Posted on August 23, 2015
One of my favorite spots at the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville NJ is this group of two trees near the end of the wildlife drive. It does not look like much at a quick glance, but if you look at what is in the trees it is full of photo opportunities. It is like a bird condo. The tree on the right has 64+ birds that you can see, not counting the ones on the other side and down below on the ground and in the water. The types I found on this pass were Great Egret, Little Egret, Snowy Egret, Immature Little Blue Heron, Immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron, in various amounts. Glossy Ibises were foraging in the water beneath and to the side, with Great Blue Herons and Cormorants. Plus there was constant coming and going. I have also seen Hawks, Bald Eagles, Black-crowned Night Herons and Cattle Egrets here. It is a constant coming and going and depending on the water it can be extremely buggy. Sometimes you really have to scan the trees with a long lens and then you say did I see something. This time I saw something that I thought might be a Black-crowned Night-heron and waited for it to maybe move more and show itself. I was surprised to see 2 immature Yellow-Crowned Night-herons, which then flew off. There is also a number of small birds flying in and out. So depending how patient you are and how the bugs are behaving it is a fun place to observe and photograph.
Posted on October 11, 2014
This Snowy Egret had just landed along the Wildlife Drive and started looking for its breakfast meal. They are fun to watch darting around the water.
Category: Birds, Blog, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Wildlife Tagged: Brigantine NWR, Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Snowy Egret
Posted on September 13, 2014
We went to the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Brigantine Division a few weeks ago and I am still going through my files. Along the Wildlife Drive, near the end before the wooded area, is a small grove of trees. Usually you see an occasional hawk, egrets or small birds there. Once we even saw a Bald Eagle. But on this day it was filled with a variety of birds. We saw Black-crowned Night Herons, Immature Black-crowned Night Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and in the back under the branches was, I believe an immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron. It was fun to see that variety in the same tree.
Posted on September 11, 2014
We came upon these 2 Egrets along the Wildlife Drive. Each one was looking the opposite way and each was standing on one leg, the opposite leg. I thought it looked interesting and a little amusing. The left was a Snowy Egret, the right Great Egret. Throughout the time we were there, we saw large numbers of all types of Egrets giving us a large amount of photo opportunities.
Posted on September 2, 2014
There were large amounts of Egrets at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Brigantine Division, in Oceanville, NJ. Almost everywhere we went we saw large amounts of birds, but being white, the different Egrets really stood out and were easy to spot. I saw this group of three Snowy Egrets fly in and started interacting with each other and liked the green grasses and blue water behind them with the white Snowy Egrets standing out.
Category: Birds, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Wildlife Tagged: Brigantine NWR, Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Snowy Egret
Posted on March 8, 2014
This Snowy Egret stood out against the shorebirds and seemed to look a little lonely. He stayed there for quite a while until more shorebirds flew in and the Snowy moved on.
Category: Birds, Blog, Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel FL Tagged: Ding Darling, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Snowy Egret
Posted on February 18, 2014
One of my favorite photos to capture are birds in flight (BIF). It is a challenge and rewarding at the same time. Sometimes you can track them coming in towards you so you can get ready for them and compose your shots. Other times they just come upon you and you have little time to react and get a few shots, like this series. My favorite combination for this is the Canon MkIV and the Canon 400mm DO IS f/4 lens, sometimes with a Canon Series III 1.4X teleconverter. The 400mm DO f/4 is a lightweight , shorter in length the a normal 400mm, easy to handle and track on a subject lens, perfect for fast moving subjects such as flying birds. Some do not like the DO series of lenses, but if you learn how to use them and learn how to adjust your files it is a real winner. It is also only 4.3 lbs, so it is relatively lightweight to carry for long periods of time. This Snowy Egret just came out over the trees and was close in so there was little time to react and compose my shots.

Snowy Egret Getting Closer
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11, 1/1250 sec, ISO 400

Closer
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400

Snowy Egret Almost Overhead
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11, 1/1250 sec, ISO 400

Snowy Egret Overhead
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/11, 1/1600 sec, ISO 400
Posted on February 17, 2014
I was following this White Ibis when this Snowy Egret flew in. I was setup with a Sigma 300-800mm zoom which helped, so I could frame my subjects while they were interacting with each other. They just seemed to dance & prance around each other, not seeming to notice the other was there. Usually I use a little minus exposure compensation with white birds, but it was still early in the morning and a little dark. This time I used +0.33 exposure compensation with aperture priority after checking the histogram. This sequence only lasted a little over 2 minutes.

Coming In
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/320 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Touchdown w/ Full Wing Spread
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/320 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

What’s for Breakfast
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/320 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Looking for a Meal
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Well I found something
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Still Looking
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Looking, Looking
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Coming Over
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.

Crossing Paths
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Sigma 300-800mm DG APO f/5.6 lens @ 687mm, f/8, 1/400 sec., ISO 640, +0.33 exposure compensation, aperture priority.
Posted on February 8, 2014
Here is a selection of White Egrets – Snowy and Great Egrets. They were roosting in the trees near the end of the day. It was getting dark and was cloudy, in some ways it was easier to get good exposures of the white birds, without the bright sun, but I had to raise my ISO higher than I usually use. They seemed somewhat territorial when another got too close. It was fun to watch and hear them interacting with each other.

One of These is Not Like the Other
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 4500 sec, ISO 1600

Waiting for Night
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1600 sec, ISO 1600

End of the Day
Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS lens, handheld @ f/4.5, 1/ 1000 sec, ISO 1600
Category: Birds, Blog, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Wildlife Tagged: Canon 400mm DO, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, St. Augustine Alligator Farm
Posted on February 5, 2014
I found this Snowy Egret at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Rookery. It was in the branches of a tree along the boardwalk path in the Rookery. It was close to the walk but in the dark shadows under the branches of the tree. I opened up my aperture and raised the ISO to 1600 since I was also trying to get birds in flight flying in to roost in the gray drizzly evening. The Snowy was a little wet from a drizzle and was getting ready for the evening. It did not seem bothered by my presence, but it kept an eye on me. I took a series of shots, then moved on so I did not bother him.
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