Before long, the White Egrets (Ardea alba) will leave this area for more temperate locations, so I was happy to get a few shots this past weekend of one of them at Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River.
The egrets like to roost in trees that overlook this stream and the first shot shows an egret relaxing in a tree after I inadvertently flushed him. I am deliberately underexposing the image in an effort to keep from totally blowing out the highlights of this very white bird, but it is still very hard to capture any details on the body.
The second shot shows the egret out of the water and its pose reminds me of a dancer, with its slim body and long elegant neck.
If things follow last year’s course, the blue herons will remain in my local area for most of the winter, but the egrets and green herons will soon depart. I’ll be looking for more photo opportunities with them before they leave.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
I can see how that bird would be tough to get a good shot of on a sunny day.It’s beautiful though and well worth the effort.
From a reflective perspective, herons are a little easier to photograph, but I find the herons to be a bit more gawky and the egrets to be a little more elegant. Egrets also seem to be a bit more sensitive and it’s almost impossible for me to get close to one.
It’s interesting that these birds migrate so much further south than the herons, when they are roughly the same size and feed on roughly the same food in the same fresh water and salt water locations. Maybe Phil Lanoue has some insights into interactions between the two species that would explain why??
I am not sure why, but the range maps at Cornell Lab of Ornithology seem to confirm my impressions that egrets migrate south out of my area and blue herons don’t. (Here is the link for the blue herons http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id
and for the egrets
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id )
Egrets also love this area didnt’ realize until recently they sat in trees
I too was surprised to see that they seem to enjoy hanging out in the trees when they are not fishing. Occasionally I will also see a blue heron in the trees, but not as often as the egrets.
I find the blue herons are much more approachable and therefore easier to photograph than the egrets. I’m still seeing a few egrets on the river – I’m in the Chicago area. They should be migrating soon as will the blue herons. The range map suggests blue herons stay here but I’ve never seen them in winter.
I’m quite a bit further south than you are (in Northern Virginia), so birds tend to linger a bit longer here. I actually saw blue herons off and on through most of last winter.
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