Chillin Under The Bridge

by Kathy White

Title

Chillin Under The Bridge

Artist

Kathy White

Medium

Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!

Description

Chillin Under the Bridge is a photo I took of a great egret trying to stay cool and have a little snack under the shadows and the protection of a bridge.
Great Egrets are tall, long-legged wading birds with long, S-curved necks and long, dagger-like bills. In flight, the long neck is tucked in and the legs extend far beyond the tip of the short tail.
All feathers on Great Egrets are white. Their bills are yellowish-orange, and the legs black.
Great Egrets wade in shallow water (both fresh and salt) to hunt fish, frogs, and other small aquatic animals. They typically stand still and watch for unsuspecting prey to pass by. Then, with startling speed, the egrets strike with a jab of their long neck and bill.
You’ll find Great Egrets in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. They are colonial nesters, typically placing stick nests high in trees, often on islands that are isolated from mammalian predators such as raccoons.
The Great Egret walks with its neck extended and its wings held close to its body. In flight, it is graceful and buoyant, with its neck tucked back against its shoulders and its legs trailing behind. Great Egrets form monogamous pairs each breeding season, though it’s not known whether the pair bond lasts through multiple years. Early in the breeding season adults grow long plumes on their backs, which they raise in courtship displays. Males perform most of the displays, which can involve preening the wings, ducking the head, holding and shaking twigs in the bill, and stretching the neck. Nestlings compete fiercely with each other, and dominant chicks sometimes end up stabbing the youngest siblings to death. The chicks also threaten and attack intruders.
Great Egrets fly slowly but powerfully: with just two wingbeats per second their cruising speed is around 25 miles an hour.
Though it mainly hunts while wading, the Great Egret occasionally swims to capture prey or hovers (somewhat laboriously) over the water and dips for fish.

Uploaded

September 13th, 2013

Statistics

Viewed 174 Times  -  Last Visitor from Beverly Hills, CA on 04/21/2024 at 9:12 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags