Sunday, May 1, 2011

Nature's fashion show at Gatorland.


The great egret gets the lime green color above the beak. Normally, that is a dark yellow that blends in with the beak. They grow the white feather strings that hang down in the spring.


Cattle egret with beige feathers on his chest and head. Normally this would be all white. The beak turns bright purple and orange. His legs get turn brighter.


That little white feather on the head pops up and the tri-colored heron gets a little more burgundy in his feathers. His red eye becomes much brighter.


The snowy egret's yellow beak and feet turn pink and orange.


Pretty pink face.

The adult breeding birds are really pretty this time of year. Bird rookeries are fashion shows for birds. I guess it's their nature's makeup. A couple of weekends ago I headed back to Gatorland to see if there were any more babies. Lots of adults birds with beautiful faces prancing around. Most have coupled up and are either building nests or already have babies. I'm going to try and get to Gatorland one more time to catch the tri-colored heron babies before the season winds down.

3 comments:

  1. Really well done sequence!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  2. those are beauties! so far i've seen the green on the great egret and the peach on the cattle egret here in texas. lovely!

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