A Great Egret (Ardea alba) and a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) started goofing around yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park when I was trying to take their photo together—I think they are great friends. They looked like they were posing for a selfie.
I cropped the image to a square to make it easier for them to post to their Instagram pages.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
My dad used to tell us that to tell Herons from Egrets, Egrets have black legs!
That is definitely one of the best ways to tell them apart. Around here, most of the times the big white wading birds are Great Egrets, though occasionally I see immature Little Blue Herons that are white.
That’s a great shot, Mike. You seem to be getting photos of some unusual encounters these days, and the photography is terrific.
Thanks, Sue. I’m always drawn to images that let me tell a little story (sometimes made up), especially when the poses are a bit unusual.
Your selfie idea put a big smile on my face this morning and the instagram one immediately reinforced it. I’d love to see a video clip of them goofing around!
You seem to share my quirky humor, Gary. I’ve never attempted to do video with my DSLR and would need to upgrade to a newer model (which will happen eventually). The heron was much more active, while the egret seemed to be trying to sleep.
Awww, what a cute moment. Pretty rare for a Great Blue to be so extroverted.
Normally there seems to be some territorial issues, so I was quite surprised to see these two co-exist peacefully.
Here in Portland, Oregon, the herons are solitary right up until the fall migration when they get together in massive flocks of fifty to one hundred. To hear them all squawking together en masse somehow puts one in mind of Africa. I don’t know why, it just sounds like something you’d hear on that continent.
We don’t have these cute creatures here in Coogee. Thanks for the photos, and the visit.
Thanks, Anne.
Hi Mike
It’s been great following your posts. Thanks so much for them.
My website has moved and I’d love to keep you as a reader.
Could you subscribe to my new mailing list at the following link:
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Hope to stay in touch,
Anne Skyvington