NWJ

Abstract Flowers

An exoitic flower blooms in the Parque nacional Tortuguero in Tortuguero, Costa Rica.

A great white egret has a fish chip lunch in Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.

The rapids in Florida's Hillsborough River State Park

The sun lights up a colorful umbrella.

A barred owl adult feeds a juvenile in Tampa, Florida's Lettuce Lake Park.

Reddish egrets are very active foragers, often seen running, jumping and spinning, sometimes with wings outspread, in the pursuit of prey. They will try to herd them into groups to make them easier to catch. They feed on fish, frogs, crustaceans, insects and small animals preferring shallow mud flats, lagoons and saltwater estuaries.

They were almot hunted to extinction late 1800's and early 1900's for their plumes for the fashion industry. They have made somewhat of a comeback but are still very rare as the coastal marine habitat that they favor keeps shrinking bue to development along the coastlines.