"What are all of those white birds out there?" I have been getting asked this over and over for the past week. I want to say "well, if you would have read my blog entry back in July of 2011 you would know the answer!" However, I know that people do not have time to read bird nerd blogs. The beautiful white bird is a Great Egret. The thing is, back in July I had never seen more than one Egret at a time. This past Monday I came to work and there were FIFTEEN of them at the lake outside the bookstore. 15? Yes. That is correct. And to top it off there was even a Great Blue Heron standing off to the side. Here are some photos:
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| I took the photos above with my phone so I couldn't really zoom well. |
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| I used my 'real' camera for this one. |
So why are there so many of these snowy white Great Egrets at our lake? From what I have read it seems like they frequently hang out in groups while nesting or feeding in order to stay safe and protect themselves and their young against predators. That seems to make sense to me. I am no expert birder so I do not know if this large flock of birds is a family or if any of them are babies or mates.
Someone told me they think the Egrets are around because they like to eat Geese eggs. I believe this to be just a myth because the Canada Geese around here don't seem to mind the Egrets at all. In fact, here they are relaxing together:
And in this picture you will see an Egret, a Great Blue Heron AND some Canada Geese:
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| Egret is to the left. The Great Blue Heron is the one in flight. |
I have continued to be amazed all week at the beauty of these birds are the grace in which they move. I've always appreciated how pretty they are but now that there are so many in one area my appreciation is tenfold. As an employee of this college I feel honored to play 'hostess' to so many wonderful creatures. I hope I am not the only one who feels lucky to have these visitors around. They sure seem to be enjoying themselves.
Here they are on their own private island! (Yes, that is the water fountain!)
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| Another poor quality picture (thanks to my phone). |
