The Great Egret (Ardea alba)

We had just pulled into the road to Pinckney Wildlife reserve.  Not a bird in sight, well this fellow, I would call him a Sentry, flew in making its presence known.  This very large white orange beaked fellow flew to a tree and stood there looking right at us.  It seemed stern in manner curious to the fact, we did not belong in his territory. I thought maybe it would fly away after seeing us staring up at him.  As I turned around, to tell Deb to get her camera, she was already gone.

We spent about thirty minutes watching this great bird.  The Egret was beautiful in the wind, fluffs of soft white feathers fluttered as he faced it.  The bird was tall when it stretched out his long snake-like neck. He truly looked like a guard of his domain.

Pinckney Island is full of wild marshes and there are various rookeries. The island is full of vegetation and wild birds of all kinds. The reptile population was very active. The cycle of predator /prey was evident.

We knew it would be interesting because we were greeted by one of its inhabitants, sitting in a large dead tree.  This event gave us the impression that this was going to be a wonderful day of birds, not to mention alligators, and that is another story.  Maybe this bird was trying to warn us of things to come.