Nesting Ritual at High Island

The rookery at High Island is my favorite place to go this time of year.  Lots of Great Egrets, Spoonbills, Snowy Egrets and a few others right in front of you.  The best place around to get up close and personal with the birds.  I usually get there way too early before the sun comes up and have to use a flashlight along the trail to get to the platforms.  I didn’t used to use a flashlight until I found an alligator on the trail one year.  I love the back lighting that you can get in the morning.  The sun comes up in your face but the lighting can be magic.  Just have to put up with a few thousand mosquitos at that time of day.

The Great Egrets are fun to watch when they build their nests.  They make quite the scene when one finds a stick and brings it back to the nest.  Lots of squawking ensues and you would have thought that he brought back a gold plated stick, but no, just a stick.

All taken with Canon 7D on tripod.

1/640 sec @F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, + 1/3 exp compensation

1/250 sec @F5.6, ISO 400, spot metering, + 2/3 exp compensation