Great Egret Nestlings at Murphy Park

Another trip to Murphy Park in Taylor, TX this afternoon. The nest building is mostly done for the Great Egrets, though some are still bringing in branches and twigs. Many of the nests have two or three chicks in them. This still photograph shows two of the chicks in this nest getting fed and a third off the side.

Great Egret chicks - Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, Kenko 1.4x - 560mm, f/9, 1/1000 sec, ISO-320

It was fascinating to see how the parents actually feed the chicks. Rather than the parent shoving food into the chicks mouth like most songbirds, or the chick reaching into the parent's crop like a pelican, the chicks grab across the parent's partially open bill. You can see the regurgitated fish in the shot below. Still not sure how the chicks get it down their throats.

Close up of fish transfer to chicks - Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, Kenko 1.4x - 560mm, f/9, 1/1000 sec, ISO-320

Danielle posted a montage of the various nests on YouTube.