Those beautiful Snowy Egrets...

Birding Longboat Key, Florida

...continued from the thieving gull post.

A filmy flash of white feathers settled by the side of the road as I was driving on Longboat Key. The movement was so graceful and elegant I had to pull over to see what had landed there. Picking my way carefully down a sandy little path bordered by brush, rocks and stunted trees, I was happy to find a dainty little Snowy Egret tucked away in a shady little cove, already working on the task at hand--fishing. The beautiful bird had chosen the darkest part of the cove to fish in, and his white feathers almost seemed to glow against the deep greens in the background. I just hunkered down and was quiet, watching him as he moved in and out of the shadows eyeing the little silver fish glimmering just beneath the surface of the water.

...only a Snowy Egret can make catching a fish look sexy.

The deep shadows cast from the trees on the wooded embankment softened the scene and made this beautiful bird even more gorgeous.

...slipping through the water, Snowy would lift one slender leg after another, showing off those lovely golden slippers.

...his fluffy plumes being tossed around in the breeze were beautiful. It's easy to see how Snowy Egret populations were decimated during the great millinery feather trade of the mid 1850s and early 1900s. Thank goodness women like Florence Merriam Bailey worked to curb this millinery fashion style, saving our Snowy Egrets from extinction.

...as I climbed back up the sandy little hill, Snowy was still fishing, walking the shallows patient and vigilant.