Monday, May 31, 2010

Snowy Egret


We stopped the bike to watched him catch three fish in the creek. Admirably patient and suddenly explosive, the S-curve of his neck allows him to dart his bill at fish in the water like a teathered spear. Little Honey jumped with surprise each time. During mating season the top of his bill turns from yellow to red and his feathers gain a flamboyantly frilly plumage. It was these feathers that almost made his kind a forever fatal victim of 19th Century ladies hat fashions. When the nest is full of light blue eggs, male and female take turns tending them__much like Big Honey and Honey Pot.