{"id":9283,"date":"2013-08-27T03:38:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T09:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9283"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:05:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T19:05:04","slug":"reddish-egret-up-close-and-not-so-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/27\/reddish-egret-up-close-and-not-so-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Reddish Egret Up Close And Not So Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ReddishReddish Egret portrait – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

On my Great Blue Heron<\/a><\/span> post yesterday I mentioned that:<\/p>\n

When I am out photographing birds I always appreciate when I am able to get close enough to them to get portrait frames of them because a portrait can show fine details that an image from further away can.<\/p>\n

Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret.\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0are also known as “The Drunken Sailor” for the wacky poses they exhibit while hunting, I wish that everyone of my readers could see that dance at least once in a lifetime. Maybe even from the perspective that I some times had while sitting or kneeling waist deep in a lagoon with expensive camera gear in hand while thinking “Oh oh, is that Reddish Egret going to mow me down because it isn’t paying attention to a thing outside of its prey let alone the crazy woman in the lagoon?”<\/p>\n

I was sitting in the warm water of the lagoon when I photographed this adult Reddish Egret in breeding plumage but the egret was on dry ground near some mangroves\u00a0so I wasn’t concerned about it running into me or spearing me with its knife-like bill while calling “Shiska-Mia”!<\/p>\n

Okay, back to being serious. With this close up image I can see plenty of fine detail in the plumage, eyes, lores and bill. The details in the “mane” and other feathers show very nicely. I am not sure why but the “mane” has always reminded me a dreadlocks on Reddish Egrets.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Reddish Egret in breeding plumage\u00a0– Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

From a distance I can appreciate the full body of the egret and with more of the “mane” showing people who have never seen this wading bird before might understand why the feathers on the head and neck are sometimes even called a “mane”. The mane doesn’t look so much like dreadlocks when the bird is standing still but when it is running about chasing prey those ropy sections of feathers going flying about willy-nilly and that is when they most remind me of dreads.<\/p>\n

For me; both images are appealing and tell me a lot about this Reddish Egret.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to view more of my Reddish Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,157],"tags":[4004,4053,4530,2369,743,351,4185,6216,4143,343,4046,313],"class_list":["post-9283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-reddish-egret","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-dark-morph","tag-drunken-sailor","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-egretta-rufescens","tag-fine-detail","tag-head-shot","tag-photography","tag-portrait","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2pJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63221,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/25\/fun-photographing-reddish-egrets-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":0},"title":"Fun Photographing Reddish Egrets In Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had so much fun photographing Reddish Egrets when I lived in Florida and could see them nearly every time I went to Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret foraging near mangroves, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49290,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/05\/immature-reddish-egret-adult-in-flight-with-nesting-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":1},"title":"Immature Reddish Egret & Adult in Flight with Nesting Material","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Immature or adult, dark or white morph, Reddish Egrets are spectacular and fascinating wading birds to see, observe and photograph.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Reddish Egret at Lassing Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2815,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/26\/reddish-egret-aka-big-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":2},"title":"Reddish Egret – aka Big Red","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Worth the sand in my clothes, scrapes on my knees and looking like something the cat had wanted to drag in but decided it was way too dirty? You betcha!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret portrait at Fort De Soto\u2019s north beach, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/reddish-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/reddish-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0511.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/reddish-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0511.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/reddish-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0511.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3636,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/10\/reddish-egrets\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":3},"title":"Reddish Egrets","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"While I lived in Florida I took thousands (and thousands) of images of Reddish Egrets and I am very glad that I did because they are rarities in Utah, where I now live.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret in the waves with prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15214,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/15\/reddish-egrets-wading-birds-that-delight\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":4},"title":"Reddish Egrets – Wading Birds That Delight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Reddish Egret is one of my favorite wading birds. Standing still they are a delight to the eyes and while hunting they can perform amazing turns, twists, gallops and appear to be dancing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret hunting by the sand dunes, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41304,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/24\/reddish-egret-hunting-in-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":9283,"position":5},"title":"Reddish Egret Hunting In The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White morph Reddish Egret after missed attempt for prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}