With the feeding frenzy going on in the drying ponds at Brazoria NWR are some spectacular areal foraging flights of Snowy Egrets. I couldn’t help but to have a little chuckle to myself as I watched the egrets swooping over the water dragging their toes and plunging their beaks down to snatch tiny fish from near the water’s surface. It seems like so much work for such a tiny meal. Obviously, it is worth the effort as there is quite a gathering around the pond to take advantage of the opportunity. Typically, I find Snowy Egrets to be quite graceful birds but I have to say they looks a bit awkward as they skim along with their feet dangling down, in this case just past the snout of a large alligator. In this show the bird had caught two fish but lost one, which can be seen slightly out of focus falling back into the water. Equally impressive is the egret’s ability to gulp the fish down before completing a single wing beat. The camera reveals so much that I can’t catch with my eye.

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Egretta thula