This time of year we continue to welcome back the birds that head south for the winter. Yesterday I saw many of these “snow birds” including these beautiful snowy egrets.

You would be hard pressed to find a prettier bird than these. Their gorgeous white plumage and yellow eyes and feet really set them apart.

The feathers of snowy egrets were actually highly sought after in the 1800s for use in hats and other clothing. They were quite valuable and this resulted in the bird’s populations plummeting. Thankfully, conservation efforts have put an end to that and their populations have recovered.

Catching fish isn’t easy and you certainly don’t want to do anything to disturb them and run them off. That seemed to be the tactic this pretty egret was taking as it relocated from one spot to another, looking for breakfast.

Taken a couple of months ago on one of my first outings with my Canon EOSR5, the camera was doing a fantastic job tracking the egrets as they fished on a quiet, late summer morning.

I know I wake up with “bed head” but this egret, goodness.  😀 

This beautiful bird was hanging out along the South Platte River recently and put on a nice show for me. It spent much of the time wading along a sand bar, nabbing fish. At one point, it fluffed all up, putting on a nice show of its plumage.

Snowy egret feathers were actually much sought after in the late 1800s for use in hats and other clothing. In fact, they were quite valuable at the time and the desire for them caused their populations to plummet. They have since recovered.

A pretty extreme closeup of this cool bird getting its breakfast. Undoubtedly a better morning for the egret than it was for the fish. 😉

Taken with my new Canon R5 and I continue to be impressed with its capability. With its high resolution, I can still retain extraordinary detail despite having a hefty crop on a shot like this.

Nothing like being tossed around a bit before you are devoured, eh? I almost felt sorry for that little fish. 😉

In fact, this is a common thing done by these birds. They catch the fish toward the tip of their beak which of course makes it kind of hard to get into their mouth. So, they flip the fish in the air and then nab it closer to the base of the beak making it easier to get into their mouths.

This past Saturday I was looking for a different subject and different location than my usual haunts so I headed to a suburban park southwest of Denver. There were a number of these beautiful birds there and because it is a pretty busy park, these guys are unusually tolerant of people giving some nice photo ops.

Well, this was kind of a fun – and lucky – capture.

I was taking pictures of the egrets and herons at a pond recently. It wasn’t an ideal situation as I was shooting into the early morning sun which creates a variety of challenges for photography, particularly with fast moving subjects. Nevertheless, I was clicking away, hoping to get something worthwhile and ended up with this shot.

The snowy egret was flying right at me and I captured the image as it flared its wings and touched the water’s surface. The reflection of the bird on the water was a nice add-on.

Another seasonal visitor to the Colorado plains and one of the prettiest. These guys are usually pretty skittish but sometimes you find a patient one, or in this case, have one fly right by you.

This one was cruising up the South Platte River a week or so ago, giving me a nice view in the early morning light.

The wispy plume of feathers snowy egrets get during mating season were, at one time, very valuable. In the late 19th century the feathers fetched more money per ounce than gold! Thankfully, humans wised up and reversed the trend of destroying these creatures simply for decoration and they have recovered nicely.

Mother Nature didn’t play nice today with chilly temperatures and overcast skies. That limited the photo opportunities today and getting a good bird in flight shot in the low light is hard. Somehow I managed to get a couple of good ones though.

There were about two dozen of these cool white birds hanging out at a pond in Adams County, Colorado. They didn’t mind the 38 degree temperatures although I would have preferred something a bit milder. 😉

A bit of a throwback image to last May. These birds are simply gorgeous with their all-white plumage. They are pretty skittish so I don’t normally get decent captures of them.

On this day, a dozen of them were hanging out on a pond in Adams County, Colorado and decided to be kind to me and let their picture be taken. I was able to lay down and get some nice, eye-level captures.

During the summer these birds are pretty common in Colorado but during the winter they prefer the warmer environs of Mexico. I don’t blame them. 😉