Doing some birding in Milwaukee County along the Menominee River Parkway, I came across a Great Egret in a small pond. The adult Great Egret did some hunting for food, caught some food, ate food and did some preening too. It ate crayfish, minnows and some larger fish. A beautiful bird! It was a warm morning out, little wind and mostly sunny. Images were taken on August 12, 2018.
The Great Egret coming in for a landing…
The slow down…
It is there…
Some of the beauty of the Great Egret…
It catches a minnow size fish…
Preening with a dragonfly on its back…
Sees a new spot to check out for food…
Going for something to eat…
Catches a crayfish and holds it….a dragonfly on its back…
Flips the crayfish…
Trying to get a better grip…
Drops it into the water…
Grabs it out of the water…
Brings it up…
Trys to hold it steady…
gives it a flip and…
In it goes with the dragonfly still on its back…
Looking and listening for the next food…
Another shot of the Great Egrets free rider, the dragonfly…
Another catch of a small fish…
Preening in the tree…straightening all those feathers…
Perched pretty…
A landing…
Concentration….right before the catch…
The reflection in the early morning sun…
The catch!
Yet another little fish to eat…
Then a crayfish…
A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron lands close by…
The closeup of the Black-crowned Night-Heron…
Jim, Great images. As you might guess I was interested and amused by the dragonfly. Can’t quite figure out what species it is -major migraine this morning. Image falls apart at extreme magnification. Do you post at max DPI? If you have a higher resolution image it would help. I am still working on the ID. The color appears a bit reddish which is confusing. Do you mind me posting it on the Wisconsin Dragonfly Society Facebook page after I figure it out? With full credit of course.
You definitely saw lots of action. Thanks for sharing.
So beautiful, Jim. Thank you.
Wow! These images are beyond stunning. And your narrative is great fun! Thank You, Jim.
Fantastic photography! Those parachute wings in the second photo as the egret comes in for a landing are amazing. Thank you.