Everybody Loves Radar!
Since many of you enjoyed seeing the photos of our pal Radar with his big fish earlier, I thought it might be nice to show some of his friends that hang around with him in the marsh. A few days ago I saw Radar standing around in the salt marsh taking a break from fishing for a while. Apparently a few of his buddies had the same idea as he was soon joined by a juvenile white ibis on the left, and a little snowy egret. It is interesting to note the size difference among the three birds. The great egret (Radar) is obviously the larger of the group, with the snowy being the smallest. We often see that the different species of birds are able to get along well with each other as opposed to groups of egrets, that seem compelled to argue almost constantly.
For those of you who may have missed previous posts, “Radar” is the name we have given the great egret that has a transmitter pack attached to his back with two antennas sticking out. He is supposed to be part of a study regarding migratory habits of wading birds. However Radar does not seem to migrate all that much and may not provide a wealth of data.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Nice to see them all getting along Phil. I wonder why the egret squabble so much when in a group. More competitive I guess. This is a lovely picture Phil!
Glad you like the photo Adrian! Yes I think they get very territorial and competative among their own species. 🙂
Hello Phil,
great shot and thanks for the information, very interesting!
Wish you a good start in the new week,
moni
Glad you enjoyed this moni thanks!
Radar has great feathers. He stood there as if he knows how good looking he is. 😀
Yes I believe Radar thinks quite highly of himself. He also behaves like he king of the marsh and head egret in charge!
Maybe he can’t fly very far with that thing on his back. I said “I’ll show you guys for sticking this thing on my back. I’m not going anywhere.” Nice to see he has friends.
That could be it. We do see him fly with no apparent problems but it’s possible it bothers him.
He does have friends as long as they are not another great egret, and I don’t think he is particularly fond of the GBH either. 🙂
Splendido trio, che non ti è sfuggito perché sei troppo bravo e attento!!
Ciao, Pat
Si tratta di un trio molto bello! Grazie mille Pat
Fantastic photo! Do you know if Radar has ever had a mate and helped raise little ones?
Thanks Molly! Radar looks like he could be getting into breeding plumage so it’s possible.
I wonder if his antennas make him more desirable to a potential mate or scares them off? 😯 🙂
Oh dear, oh dear. They’re terribly vain, all posing for you like this! Such cuties! 🙂
They are posing quite nicely, and likely think of themselves as very cute. 🙂
What a handsome gang!
It is a good looking group!
One of these things is not like the others. Great photo,I love Snowy Egrets.
This is very true, I like the close comparison shown here.
I have snowys for today’s post. 🙂
I’ve wondered the same thing whether perhaps Radar doesn’t want to fly with that thing strapped to him….
I have a ton of photos of him flying but it could be that distance flying is not something he likes. That could be either due to his attachments, or he just really likes it here. Being king is good I suppose. 🙂
Reminds me of Radar O’Reilly. Lovely birds.
Thanks Andrew, they are fun bunch. 🙂
I think the scientists should be following your photographic study of the salt marsh – especially as Radar’s not feeding them much migratory information. Beautiful, and so interesting, as always 🙂
That’s a good idea, I’ll have to see if I can contact them and pass along a file of Radar images. 🙂
Thanks, I’m happy you enjoyed this!
Great shot and useful information.
I’m glad you enjoyed the photo and information Jan!
What a brilliant picture, Phil! Do they eat different sizes of fish? Is this why they get along, as they are not in competition, or are they just easygoing by nature?
That is an excellent question Maggie and you have hit on an important aspect of their life in the marsh.
These three birds specifically do not exactly eat all the same things nor do they primarily hunt for the same things.
The great egrets will prefer a larger fish or a full size shrimp. The snowys will eat tiny fish and shrimp, and the ibis will eat some of those smaller items but are the only one of the three that also activly search for crabs, both large and small ones. So it could very well be that the feeling of competition for food is not strong among different species that are not hunting the same food sources.
Several egrets and great blue herons in one area can all converge on one that has caught a large fish which is something they all want. That’s when arguments typically break out.
Thanks very much for looking and I’m happy you enjoyed this photo! 🙂
They all have a similar expression on their face. And even a similar stance. Wonderful capture. They also look like they are anticipating – something?
They do all look quite similar in stance and expression. Very good you caught that. It is exactly why I took that photo. I normally don’t shoot birds just standing there, I prefer action, unless there is something fairly interesting about the scene.
They often have that look of anticipation. Sometimes I think they are just ‘on break’. 🙂
Always nice to have friends.
Sure. Can’t go wrong having a few pals in the marsh to hang around with. 🙂
It’s interesting to see the great and snowy side by side, Phil – little and large!
I’m glad you noticed and enjoyed the size comparison Lucy. 🙂
The Three Musketeers!
With this lot, might be closer to The Three Stooges. 😀
(don’t tell Radar I said that)
Ha ha! Phil I love this! So hilarious… the WAITING!
Glad you like this pic! They can be very fun to watch, you never know what might get them started!