A wonderful day for Heron and Egret sightings. The ranger giving the walk was really excited about how much we were seeing.
Here are couple nice pictures of Great Blue Herons:
A Great Egret picture showing the breeding plumage (which almost wiped them out from hunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s):
The plume hunters would kill the adults while they were nesting since the plumage was best then, thus dooming two generations. All for money because of fashion. Even making it illegal didn't stop the killing, a change in fashion was required.
Some more Green Heron shots:
A good day for Little Blue Heron pictures:
Here are some nice shots of Tri-color Herons, to compare to the Little Blue Heron pictures, the birds are about the same size:
Some not very good pictures of Night Herons, but we were all excited to see them:
We did see some Snowy Egrets, but no good pictures. These are all of the egrets and herons of the Everglades. In the surrounding area you can also see Cattle Egrets and in Florida Bay and the Keys you will see Great White Herons, which are a white version of the Great Blue Heron.