This Great Egret wasn’t having much luck attracting a mate with his beautiful dancing but that didn’t stop him from working on a nest.
He had a good location in the tree and I suspect did not want to give it up to go searching for building materials. With a mate selected one would stay on the nest site to keep intruders away.
Instead he grabbed pieces from the limbs around him, continuing to display those gorgeous tail feathers.
Taken 3/13/2019
This Great Blue Heron was snoozing on the nest when I came along. I was happy to see that the tree is showing some life with some green needles appearing.
At one point the heron got up, stretched and ruffled himself.
When he settled back down he took a long time adjusting from side to side making me think the eggs might have hatched.
The Great Blue was keenly aware of the Great Egret encroaching on his territory. This tree, like past years, has several Great Egret nests and some of the Great Egrets aren’t paired up yet and are searching for nesting spots.
Or perhaps “Saucer Magnolia” depending on where you look. Google quickly overwhelmed me with information in my search for how many varieties there might be. I’ll just say this particular tree has huge blossoms, 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm) across, and they have a more delicate coloring than those in my post Tulip Magnolias in Bloom.
These blossoms didn’t seem to have the outer fuzzy covering as other tulip magnolias I have seen.
The blossoms emitted a sweet, but not overwhelming, fragrance. Some other varieties I have encountered could almost be said to stink.
Many Azaleas are also in bloom in this area and these made a nice backdrop to another unopened bloom.
Taken March 13, 2019.
Before the Green Heron from my post On The Hunt found a hunting spot he posed on a limb from a falen tree sticking out of the pond. There was a light breeze and the water was creating a
Green Herons tend to be shy and I expected him to take off any moment.
From that stubby perch he surprised me and flew to a spot a bit closer to shore where he showed off his goofy head feathers and long beak.
The Great Egrets perform an elaborate mating dance. Yesterday I watched this one over several hours in this tree. The other Great Egrets didn’t seem to be impressed.
A Great Egret pair were proudly showing off their building materials as they worked on making their nest while another Great Egret laid on her nest behind them.
Word Press tells me this is my 999th post on Passing By Photo. My first blog post was four years ago yesterday and I’ve seen some amazing things along the way. It’s been my goal to share images that show the beauty of nature, birds and animals, and some non-natural things I’ve passed by, with a bit of text to give context.
Four years ago I could not image all of the marvelous things I would see and photograph, including Roseate Spoonbills.
I have great fun doing this and offer many thanks to all of you that have followed along, commented and liked my posts.
Here’s to another 999!
Pause on way to swamp
for purple iris standing
in sun dappled woods
A slow and methodical hunt was in progress.
A Green Heron was wading in water up to his chest, bent over in the stalking position, stretching out his neck.
Bam!
The snack he captured was so tiny, I wonder if it was worth all that time and effort.
With a gracefully balanced stick a Great Egret flies to the nest he is building with his mate.
Wings out, feet ready for touch down, he glides into the tree.
Unfortunately for me, the nest is on the far side of the tree, but with no leaves out yet there is a view of the welcome home squawk.
Somehow these big birds manage to maneuver to a landing and not get tangled up with their building materials.
2/28/2019
