great white egret

This bird, the great white egret, is a much more common visitor to our dock & canal than the mottled ducks I shared the other day. Probably in part, because of the charter captain who lives across the way. When he gets home from taking people out on a charter, he throws buckets of leftover bait fish in the canal! The white egret, great blue heron and little blue heron all seem to know his schedule and are often waiting for him.

I was taking a few pictures of the beautiful white egret standing on a neighbors lift, when he started dipping his beak in the water. It wasn't like he was fishing. That is more like an intense staring at the water and then darting his beak in! I told Steve I thought the egret was drinking water, but he was not sure about that because the water is brackish -half salt from the Gulf of Mexico. Steve said maybe he was just getting a little water to wash down a fish stuck in his throat!! Well, that could be true . . . no matter what the egret was doing, I found it fascinating to watch. I love how the camera captured the drops of water, it made my day! 

More about these birds here:
 https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id