Great Lakes region, USA. June 2026.
I’ve seen a ton of great egrets this year. I love watching Ardea hunt. One of the coolest genus of bird IMO.
No egerts.
- me when I see a heron
How is it I feel you get better up close views of animals than I do? 😄
Your photos are really something great. This is me standing 6 feet from this thing and your photos look way more alive.
I love seeing your posts.
Honestly I feel like most of my work is pretty mid, but sometimes I get lucky. The lighting is what makes this shot IMO. Having a long zoom also helps.
That’s a good shot and you’re lucky to have seen an owl. I never see them. The only thing I would have changed about it would be to get lower for a more intimate perspective.
Thanks for the kind words.
I don’t do any “real photography”, so I may not have the best eye for the details, but I look at hundreds of serious hobbyist and pro photos each day, and to my eyes at least, your stuff looks as good as a lot of theirs do.
That’s one of my owls from work today, so I was there to feed that one and it’s 2 step siblings.
Owl 2
Owl 3
I get nervous getting down to their level, as we’re enclosed together and their maneuverability becomes much better than mine down there! 😄
Especially Owl 1, that thing is a serious beast.
But that’s my thing. I imagine you are much further from that egret, I’m assuming, than I was from these owls, but your photos look more “real” and “alive” that either the pics my phone got from much closer, or even more than my eyes themselves, yet the photos don’t look fake or unnatural. My brain just can’t grasp how that works. 🤯
Photography is crazy magic to me.
I’m quite new to this craft myself, but IMO all photography is real photography. It is how you approach it that makes the difference. Lighting, perspective, and environment are all important considerations. Quite a bit of the look is reliant on editing too. I’m still struggling to learn proper editing, but practice makes perfect.
You’re incredibly lucky to work with owls. That sounds like an excellent time. They’re the bird that constantly eludes me.
I was probably 10’ from the egret. They’re surprisingly docile sometimes.
If you ever find yourself getting interested in camera gear you can find some solid used gear for cheap. My initial birding setup was incredibly cheap considering how expensive the new stuff can get. A decent camera and a nice telephoto zoom lens can get you really close to the subject.
Oh, that is close to the egret! I don’t know egrets’ attitudes, but they warn us that the herons will go straight for our eyeballs, so watch getting too close to these big spikey birds! 😮 I trust the hawks fairly well, and usually the owls, but the herons I keep back from and just toss their fish to the back corner!
After posting here everyday for 2 years about owls, I wanted to get hands on experience to keep learning, and there is thankfully a rehab 20 minutes from me. I learn so much about animals and everyone that works there is totally amazing. Today I fed squirrels, bunnies, and owls, but we’ve got a bit of everything right now.
My one friend dabbles with photography, mostly stuff around town, but he tried to teach me things. It just seems like something I’d get so bogged down with and spend way too much time obsessing over details instead of enjoying myself. I already do that enough with music crap. 😄
I should try to learn more editing though to make the photos I do take look nicer. I get some decent opportunities to grab shots with my phone, but they could use some better touching up.
But I think you’re doing wonderful. You’re one of my favorite posters.
Thank you, that means a lot. That’s awesome you volunteer your time. I should do that too.
I’m not too worried about getting my eyeballs pecked out, I don’t have their food, lol. They just run if I get too close. Though I did have a scary run-in with some trumpeter swans that were nesting.
I didn’t really get into photography to purposefully seek out “professional” looking photographs. I just love going for long walks and being in nature, and thought this would be a great addition to that. I don’t really treat it as something I must get good at, so that keeps me grounded, but there is room to be obsessive no doubt.
A little editing can go a long way. I’d suggest switching your phone to shoot in RAW + JPEG. It will take up a lot more storage on your phone, but you can tweek more settings in a RAW file and they apply appropriately. I typically edit on a desktop with open source Darktable, but something like Snapseed on mobile is powerful and free.
It’s a lot of fun, though sometimes gross, but one can’t really get any closer to animals, unless maybe you become the next Jane Goodall or something.
