Great Egret, Ardea Alba

I've been following the development of the Sandhill Crane chicks (and yet-to-hatch-eggs) in the virtually dry lake beds. . .and . . .in the process the Great Egrets (Ardea alba) and Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) get into my longest lens shots (those taken from greatest distance). Below are a few of those shots. . .

Its a major undertaking to upload these images in any form that might be viewed online.  I think I accomplished it here. . . using 3 computers and compressing the images from their original 10 megs. . .down to next-to-nothing size.  Hopefully one can still make out the detail.

Below a female Sanhill sits on her nest to top left. . .the male is about 20 feet away. . .and a Great Egret fouls my shot.

Below:  A Great Blue Heron in the foreground and a Great Egret in the water. . .completely obscure the Sandhill Cranes who were the subject of the image.

Below:  Adjusting the images a bit one can make out a Great Blue Heron blending beautifully into this shot.  The camera picks out what it wants to focus on at this great distance (about 1 mile). . .and in this case it was the Heron.

Below:  The same heron . . .this time with more color saturation and more magnification.

Below:  Another Great Egret blocking a Sandhill Crane nest.

While I'm set up in the backyard with tripods and cameras all aimed north, over the lakes. . . a growing number of cats come by to visit and chat (and eat).  Below, BK, one of the few domesticated cats in the neighborhood is startled by the camera.  He is puffy because he knows that feral cats are nearby.  Interesting. . .domestic cats are dominant over feral cats. . .they have a big advantage in that they are not afraid of humans.