Lots of sibling drama on the egret trail today. I can hardly believe these elegant, hilarious juveniles are the same three I photographed in June as tiny, shaggy peeps. Those are their parents at the end of this video, trying to have a quiet morning while the kids are downstairs arguing over whose turn it is to do the dishes.
This is just one small swath of the front side of the egret trail as seen from a facing hillside (my photos and videos are taken from a trail behind the trees shown here).
The video posted above features just one family in one tree. Each tree holds maybe five-ten families (some more, some fewer). Turn up the volume and multiply by a hundred or so to get the full effect of sheer egret honk-tasmagoria.
@handmade_ghost by coincidence I took a photo of an egret dormitory yesterday morning. I was surprised to see them roosting there, I was walking earlier than usual and I they were still waking up. Usually that tree is full of African Darters, I wonder if there's been a change of residents, or if it's just the time of day.
@Zumbador Fantastic photo! It's so interesting to me that egrets will sometimes nest right along the water, but sometimes up on the hillside here (the lake is visible from the dormitory, but not near/adjacent).
@handmade_ghost Thank you for sharing these!
@handmade_ghost Wow, just beautiful! They are so busy honking, too - lots to say!
@Sunny05 Thanks! They are simultaneously so raucous in behavior and so serene in bearing--I just love them.