White morph Reddish Egret hunting behaviorWhite morph Reddish Egret hunting behavior – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 220mm, natural light

Yesterday on Facebook I saw a video that reminded me of how much fun it was to get into the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico or a tidal lagoon and photograph Reddish Egrets while they hunted for prey. I must have watched the video a dozen times since I first saw it in my timeline.

Reddish Egrets have two morphs, the dark morph where they are reddish and a white morph. The white morphs are less common in the U.S. and in the Caribbean the white morphs predominate.

White morph Reddish on the huntWhite morph Reddish on the hunt – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 240mm, natural light

I photographed this white morph Reddish Egret hunting in the Gulf of Mexico in June of 2008 and truly enjoyed observing its hunting behavior through my lens. Reddish Egrets sway, run, dash, prance and dance while they are hunting.

I’ve had this species completely ignore me while I have sat photographing them in quiet lagoons as they ran around chasing prey, at times I had them come so close to me that I couldn’t focus on them and wondered if I was going to get run over by a wading bird.

White morph Reddish Egret making a splashWhite morph Reddish Egret making a splash – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 240mm, natural light

In this frame the Reddish Egret had plunged its head and bill into the water in an attempt to capture prey.

I loved photographing both morphs but always enjoyed seeing the white morphs against the blue water of the Gulf and tidal lagoons.

White morph Reddish Egret after missed attempt for preyWhite morph Reddish Egret after missed attempt for prey – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm at 240mm, natural light

There are only about 2000 breeding pairs of Reddish Egrets in the United States making them our least common, or even rarest wading bird. They are found along the Atlantic coast of Florida, the Gulf coast, the coast of Mexico west towards Baja, Central America, the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America.

I’m glad I was able to spend so much time photographing Reddish Egrets in Florida.

Life is good.

Mia

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