One of my favorite birds is the Reddish Egret. They can be found along the gulf coast and the ones I've seen have all been in Florida. This is how they normally look:
They are tall, with a mauve head and neck, gray wings, and bluish-gray legs. They are most recognizable by their foraging behavior, which includes prancing around in shallow water, dashing back and forth, raising their wings, and darting after fish and other prey.
The above egret was photographed a couple of years ago at Fort De Soto Park at the south end of the Pinellas peninsula. I recently returned to the same spot, hoping to get another sighting of a Reddish Egret because they're so fun to watch. The park had been closed for several months due to damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton last September/October. The lagoon where I saw the egret is no longer there as the landscape has changed, but there was a shallow waterway in the same area.
In the water, I saw what I first thought was a Great Egret, but something wasn't quite right. Why was the egret running around and acting so crazy? Great Egrets normally stalk through the water or marsh, creeping up on their prey. This bird was dancing around and flapping its wings like those inflatable car lot guys.
This was no Great Egret after all, but a Reddish Egret, and a rare white morph.
I was so excited to see this bird, and wasn't sure if I'd ever see one again, so I stayed with it as long as possible as it excitedly hunted for fish in the shallow water.
Caught one!
As the park had just re-opened after being closed for so long, there were a lot of people enjoying the beach, but the egret didn't seem to mind all the human activity.
After catching several fish, the egret flew around a bend and out of sight. This observation was the highlight of my day, and one of my favorite sightings of all time.
