Right away I heard a honking noise and saw this bird flying away from the pelicans. It seemed the pelicans were trying to get his fish. I realized I had found the rare white morph great blue heron that Jim had found a couple of days earlier. That honking noise was unmistakably a great blue heron sound.
He flew over to one of the boat ramps and tried to eat his fish in peace.
Before swallowing, he flew back into the water right in front of me. He seemed to be saying “Here it is, get a good shot lady.”
He finally swallowed and stood around for a while.
A few minutes later he flew up to the railing and posed. White morphs are pretty rare. They have mostly been sighted in south Florida near the Everglades. This is the first I’ve heard of one being in this area. Ron at Pinellasbirds.com had confirmed it as a great blue heron. Right before I left several other photographers had stopped by to see it.
For reference, above is a great egret. He has a bright orange beak and is much smaller. He was watching the great blue eat the fish.
A normal great blue heron (even though they look grey to me).
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Wow — just WOW! Beautiful shots, wonderful that you recognized the morph…just a fabulous post. How exciting.
This is amazing! Not only did you have the opportunity to see this unusual and fascinating bird, but you came back with excellent photos! What a great find, I would love to see one of these.
The white morph of the reddish egret would be cool enough but this is outstanding.
really awesome! you’re right, the beak is definitely gbh. so pretty!
Very cool shots. I’m so jealous that you were able to get so close.
Now that’s a sighting!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Wonderful sighting and great captures!
What a handsome and imposing creature. He looks so very proud of himself.
Mollyxxx
That’s awesome, Dina! You’re the first person I know who has seen one. I’ve only seen the white morph in photos. Your photos are fantastic!
Just lovley ,Nette
Really nice to see the Great Egret, but the white morph is really cool.
A great series of photos and really good to see a rare bird like this.
Aren’t herons wonderful!!! I love to watch them and photograph them….afterall they ARE so incredibly photographic.
gorgeous images, what an exciting sighting!!! i think the baby gbh’s are white. i believe i read that somewhere!! you probably know!!
Fantastic shots of the birds – but also of the magnficent reflections in the water! A joy to read!!
I also think it was fantastic shots, all of them! And I find it very interesting, because I’ve recently seen my very first egret here in my country Sweden!
Greetings Pia
My favourite shot is the one just after he swallowed his fish, where he is standing in the water and the reflections are rippling around his knees!!