The bushes in the photo above look pretty well full of roosting egrets, but, as you see in the photo below, more birds are arriving.
Up in the sky, even more birds are flying in. They keep coming until you think that there can't be one more perch available, and still they come.
By the time the egrets settle, the bushes are covered with white birds and a few pairs of blue egrets or herons. Since the blue birds are about the same size as the white birds, I know they are not Great Blue Herons.
I call the street in the background Visual Blight Boulevard. Big box chains, franchise restaurants and take-outs, service stations, giant concrete parking lots, and everything ugly lines the street on both sides. You could be in Anytown or Anycity for the sameness of the blight.
PS: I've redone the pictures so that a click on the pic will give you a somewhat larger view.
But the birds make all the difference in the sameness, Mimi!
ReplyDeleteAmazing pictures! We have our own annual bird event on the Left Coast, in Portland, Oregon, when Vaux swifts return each September in massive numbers to roost in an old chimney during their southward migration. See wondrous video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy5oN7fv8aw
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible sight! And to think that one year we had loads of twitchers from all over the UK descending on one little corner of Argyll because a snowy egret had landed!
ReplyDeleteBeauty and blight all together. That's pretty much life, isn't it? Lovely to think of the birds filling the bushes just next to the gas station.
ReplyDeletesusan, no matter how many times I see the birds coming in, I get excited at the amazing sight. Damn the blight!
ReplyDeletedbdonnell, I'll check out your link to the video of the swifts.
By the time the birds settle, there isn't enough light to take pictures - at least not with my camera.
Freda, most people don't take the time for more than a quick glance at the lovely sight. I don't know if you've seen the pictures of our pet egret who visits in our yard from time to time. I have no idea if it's the same bird or different birds, but the camera works overtime when she/he is there.
Beauty and blight all together. That's pretty much life, isn't it?
Penney, that's about it. We take the beauty where we find it.
It must mean that you've got spring there! Ours here is at least a month off, but I am ready for it this year. Egrets are one of the water birds I so look forward to returning to West Michigan in the spring. Those and the great blue herons are great to watch in the Greenways here.
ReplyDeleteRe the update: I almost asked why they didn't 'embiggen' when clicked. . .
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to admit that as I looked at the pictures(which I always do before I read the post!) I didn't notice the blight. I think it might be because we have it out here in California too, and I have learned to ignore it. What that says about me, I am not sure.
Ciss, I suppose we are into spring, if the egrets say so. At the moment, the temp here is 61°. We usually don't have much of a spring, as we generally jump directly from winter to summer.
ReplyDeletesusan, when posting pictures on Blogger, there are a good many little details to attend to, and sometimes I leave out one or more of the procedures. The worst mistake is leaving out a step which makes the pictures not visible, as you well know.
PS to susan: When I took the pictures, I didn't notice the background, but when I saw the pictures, the ugly Texaco sign jumped out at me and reminded me of the rest of the street.
ReplyDelete