Heron & Fox

A Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula) comes in for a graceful landing in a brackish pond in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Snowy Egret preys on small fish, crustaceans, and insects in the marsh. Snowy Egrets in Central Florida usually stay year-round, or may just stay the winter and return north.

A Snowy Egret (Egretta Thula) in its high breeding plumage. The male egret builds a nest, often in colonies with other water fowl, including other herons and egrets, and then attempts to attract a mate by calling, making acrobatic aerial displays, fanning his trail, and showing his bold colors against his normally-white feathers. This photo was taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. This site, full of alligators, is preferentially selected by the birds nesting here because the alligators keep them safe from other predators, and usually aren't interested in the birds as prey.

A Snowy Egret (egretta thula) landing in the Florida marsh momentarily appears to be a swan. Snowy egrets eat small fish, crustaceans, and other small animals at the bottom of the marsh.

After NASA was given all of Merritt Island for its operations, it realized it would only need about 10% or so for most operations, and so handed off most of the northern part of the island to the Department of the Interior to manage as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Normally open to the public, MINWR is a thriving environment with thousands of species, including some endangered, find a unique habitat in the brackish swamps. Public access is via road, and there are driving and hiking trails throughout the Refuge. MINWR is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail complex. The Snowy Egret is frequently seen at MINWR, and this is a picture of a flying egret coming in for a water landing in one of the many partly-salty ponds in the swamp.