Today’s Picture: Great White Egret Preparing to Land
Photo Details: Great White Egret (Egretta alba), its legs and wings outstretched, comes in to land near the banks of Nyamithi Pan, Ndumo Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Lens: Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal Length: 300mm; Shutter speed: 1/640; Aperture: f8; ISO: 200; 29 July 2009, 10.37am.
Additional Info: The great white egret is a handsome, elegant bird with its long, graceful neck, long legs, and normally orange-yellow bill.
It’s a lot larger than the similar-looking yellowbilled egret (Egretta intermedia), has entirely black legs and feet, and the line of the gape extends back behind the eye. For a few weeks when breeding the bill is black, often with a yellow base.
Location: Ndumo Game Reserve, covering about 9,000 hectares, is situated in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, very close to the border between South Africa and Mozambique.
Its location means it can accommodate birds from both the northern and southern regions of southern Africa and the reserve is renowned for its diversity of bird life. It comes as no surprise therefore that Ndumo boasts the highest bird count in South Africa with some 430 species.
The spectacular Nyamithi Pan, encircled by yellow-green fever trees and fringed with reedbeds, hosts large numbers of crocodiles and a wondrous array of water birds. The surrounding acacia savannah, thick bush, and sand forests provide good opportunities to view the resident wildlife, particularly the large numbers of nyala antelope.
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Tagged with: great white egret
Filed under: African Birds
Looks like an Intermediate Egret to me, not a Great Egret.
Thanks Doug, appreciate you pointing that out. My knowledge of birds is limited, so I’m in no position to argue. I rely on southern African bird guides for identification and of the few I have, none list the Intermediate Egret so assume it’s a case of name variations. My books only list the Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Yellowbilled Egret and Great White Egret but the books are all quite old, so it’s possible the names have changed.
Scotch
It is a great white Egret. I am an artist and I would be very happy if you would give me permission to use your photo as a base for a painting. Please look at my web site for your information.
Regards
Ron
Thanks Ron. Had a look at your site, wonderful bird art. I don’t have a problem with you using the photo as reference for a painting.
Scotch
Please contact our web master Tony. Ron would like to link his web site with yours. This will be most appreciated as we cannot seem to find a email address for you.
Photos on your site are really great and Ron just loves them
Regards
Lilian (wife)