Thursday, July 20, 2017

The Great White Egret/Great Blue Heron





The Great Egret is a large heron that is white with black legs.  That is a fact for you but it does not describe the beauty of this elegant creature! Richard and I saw this at Alexander Lake at Panola Mountain State Park, at the lower lake, which after being drained is more of a wetlands area.  "A tall, stately white wader of quiet waters" is how the Audubon Society describes this bird.
The Great Egret was nearly wiped out at the end of the 19th century in North America and you would never believe the reason...it was for their plumes to decorate women's hats. 

Have you ever noticed the symbol for the National Audubon Society? It was chosen in 1953 and it is the Great Egret in flight.
Look!  Here I am wearing a National Audubon Society cap! The Great Egret is just behind me here but just to the right, not in the photo.  If your eyes are very good, you might spy another bird that we also admired. Can you see it? It is just above my capped head, just a bit to the left. (There are no natural lakes in Georgia, you can see all the tree stumps that were at the bottom of the lake!)

There, now you can see it!  It is the Great Blue Heron. We have often seen this bird at Alexander Lake but this was the first time we had seen the Great White Egret. (I do wonder if they are common in the Atlanta area!) 
Of course, I asked Richard to try and get both birds into the same shot.  You know he did!

I found a video from the Audubon Society for you!
We love our birds.  You really don't have to have any special equipment to enjoy them...just look out for them!

Our weather has been difficult for our nature walks lately...it is either boiling hot or threatening with thunderstorms.  I am ready for the autumn myself!  Hope you are all doing well.  Let me know if you like to observe birds as much as we do!

25 comments:

  1. Coincidentally when CJ and I were down in Exeter there were egrets on the river at The Fisherman's Cot. The video on the Audubon Society was interesting and informative - I'd not heard of it before (or if I had it hadn't registered).

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    1. I guess the Audubon Society is like your RSPB. (Oh, just looked up the history of the RSPB and two women actually started it, one of them from CROYDON!)
      I know that you and John must look at the birds, maybe even those with feathers! HA HA!

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  2. Kay, what a wonderful description: "A tall, stately white wader of quiet waters" - whoever writes the Audubon Society's texts must be a poet at heart!
    I love herons, and so this post was particularly interesting for me. The variety I see most often here in the Stuttgart/Ludwigsburg area is the grey heron. I am not sure if he is sometimes simply dubbed "silver heron" or whether that is a different kind, but we hardly see entirely white ones here.
    Beautiful birds anyway, no matter their colour!

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    1. And those words written on the Audubon site about the egret are exactly correct besides sounding like poetry!
      I agree, I love these birds and am always happy to see them, as if it is the first time ever!

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  3. Egrets and herons are always graceful elegant birds, even in flight with their slow languid wing-beats doing just enough to stay in the air. The new wetlands probably suits them more with shallow fishing opportunities, providing there are plenty of fish nearby to catch. Nice photos.

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    1. Thanks, Bob! I really enjoy having my own private photographer!
      They are lovely in flight, and guess what?! We went back to the same spot today and saw the white egret flying! We were pleased.

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  4. Herons are such beautiful birds and yes, I do love to watch the birds. I have bird books and love to identify ones I'm not familiar with. We have a blue hereon on the small lake in the community I live in, but more than not we have Canadian geese and mallard ducks there. Bird watching is a wonderful thing to do and gets exciting when a rare one comes along.

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    1. We also have bird books, but now, with the internet, it makes it much easier to identify a bird if we don't know what it is! Ah, the mallard! Funny thing, I pronounce that word "Mall-erd" but Richard says "Mall- ARD".
      Things like this tickle me no end!

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  5. I love sitting outside watching the birds fly from tree to tree, sometimes it seems as if they're talking to each other. I love listening to them sing.

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    1. Birds not only sing but they also have special calls! I have JUST found out which bird says "Rich-ARD", whoo, whoo,whoo"! Look out for it, I might do a post about it!
      I have tried to find this out for years and JUST saw this bird on a limb, doing this call where it sounds like he is calling my husband's name!

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  6. They are quite spectacular, love watching them take off in flight.

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    1. I bet you have a lot in Savannah, I think they might be a bit rare in the Atlanta area, was thrilled to see it.

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  7. Water birds are fascinating. I have seen cormorants sit on an old branch in the water for hours.

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    1. Yes! We love cormorants too, we have seen them also at Alexander Lake and also in England, in Eastbourne!

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  8. That is an absolutely beautiful bird. I can see why women would want them on their hats, but it's a shame they were almost made extinct because of it. If humans are going to use animals, the least we could do is sustain their populations rather than just drain them.

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    1. You now the RSPB that you have there? It also started as a way to stop the plumage being used for hats! (Yours was first, in the late 1890's, I think and the Audubon Society was in 1905. You Brits always have to do something first! LOL! Hey, we know what good things to copy!)

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  9. What i like is to watch all the birds in the field across the street looking for worms after a storm!

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    1. That sounds like the dear robins that we have, always looking for those worms!

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  10. I love the egrets (which I only see in Florida) and the great blue herons which nest in the National Park just down the road from me. In the spring when they are nesting there are always people out looking at them and taking photos.

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    1. Happy you are a bird lover too! (I knew you would be!)

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  11. Lovely post and you got some great photos. Much enjoyed, thank you :)

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    1. Thank you, Denise! My husband is a sweetie and gets the photos that I just WISH I could capture!

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  12. Those are fun birds to watch...tall and reedy...lol....We have them here, too, along with pelicans.
    I hope you have a great weekend. xoDiana

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    1. That is my goal in life, to be tall and reedy! LOL!
      Pelicans! Oh, I have only seen them in Florida, fascinating birds!
      Hope you have a great weekend too!! xx

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  13. The Audubon clip was interesting, Kay, although I think it was easier to tackle the plumage threat than our current challenge. I'm glad that the drained lake at Panola Mountain is functioning as a wetland. I enjoy watching birds any time!

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