, is the scene for this food fight among these Great Egrets.

Here's a couple videos that show how good of hunters egrets can be: Video One, Video Two

And a photo of what happens when everybody is polite and food is served. (from http://www.dlcphoto.com)

Lagniappe -- the rain pound and pound. Then it stopped and things sparkled. Today on Pixel Eyed.

--steve buser

Getting ready for nest eggs

A Great White Egret fixes up his?/her? nest (both participate in the building) at the Audubon Park rookery in New Orleans. The rookery is a island in the bayou which makes a loop through the park. On the inner shore is a golf course. On the outer shore is a jogging path that runs around the park and an excellent observation bank for people and photographers to sit or stand (I am not implying, note you, that photographers and people do not overlap).

Herons with white feathers are generally called egrets. Note the long s-shaped neck and the strong yellow bill (orangish in breeding season) made for stabbing prey. The long filamentous plumes on the falling down the side of the bird are breeding plumage called aigrettes. Also the green along the sides of the eye (lores) are a breeding sign for both males and females. The nests go to nearly the tops of the trees.


-- steve buser

Stick-built home

It's spring time and that means nesting season -- building a home one twig at a time. This Great Egret brings in a prize for her tree-top abode where the new ones will get heir first glimpse of the world. The shot is at the Audubon Park rookery -- an island in the bayou of the park just across from Tulane and Loyola Universities in New Orleans. I was amazed to see the cluster of fire power on the shore when I took this shot -- professional nature photographers with lenses up to about 1000mm maybe more. It's a favorite and easy-to-get-to place for nature photography right in the heart of the Big Easy.


--steve buser