Welcome to the third Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #3 challenge is Waders. Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.
Most Wading Birds are patient when they forage.
Waders are bird species that strut about in lakes, rivers, swamps, oceans or any place that holds a bit of water. Waders are found all over the world on every continent except Antarctica. Identifying waders is pretty easy even for the person who isn’t a birder. Loosely classified are Cranes, Egrets, Herons, Ibises, Rails, Spoonbills, Storks, Flamingos and other species.
The feature image if you can see it is a Tricolored Heron, patiently stalking his prey and providing me an incredible photo opportunity with the reflection in my face.
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Herons are stealthy hunters and you want to talk about patiences…they invented it! They are very social during breeding. The male will find a nice spot in a colony that can consist of 500 or more individual nests. He will then present it to the female and she will begin weaving a platform consisting of a saucer-shaped nest cup. They can have 2-6 eggs per clutch and 1-2 broods per year. Despite its size of 46″ (almost 4 feet tall), Great Blue Herons only weigh 5-6 pounds. Great Blue Herons can be found in most of the United States and a good part of Canada.
Greater Yellowlegs
The Greater Yellowlegs, not to be confused with the Lesser Yellowlegs, can be difficult to identify unless they are next to each other or you are close to them so you can get an idea of the size. The Greater Yellowlegs is 14″, whereas the Lesser Yellowlegs is 10.5″.
American Flamingo
The American Flamingo is about as elusive in the field as any bird I’ve ever chased. The speck of pink out there is the best photo I have. We made three trips to the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge (3 1/2 hour drive one-way) during the lockdown to find this bird. Third time was a charm! This was a life bird. Sure, I have seen them in the zoo, but they don’t count towards your official bird count. This Flamingo is believed to have been blown in with Hurricane Michael when it hit Mexico City Beach in the panhandle of Florida as a Cat 5 on October 7, 2018. This bird has been seen often and recorded on ebird.org for the past 2 years and we finally got it!
I’m not patient at all, but I sure can dance
– Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret
Reddish Egrets are a medium to large heron that come in a dark and white form. The photos above are the dark form. They have a bill that is pink at the base with a black tip. They are not patient when feeding and can often be seen dancing their way around a meal. They are quite entertaining if you ever get a chance to witness their playful nature. This bird comes into the Jacksonville area once in a blue moon. We usually have to travel down to Merritt Island to get this on our bird list for the year. These images were taken at Merritt Island Wildlife Rescue in April.
Snowy Egret
The Snowy Egret is smaller than a Great Egret and larger than a Cattle Egret. They grow to be 22.1-26″ (56-66 cm) and weigh 13.1 oz (370 g). Their wingspan can be about 39.4″ (100 cm). Adults are all white with a black beak, black legs and yellow feet like the one above. They wade in shallow water and spear fish and other small aquatic animals. The snowy egret nests in colonies like the herons.
Until next week…Week #4 – Ducks and Geese.
Our Eyes Open 
Comments
40 responses to “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Waders”
What wonderful photos! I especially love the dance of the Reddish Egret.
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Thank you! The Reddish Egret is so fun to watch when they are feeding. 😊💜
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They sure are. Welcome.
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That’s a wonderful variety of waders! Two I’ve never seen in the wild- the Reddish Egret and a Flamengo. I’d love to see both especially that dancing Reddish Egret. 😀
Here’s the link to my entry this week.
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I hope you get to see both. I’ve been chasing that Flamingo for a long time.
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Me too! Maybe I’ll get lucky if I get back to Florida and cross a couple off my list.
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Glad you’re not coming down here any time soon. When this COVID19 crap goes away, I’m ready to travel. 😊
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Us too! I’d like to get over there and see my Mom though.
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I know you would. American Airlines couldn’t give away their tickets to me right now.
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beautiful captures! 🙂
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Thank you! 😊
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Thanks for post that reflex my memory. I have seen most of them.Also, the great egret which has yellow legs show the different between these birds. There are a number of them in the .Salton sea. The reddish egret was seen at Paharant NWR . Our pictures are very good.
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[…] Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Waders […]
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You have some really fabulous wading bird photos! Thanks for sharing!
Here’s my entry:
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Thank you so much. 😊
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Fabulous photos, Lisa.
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Thank you so much! I had more but ran out of time. Sometimes less is more. 😊
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I don’t have that many but I’ll post them tomorrow 🙂
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Whatever and whenever is convenient for you. I look forward to seeing what you have. 🙂
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[…] Posted for – BIRD WEEKLY – PHOTO CHALLENGE – WADERS […]
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Awesome clicks and great details… love it! Here is mine – https://myheart2heart.blog/2020/06/26/mobbed/
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Thank you. 😊
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My kind of collection 👏👏👏
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Yay! Why don’t you join in? You’ve got great photos! 😊
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Thanks, I may just do that at times:-)
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I’d love that! 😊
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[…] 3 of Lisa Coleman’s bird weekly challenge is waders ~ any bird that forages for insects, molluscs and crustaceans in the shallows […]
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[…] to discover that Our Eyes Open has a weekly bird challenge. Here’s my entry for week #3: waders. Featured image is the Great Blue […]
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So many great photos; I admire your patience and persistence in getting a shot fo the American Flamingo!
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Persistence for sure! 😊
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What a fantastic series of shots. 😁
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Why thank you so much Irene! I had so many more but ran out of time. Then I found my Spoonbill images today…of course. 🙂
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[…] Bird Weekly Challenge – Waders […]
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[…] In this weeks bird weekly photo challenge is waders. […]
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Only 1 picture of a wader from me.
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[…] This is a response to bird weekly challenge week #3-waders […]
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http://www.mishistoriasdeviajes.com/2020/07/reto-fotografico-un-clase-de-pajaro.html
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[…] may be wondering what was so special about finding the American Flamingo. I mentioned this in my Bird Weekly – Waders blog a couple of weeks ago. This bird has been in or around the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge park for […]
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