Egret

Hi Sam,

 That's a snowy egret...black legs with black bill.  An immature judging by the yellow stripes on the back of his legs.  They are always easily identified by the yellow feet (not visible in your photo).  These were hunted almost to extinction back in the early 1900s for their feathers, which the ladies of the day liked to wear in their hats.  Thank heavens they have made a resounding comeback, and are quite common today.

Hi Sam,

Nicer shot my friend.

The color balance is off a bit, so I corrected it.

The Snowy Egret is a white bird. I have plenty living near me.

Best Regards,  Mike

Hi Mike,

thanks very much for your comments & painting action to whiten my bird.

However, white in nature is not always white due to the surrounding, reflecting light.

I usually leave it at that, as this kind of photo is showing a situation in nature under certaing lighting conditions, not the image in a bird spotting book, which is kind of a catalogue of how birds theoretically look like.

How about that?

Cheers my friend,

Sam

Hi Dennis,

thank you very much for the interesting historical information on the ups & downs of this type of bird!

Cheers

Sam

Hi Sam, I understand about reflecting light and ambient conditions.

However, I did not use the bird's feathers a the point of reference. I used the color temperature of the overall scene . It is quite accurate.

It is most likely that the white balance of your camera was set to a different point, too. The proximity of the water (a reflector) did not contribute any green tones to the bird's feathers either.

Again, the "true" color is a matter of preferences and I am not into that level of discussion. All the Snowy Egrets I have ever imaged across Florida have been much more like "snow white" than any other shade.

Best Regards,  Mike

Thanks very much, Mike.

It might well be that my camera settings are still those which are OK for the often rather dim & whitish light in northern Europe but give too coloured/saturated images in the rich Florida light...

I'm still learning - by doing - & asking for your advice.

cheers

Sam