In the spring of 2008 I was permitted to photograph a small rookery in Louisiana. It is in a swamp with beautiful moss covered cypress trees and sweet tupelo gum trees. Birds nest in rookeries because there is safety in numbers and there are as many as six nests in one tree.
It did not take long to recognize two very special egrets, more beautiful and majestic than all the egrets in the rookery. Their nest is at least 20 feet off the ground and 20 feet out over the swamp.
This gallery is a photojournal of the egrets whom I have named Scheherazade and Needlenose.
Needlenose has a very distinct nostril, larger and clearer than any I have seen.
Theirs is a love story, let's pretend.