Egrets at Chincoteague

In the early morning, egrets gathered in the shallows at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The gathering was quite close to a place we could park and we were thrilled that they ignored the noise we made getting out of the car. There were two different kinds. The Great White Egrets are the ones that look calm and sedate in the picture above. They are larger and have yellow beaks. Do you see the two of them in the image?

The other birds are snowy egrets. They have black beaks and yellow or red near the eye. The red is the breeding coloration. They were anything but sedate. The squabbles went on and one with lots of fluffed feathers and then some calming seconds to find a snack or strike a pose. Their feathers often look punkish during breeding season.

The Great White Egrets were more focused on food. They generally ignored the Snowy Egret ruckus but sometimes would be forced to move out of the way. My husband caught two sequences (back and front) of the birds landing after a short flight. The pictures show the wings turning up at the end and the way the wings fold as they are landing - with one last flap before finally settling.