Snowy Egret flock

Sightings
This Snowy Egret flock was flyng low across the Caroni Swamp in the late afternoon. It was one of many flocks of this species sometimes mixed with other heron species. These beautiful birds are normally seen singly or in small numbers so these large flocks were a new and unexpected sighting for me.

Species
Snowy Egrets Egretta thula nest in colonies on thick vegetation in isolated places, such as swamps and marshes. They often change location from year to year. During the breeding season, they feed in estuaries, saltmarshes, tidal channels, shallow bays, and mangroves. They winter in mangroves, saltwater lagoons and freshwater swamps.

Status and Distribution
Snowy egret is a species of least concern with a huge range across much of South and Central America. In the United States, they are often permanent residents along the Atlantic coast. It is an abundant resident on wetlands across Trinidad but less numerous on Tobago. Numbers are augmented by the arrival of migrants from both north and south America.

References
BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 52

Photograph
Taken from a moving boat in the late afternoon at 1/320th of a second, f5.6 and ISO 500.