A Whole Lotta Egrets!

Nahant Marsh is a local treasure-box of wildlife.  They recently posted on Facebook that they had had an "abundance" of egrets and heron lately.  I was able to get out there last Friday morning, and was delighted when I pulled up in the parking lot and saw this view:

How cool was that?  Five white egrets all right there.  I couldn't wait to get out on the dock and get some closer photos.  I hurried down the mowed path through the tall grass prairie and out onto the dock, intent on getting some awesome photos.  Click, click, click went my camera.  Such great shots!  And then I paused and looked off to the northeast end of the marsh.  Lo and behold!

Wow!  I was stunned by the sheer number of birds out there.  There were so many that I laughed out loud!  There were at least fifty egrets and herons, all mixed together at that end of the marsh.  I only had my zoom lens and so couldn't get a wide angle shot but here are some close-ups:

I think it is funny that I was so focused on the first five egrets I saw that I almost missed seeing ten times that number.  I wonder how often we are like that in life - just focusing in on what we think is the prize, when there's lots more in store for us if we just open our eyes and look around.

Nahant Marsh is a cool place. It used to be a private shooting club, and all that lead shot (tons and tons of it) began poisoning the animals in the marsh. Eventually it was dredged and restored.  Now it is an absolute gem, with a hugely diverse population of plants and animals.

Here's a link to the amazing cleanup story of the Nahant Marsh:
 http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/documents/nahant_web.pdf