[Length 30 in. Wingspan 46 in.]

This juvenile Reddish Egret was photographed in Kerrville, Texas, hundreds of miles from its normal coastal habitat. It is the first documented record of this species in the Texas Hill Country. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: August 2001)

[Length 30 in. Wingspan 46 in.]

This juvenile Reddish Egret was photographed at the South Padre Island Convention Center Board Walk, TX. Photo taken with a Nikkor EDAF 300 f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: August 2003)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 41 in.]

Snowy egrets were once hunted almost to extinction so that women's hats could sport the Egret's wispy plumes, called aigrettes, which grow during the breeding season. This adult in breeding plumage clearly shows the bristling plumes that nearly caused its species' demise. Fortunately, due to conservation efforts, Snowy egrets are now a common sight near almost any body of water throughout much of the US. This one was photographed at Brigantine NWR, New Jersey. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 64 film. (Date: April 1984)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 41 in.]

This Snowy Egret was photographed showing off its diagnostic "golden slippers" as it was springing into flight along the road to Moore's Beach, New Jersey. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1988)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 41 in.]

This Snowy Egret was photographed at Brigantine NWR, New Jersey. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: April 1984)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 41 in.]

This immature Snowy Egret (denoted by the greenish yellow stripes on the otherwise black legs) was photographed at Cape May, New Jersey. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: October 1982)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 41 in.]

This Snowy Egret was photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, TX. Photo taken with a Nikkor 70-200mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens (EFL=277mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: April 23, 2006)

[Length 24 in. Wingspan 38 in.]

Common Eiders occur in the far north of North America, Europe, and Siberia. While the males of all four species of Eider ducks have some kind of black-and-white pattern on the body, only the male Common Eider has a black-and-white head pattern. Females are a drab brown so they "blend in" on the nest while they incubate their eggs. In North America Common Eiders breed in the high Arctic coastal regions of Canada and Alaska. They winter along the western coasts of Alaska and Canada and the eastern coasts of Canada and the US south to New Jersey. These drake "Eastern" Common Eiders were photographed along the coast near Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film pushed to 800. (Date: February 1987)