I’ve eyed up some used gear before. My friend uses Canon, but I tend to find my eyes drawn to some Sony (A series?) and the Olympus OM photos, but I never know how much is the camera vs the person behind the camera and Lightroom.
I believe I’ve used Snapseed in the past, may have to check that out again, and Darktable comes up on here a lot so maybe I will give that a spin too.
I’ll have to poke around and see if there is a local rescue I can volunteer at.
If you do wander into looking for gear, definitely weigh the pros and cons of each sensor type. Bigger sensors and smaller sensors offer tradeoffs.
I’d suggest trying to take more purposeful photos with you phone camera first then look into gear. Its training your mind to recognize opportunity that matters over gear. Bird photos can be hard in the wild though. Having a decent zoom lens is really helpful.
I live in Florida, and the pond across from my house gets DAILY visits from Egrets, Ibises, Herons, Anhingas, Hawks, Eagles, Sand Hill Cranes, and more. Literally every day. I might see an Eagle about once a week, but all the others are daily.
The other day I watched a hawk circle the pond several times, them dive into the water with a big splash. Alas, he came up empty-handed.
I also just found out that Sand Hill Cranes are the oldest known bird species, so George & Martha, the Sand Hill couple that sleep across the street from me for the last several years, are officially my favorite bird species.
I love the sandhill cranes too. I rarely see them though. I caught a couple migrating through during early spring, but hadn’t seen any until the other day when visiting the upper peninsula of Michigan. I saw a ton there.
Gives me dinosaur vibes.
All egrets, no regrets
Egrets? I’ve seen a few, but then again, too few to mention.
^my dad’s favorite pun
So you’re saying your dad did it his way?
Plant enjoyers should also appreciate the Sparganium inflorescence in the back
I was curious about that, thank you! It’s a beautiful plant.
Wow great shots! I believe we only have Herons out here Eastern PA. But damn that’s a big bird
Population
The Pennsylvania Game Commission counts active great egret (Ardea alba) nests in every known colony in the state every year to track changes in population size. Since 2009, only two nesting locations have been active in Pennsylvania: Kiwanis Lake, York County (fewer than 10 pairs) and the Susquehanna River’s Wade Island, Dauphin County (fewer than 200 pairs). Both sites are Pennsylvania Audubon Important Bird Areas. Great egrets abandoned other colonies along the lower Susquehanna River in Lancaster County in 1988 and along the Delaware River in Philadelphia County in 1991. Wade Island has been surveyed annually since 1985. The egret population there has slowly increased since 1985, with a high count of 197 nests in 2009. The 10-year average count from 2005 to 2014 was 159 nests. First listed as a state threatened species in 1990, the great egret was downgraded to endangered in 1999.
Reasons for Being Endangered
At the turn of the 20th century, many bird species were shot for use, in whole or in part, on women’s hats. Great egrets were hunted for their beautiful feathers. By 1917, some doubted the species could be saved from extinction. Plume trade, combined with the popular hobbies of egg and bird collecting, decimated populations of many bird species, leading to enactment of several federal laws to protect migratory, breeding and rare birds in the 1900s, namely the Lacey Act of 1900Opens In A New Window and Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918Opens In A New Window. In addition, the National Audubon Society, one of the country’s oldest non-profit conservation organizations, was formed around this time and used the great egret on its logo to symbolize the organization’s commitment to bird conservation. Legal protection from plume hunting enabled the species to rebound.
Pennsylvania’s first documented nesting record was in 1957. By 1990, birds had established three modest colonies here. Today, the main Great Egret Statewide Distribution threats faced by the great egret are habitat loss (flooding of shallow feeding areas as a result of dams, for example), water pollution and disturbance of nesting colonies. Boat traffic also can disturb egrets and boat wakes can wash out the shallow foraging areas.
I’d be willing to bet they’re there. They’ll inhabit most of the US.
Non, non aigrette
Non, je ne regrette aigrette
Piaf?
Nice pic! I live in Florida and they’re everywhere all year, and along with their Heron friends, I never get tired of watching them.
They’re much more uncommon near me. I’m in their migration path, but they don’t stick around for long.
