Bay Photos by Donna

A dazzling sight anywhere is the elegant, all-white Great Egret.

The Great Egret is smaller and more slender than the Great Blue Heron, but their take-off is just as graceful.

The Great Egret’s powerful wingspan is 4 to 5 feet (131-145 cm).

The Great Egret can reach a cruising speed of 25 mph (40 kmh).

In the late nineteenth century, the Great Egret was hunted almost to extinction for their plumes, igniting outrage over the slaughter of millions of all kinds of birds for the millinery trade.   In 1896, a conservation movement was organized by two women, Harriet Hemenway and Mina Hall, to convince the Boston society ladies to shun all hats with bird feathers.  These meetings created the beginning of the Audubon and the foundation of the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

The Great Egret was selected as the symbol of the National Audubon Society.  How appropriate!

© Audubon protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow.

Cheers to the Audubon and their work!