These photos are the same egrets that are in the videos taken at the Waccatee Zoo & Animal Refuge here in Myrtle Beach, SC. The photos give you a much better view of what was going on. The video is more for a reference of exactly how far away and how high in the trees they are. This is just an amazing place. I've never seen so many nesting birds in one place. We spent about an hour and a half enjoying the views, taking pictures and video. This series of photos are mostly the youngest nesting egrets. According to information I found on line, it seems they will be in the nest for 30 days. This group of photos are the youngest egrets in the nest I was able to take photographs of. I'll have another photo essay of the egrets that looked about ready to learn to fly and leave the nest. Nesting time for egrets is 30 days from the time the last egg is hatched. An egret lays one to four eggs at a time.
Here is a mother feeding her young that are hidden by the tree branches.
This is the best photo I was able to get and maybe even the youngest.
You can tell in this one below that the mother has just returned with some food for her brood. As soon as they see the mother return they all start yelling for food. There are three nest all close together, but I think her brood are the two in front of her and maybe the one down below on the left branch.
Another mother feeding while the other babies wait their turn, squawking the whole time.
Thanks goodness for a good zoom lens. Many of these photos were a big surprise for me since you really can't tell exactly what you are photographing. I didn't do too bad though, out of 162 photos I only had about ten I deleted. You know, those that you look at and ask yourself, what the heck was I taking a picture of?
The two videos that give you a better idea of where these nest are can be seen
The next photo essay about the egrets will show the larger young ones.
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Comments: 41
Great shots of the babies.
Really nice photos!
I love your photos Nana. I definitely have to take the boys to the nature parks around here once school gets out.
Thanks j r, they will really love a trip. Binoculars are a good idea to take along to spot the birds and squirrels high up in the trees.
Wow, you got some great shots Nana....and look at all those baby birds..just amazing.
great photo's Nana ;-)
Great photos as always Nana
Nana, what a great photo essay of the egrets Love the young ones.
Awesome pics.
You got some great shots! The babies are so big and so pretty
wayyyy great shots!
Great photos. Do all those babies belong to the same clutch? If yes, that's a lot!
Love the egrets--in New Orleans, we had two trees at our local park FULL of egrets...
What a wonderful photo essay. The birds are beautiful.
Lovely photos. Egrets never looked so good!
Awesome essay! Nana, these are fantastic pictures! Those young ones are just too cute.
I see you finally tried out your new zoom lens, what kind did you get? There's only one lens I could get for my camera and I'm thinking about it.
How far away were you when you took these shots?
Thanks Rose. This is with the old 1.5x tele-photo lens. The new one is 3.2 AF. I've played around with it but won't try it out when I want to get pictures like this until I really know how to use it. Also, it is recommended that you use a tri-pod. I also got a .45x AF wide angle that I'm playing with. I was really far away for these shots. You can get some idea from the video how far away we were. For most I'd say at the very least 300' and more. Without the zoom lens my camera can zoom 45x max.
What beautiful birds!! So snowy white and brilliant! I wonder if there is someplace around here that has birds, I'll have to look into it.
Awesome! I just showed these to my husband -- we so enjoyed this!
These are wonderful! I always enjoy the magic you create with your camera.
They are getting so big! They are beautiful animals too~
Great shots! Those little guys are so cute!
Thank you for posting your photo essay at Pretty Pictures.
Wow. What an amazing sight to see.
Very cool. Never seen a baby egret before.
Those are big babies. Great pictures.
you got alot of awesome pics
i viewed them dear
That is awesome...Beautiful
terriffic shots!! great nature photos!!
Love your essays and photos....magnificent!
Excellent shots. Great photo essay. Interesting birds.
Wonderful photo essay,Great pictures and I will look at them after while.
Have a great gather day!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for posting to sparealine.gather.com
A wonderful photo essay~
wow thats amazing!
Oh, wow! Fantastic shots of them. It's so neat to see them that young!
Beautiful shots of Beautiful birds.
I loved the photos and essay!!! Beautifully done
You did a great job!
These are some great images Nana....you did a wonderful job capturing their beauty!
These are great shots. We could never see the nests like that without your zoom.
i enjoy looking at your essay
Great photo essay Nana