Birds

A Hunting Snowy Egret

August 11, 2012 by Corey 2 Comments

In my recent post about birding Jamaica Bay’s East Pond I mentioned a very successful Snowy Egret. It caught fish after fish after fish in the vicinity of the Raunt, which is the birders’ name for the old tumbled-down docks whose pilings stick out of the mud of the East Pond. The egret used two different hunting strategies. Sometimes it would stand still and then suddenly plunge its head beneath the surface and sometimes it would dash about frenetically, wings and feet all akimbo, before it used the same sudden stab to snag its prey. It was odd to watch a single bird use such drastically different hunting styles and I really don’t have an explanation as to why.

Whatever the reason, both styles coupled with morning light made for a good opportunity to get some decent digiscoped shots of a Snowy Egret. Enjoy!

…

If you liked this post and want to see more great images of birds make sure to check out 10,000 Clicks, our big (and growing) page of galleries here at 10,000 Birds.

………

Written by Corey

Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.