Egrets at Smith Oaks Rookery

February 22^nd, 2022 ~ The Smith Oaks Rookery in the community of High Island, Texas, offers an incredible opportunity for up-close bird watching. My recent visit was at a perfect moment – the breeze was cool and fresh, the sky overcast, and the birds were engaged in the whole range of mating season activities.

The Smith Oaks Rookery, shown on this Audubon map, is part of the Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary. I walked up and down the levee between points A and E, taking photos of the birds on the islands closest to the levee. Most of the growth on the islands near B thru E are covered with dense (and getting denser) brush, so it is a challenge to get clear images without intervening sticks.

Smith Oaks Rookery map, from Houston Audubon

The island at A, and the grove between that island and Grackle Pond is mostly mature Bald Cypress. Great Egrets, Ardea alba, are currently concentrated between A and E, in the brush on the nearby island, while Roseate Spoonbills, Platalea ajaja, are nesting in the cypress trees, with a liberal sprinkling of quarrelsome Neotropic Cormorants, Nannopterum brasilianum, who started nesting in January, throughout.

Male Great Egret displaying to attract a mate
1/2500 sec. f/8 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

The Great Egrets are in full breeding plumage. Their wings and tails are pristine white, and their lores (the skin around the eyes and base of the bill) are bright chartreuse green.

The males stake out a place they think would be good for a nest, and then engage in lovely slow-motion displays. They stretch up as far as they can. They raise their back plumes, then bend their knees up and down slowly, so that their plumes float in the air. They may stand still, leaving their plumes floating, or may bow down stretching their neck as far down as they can, then repeating the rise-and-bow-down motion. The effect is clearly a statement, “Look how healthy I am, I’ll be a great provider”. Great Egrets are typically monogamous during a single breeding season, but then the bond dissolves, and they start anew in the next breeding season.

Taking a low-speed approach through the branches
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Females may fly through the brush seeking mates, and males may give up on one unsuccessful spot and move to seek another. This early in their nest-building phase, there are many birds in motion.

Companionable pair of Great Egrets
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

This pair was already bonded, and their closeness was evident in this image. Their plumes were waving in the breeze, their mutual grooming was gentle.

Great Egrets grow 30 – 50 specialized scapular feathers, called “aigrettes” (the original Old French word that gave these birds the name “egrets”), which stretch in long filmy veils down almost to their feet as they stand.

Honey, I’m home!
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Sometimes the greetings between the pair after a short absence seems remarkably human (or maybe human greetings are remarkably like egret-like!). This egret arrived at his mate’s location with a joyful squawk….

Great Egrets establishing pair bond
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

…and she answered back with evident eagerness. Some viewers have wondered whether this image is prelude to an attack, but I have 20 more images of this pair entwining their necks, snuggling at the shoulder, puffing up their plumes, clattering their bills. This is definitely not aggression.

Curvy stick coming right up
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Once the pair has bonded, nest building begins in earnest. Typically, the males gather the sticks, bringing them to their mates to weave into the nest. We don’t know how the males select the sticks. There is clearly some kind of selection criteria, as we’ve seen males select and reject many sticks before carrying one to the nest. This male has chosen a particularly curvy stick. But straight, curvy, long, short, branchy, smooth… all kinds of sticks eventually make their way to the nest.

Great Egret pair working on nest deep in the brush
1/3200 sec. f/8 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Sometimes the male hands off the stick to the female then stands aloof as she works to incorporate it. But often, the two will actively work together to manipulate the stick, threading it between the branches and twigs of the environment, and incorporating it into the nest. I have about 5 minutes of photos of this pair working with this single stick, lifting, lowering, turning it east-west then north-south, changing the angle from steep to shallow and back again.

Tangled feet, no problem
1/2500 sec. f/7.1 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

The variety of nesting material, of course, changes as the nest reaches completion. This bird was carrying a multi-stranded clump of long vines that tangled around his feet. But he negotiated his landing and the eventual handoff, stepping out of the loops around his feet with nonchalant ease.

Mama egret tending her egg
1/2000 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Eventually, she will lay two to six lovely turquoise eggs. This was the only nest into which I could see, and I only saw her egg when I downloaded the photos and could zoom in on the nest. She has to turn the eggs to keep their temperature even. She appears to have raised one foot in preparation for gently turning the egg.

Making short work of a long stick
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Here I thought the repeated “S” curves in the long branches were interesting… and might present a navigational challenge. The male egret was unconcerned, and flew himself and his long stick through them with no difficulty. The female at the bottom of the frame was greeting a different male, and this guy continued right past her with no confusion.

Gimme some space, you!
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

In contrast to the almost monochromatic scenes around me, a pair of Roseate Spoonbills flew in from the cypress grove, and got close enough that I could take some photos. This pair is showing full breeding plumage: orange lores, bare pale green head, black filigree pattern on the bill, touches of orange on shoulders with bright orange tail, and vibrant fuchsia and pink body and wings… it just doesn’t get any more flamboyant than this. I believe these two are at the beginning of the bonding process – the male tried a few times to clatter bills, but the female wasn’t yet convinced, and flew off, leaving him to select another candidate. 

Classic Great Egret pose
1/2500 sec. f/7.1 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR, on tripod

Great Egrets invite “artistic” images, and I’m not immune. I’m happy with the detail of her bill in this image, the way the tiniest point of the tip is highlighted in contrasting color, and pleased to get sharp enough focus on her face to show the partial deployment of the nictitating membrane protecting her eye from the chill breeze. I love the way her delicate plumes contrast with the course gray winter twigs showing the beginning nubs of spring buds. Of course, the image has a flaw that many of my photos from High Island share: the ghost image of a brown foreground stick, one of the myriad “veil of sticks” as my friend, photographer Linda Murdock, terms it. And she has a point: maintenance of a healthy rookery that continues to attract the interest of bird photographers nationally would be a worthy goal for the Houston Audubon organization.

But on this day, I managed to overlook the sticks. The grace and beauty of the birds, the clean smell of the marsh water, and the fresh breeze stirring plumes and feathers, all combined to make a perfect day at the rookery.