Yesterday at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, several egrets were standing enjoying the rising sun. They were wearing their breeding plumage with long airy feathers (see https://janthinaimages.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/she-sits-in-her-beauty-upon-her-nest/).
Great Egrets enjoying the sunrise.
One was playing pickaboo as it preened itself.
Great Egret peekaboo.
Great Egret: I see you!
neihtn 
These are such great shots Hien, so worth of the majesty that egrets have…and the lighting makes the mood.
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Thank you Randall!
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Absolutely stunning photos, Hien. 🙂
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Thank you, Jet!
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They are beautiful! Great pictures!
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Thanks Agnes. Glad you like them.
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Gorgeous pictures!! The light is incredible! And I’ve always admired their flexibility…whether preening or playing peekaboo 🙂
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Thank you, Tiny! The light at 7:30 in the morning was very good, and there was no haze.
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Lovely photos!
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Thanks, Katelon!
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Great shots, Hien! Love these beautiful egrets. 🙂
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Thank you Amy!
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It was as though they knew you were there to take their photograph. The colors of the light, their feathers – all picturesque.
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They indeed stood there, only moving their necks and bills, waiting for their photographer to get his act under way! 🙂 Thanks, Mary.
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The reflections are amazing!
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Beautiful! They sure know how to keep their features clean 😉
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Thanks Helen. Like Judy said below, the egrets spend a lot of time preening and cleaning themselves.
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Looks like a serene day out at the refuge!! Yeah, Egrets spend an awful lot of time preening all those lovely feathers don’t they. It is fun to realize that the birds I am seeing here in Florida, you are also seeing in your neck of the woods. By the lores turning green and the abundance of aigrettes yours are getting into the mood for love too! I expect my season begins before yours and advances northward.
Those aigrettes nearly cost the Great Egret its existence when they were nearly hunted to extinction for their lovely plumes. And I used the word ‘hunted’ lightly since the birds were often shot right in their nests sitting on their eggs because that is when the plumes are most luxurious. They begin to drop off and thin out the older the chicks get. I think of them as a bridal train!!
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Thanks Judy. I am glad that fashion has now bypassed airgrettes, and that the Great Egrets have survived to these days.
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Wow!
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Great shots!
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Thank you!
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