NOT a Dancing Radish

January 10^th, 2024 ~ My brother and his wife had joined my hubby and me on our trip down to South Padre Island, Texas. None of the three of them have been bitten by the birding bug, but they are very patient with me, and share my excitement (if not my exuberance) when we can see something special.

As we headed toward the South Padre Island Birding Center, I endured their light-hearted ribbing as I described what we might see. And, sure enough, one of my favorite birds came through.

Reddish Egret not happy about the water’s depth
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

The Reddish Egret is a medium-sized heron, with russet head and neck, and a slate-gray body. At this time of year as the breeding season approaches, their head, neck and back plumes are growing longer, giving them a more fierce expression. Their bill also changes, from solid dark gray to half-and-half, pink and gray.

The wind was blustery, and the tide was very far out, revealing acres of wide mud flats with just the shallowest skin of water. This Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens, looked a little frustrated with the hunting possibilities as he stepped across the flats. Like all egrets and herons (really two different words for the same Family of birds, Ardeidae), he typically wades in a few inches of water hunting for fish and other aquatic prey.

He strode purposefully under the boardwalk on the western edge of the Center, and found a quiet waterway between the mangroves containing 4 or 5 inches of water. Time to hunt!

And now, for my opening move…
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

The Reddish Egret has a unique approach to hunting. It is known for its “dancing”. Its hunting strategy is to shadow the water by forming a shade canopy with its wings, and to startle the fish into moving either by suddenly collapsing the canopy, or by running and jumping erratically through the water, or both!

Don’t give the fish time to think
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I didn’t move from my vantage point on the boardwalk, so you can see how he danced across the inlet.

Dang-it! Where are you hiding?
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I had assumed that the scattered white feathers among the slate-gray indicated that this was a young adult, finishing his molt into his adult coloration. But I was wrong. The juvenile Reddish Egret is mottled cinnamon and gray, and the immature is light gray, not white.

Approximately 15% – 20% of Reddish Egrets are pure white “white morphs” (not albinos, as they have black legs and bill). At least one has been photographed by blogger Brian, of Wildlife Intrigued, at the Center. The dark morphs and the white morphs can interbreed. Two dark morph birds can have white morph chicks, but two white morph birds won’t have dark morph chicks. Sometimes, the dark offspring have a few pure white feathers, as in this dancer.

Freeze, and hold that pose
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

A key feature of a good hunting place is that any silt on the bottom is heavy and sticky or penetrates down below the sand layer, trapped so that it doesn’t stir up in a dense cloud to obscure the view.

Wait for it…
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I loved this wide-legged stance, like a basketball player, setting the screen. Some of his wispy back plumes are visible beyond his wing.

Ha! I saw you! Arrrgh!
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

He changed directions multiple times, trying to fool the fish into mis-guessing his next move. He never stood still for more than a few seconds, striding and feinting from side to side.

And… hold… again…
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

He cast another canopy, trying a different angle against the weak sunlight.

Snack!
1/2500 sec. ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

And it worked!  He snapped a fish in his bill and whipped it back and forth to subdue it, flinging water drops left and right. Then, in one deft move, he tossed it up, snatched it out of the air into the back of his throat and swallowed it down. I swear he seemed to be grinning at his hard-won success. I was certainly grinning as I returned to my family along the boardwalk, and my family was grinning as they watched me return, so excited to have seen a dancing Reddish.

THIS is a radish.
A reddish radish.

Our normally temperate Texas weather decided to do Winter with a capital W, so we bundled into the vehicles and headed back toward our homes in Houston and Tyler, to prepare them for frigid temperatures. Of course, we will return… there are whole State Parks full of birds that we haven’t seen yet!