When it rains it pours: Tara Tanaka has graced us with another video, this time with the mating display of a male great egret (Ardea alba), the formation of a pair bond, and the beginnings of a nest. It is so beautiful that it made me tear up. And the male bringing sticks for the nest is fantastic. Be sure to watch this on the big screen.
Her video notes:
This is the closest Great Egret nest site in our backyard wildlife sanctuary – approximately 250’ away. There hasn’t been a nest here is a couple of years due to low water, but the afternoon before last I saw a male displaying on a branch, and the next morning he had already attracted a mate. He repeatedly brought branches from across the pond, and with sometimes questionable hand-offs she skillfully wove the sticks into their growing nest.
Tara’s Vimeo site is here, and her Flickr site is here.
http://vimeo.com/h2otarahttp://www.flickr.com/photos/focused-on-birds
That really is a special one. And in this way … life goes on.
Building you own home is not something many humans have known. My grandfather did it twice and my dad did it once. Each of these houses are still in use today.
Beautiful
Lovely. Makes me wonder what the final nest looks like
Very elegant. It was like a ballet.
The birds are just beautiful. And to think they are building the nest with only their beaks and claws! Amazing!
The egret neatly landing on the nest everytime – with a long stick in its beak! – reminded me of the somewhat funny video clip that Jerry posted a few days ago of the less successful albatross landing.
Yes sticking it so successfully with long stick🙀Poor Mr. Albatross.
Thank you to everyone for your very kind comments. This is only a guess, but I think this same pair has nested here in the past. About 5 years ago a pair had a nest in this same site, and they had been incubating for a couple of weeks. I noticed one morning that a few existing nests were suddenly empty, and I watched this pair rebuild their nest about 300′ away, moving every single branch from the old nest to the new nest, with the male shuttling the sticks and the female deftly rebuilding the nest. They are amazing birds!
Wow. Thanks.
That is a lovely little film Tara! It is amazing to think that time was that people thought that the best place for those plumes was not on the living bird but on a ladies hat! The plume trade was devastating for Florida’s egret colonies and nearly wiped out the Snowy egret (Egretta thula) altogether. Public outrage at this was instrumental however, in the beginnings of the conservation movement and I believe both the National Audubon Society in the US and the RSPB in the UK have their roots in campaigns to stop plume traders ransacking the bird colonies. Fortunately, protection and changing attitudes has seen a revival in the fortunes of these birds.
Heck, he was so elegant I would have picked him for a mate! 😌
I was thinking the same thing!
So beautiful!