This is one of the most exciting times of the year at Batiquitos Lagoon. It is mating time for the
Great Egrets. There is a small rookery in some tall Eucalyptus trees and this year there are about
10 active nests. Unfortunately for the photographer, it is a real challenge to photograph the rookery
through the trees and it is really impossible to get totally clear shots.
As most of you know the Egrets, both male and female display in mating plummage which is characterized
by long white feathers. They also have a green mask around the eyes.



It is the long white feathers of the mating plummage that was almost the undoing of these great birds.
As is the case with many animals, the feathers became "fashionable" in the early 1900s and
the animals were hunted to dangerously low numbers simply for a dozen feathers per bird. Thankfully
fashion moved on before the birds were completely eradicated from the US and now they are thriving.

The Great Egrets do a mating "dance" whose choreography includes stretching their bodies to full
length and arching the head back and then rapidly going into a crouch with the feathers displayed. I
caught one dancing in a nest trying to attract a mate. Like most dances, it's not entirely captured by
still photography.



Apparently the dance was successful in attracting a mate as I found out when I returned the next day.