Thanks to all who commented. The egret in the first photo generously allowed me to get very close. The photo is almost full frame, almost no cropping. Thanks again for looking and commenting.

Thanks Swamp Gator. I think you're right about it being a juvenile Little Blue Heron. I had intended to post just the two photos -- one of the egret at water's edge and one in flight. Clicked on the wrong photo and just posted them all anyway. Thanks again for the correction.

What is "misinformed" about what I said? This is what actually happened. As I said in my e-mails to the local Tea Party, if you think Obama is clearly such a bad president, why do find it necessary to stoop to such dirty tricks as altering what was actually written in a speech or in his autobiography. These are acts of desperation, not conviction.

This is a series (if three is a series) called Elegance of Egret showing the Great Egret posed at water's edge and in flight.

Elegance of Egret


Egret in Flight


Egret in Flight

Actually, I was just correcting the author of this post about his spelling. He wrote something like "Obama's detractors will stoop at nothing to discredit him." This being said, I've had some experiences that lead me to stand by my statement. For some reason, I was on the local Tea Party's e-mailing list for several years. One of these e-mails, alleged to be quoting from Obama's autobigraphy, read as follows: "Michelle and I attended many flagburnings back then." I had just finished the book and knew that no such thing ever appeared in the book. Another e-mail alleged to be quoting from an Obama speech about the killing of Bin Laden. It didn't sound right to me at all. I went online, found the text of the speech and discovered that "we" had be changed everywhere to "I." "Navy Seal team" had been changed to "I." The alterations were blantantly obvious. The headline said the speech proved that Obama was the world's biggest meglomaniac. In my e-mails (reply all) I corrected these cheap, dirty tricks. I am no longer on the e-mailing list. This is why I stand by my "stoop to anything, stop at nothing to discredit" position. You really need to check these things out. Thankfully, some of you do.

Just a quick note: Obama's detractors will "stoop" to anything, but "stop" at nothing to discredit him.

I am attaching three photos of the American Wood Stork, very striking in flight, but really ugly up close. Ornithologists have decided that the Wood Stork actually is more closely related to vultures than previously thought. I have seen these storks and vultures soaring together.
The second photo shows a Wood Stork during take-off and the Little Blue Heron trying to get out of the way.

Wood Stork


Wood Stork at Take-off


Wood Stork in Flight

"I" is a subject. "Me" is an object. A guest speaker might begin: "Let me first thank the committee for inviting my wife and I." He is convinced that this is correct English, but what if the wife were not also in attendance? "Let me first thank the committee for inviting I." See the correct usage of these pronouns now?

One of my favorites seen here: "I love cat's to." How many mistakes can one make in a short, simple sentence? The use of the apostrophe in plurals is very widespread on the pages of UH. "Here are two photo's from this morning." The post above me as I write begins: "I understand the need to abbreviate on text's..." The apostrophe with s is a possessive, not a plural, as in "my friend's daughter." A bothersome exception: it's. "It's" is not a possessive but a contraction of "it" and "is." The possessive is "its." without the apostrophe.

They are attractive on the water as well.

American White Pelicans

Interesting case. Things were neatly turned upside down. It was the trial of Trayvon Martin (now deceased) instead of George Zimmerman (now celebrating). Do you really think a George Zimmerman with a concealed weapon is a good candidate for neighborhood watch volunteer?

A couple more examples.

Here are couple more examples.

Obviously, I figured out how to add the photo, which I titled "Web designer."

The zigzag pattern in the web is called a stabilimentum. A study done at Ohio State University suggests that these structures actually attract less prey than a web without stabilimenta. Their purpose is apparently to prevent birds from flying through the web.
I have a photo showing a more elaborate stabilimentum, but I don't how to post as an attachment to this reply. Can anyone advise me about this?

Web designer