Jacki Gerber shared her favorite photo of a great egret feeding its young on a recent trip to Monkey Island in Currituck Sound. “So cool to see these fuzzy chicks!” Gerber wrote.
Joe DiGeronimo sent photos of an egret rookery in the Oceanview neighborhood of Norfolk. “These beautiful great white egrets’ nesting colony is a beautiful sight presenting photo opportunities,” DiGeronimo wrote, “but unfortunately their presence has somewhat taken over a portion of this neighborhood.”
Prue Salasky got a shot of a great egret taking flight at Knitting Mill Creek in Norfolk. “I wasn’t sure if this egret was real or a lawn ornament as it allowed me within feet before taking flight,” Salasky wrote.
Nancy Norman sent photos of a great blue heron stalking along the edge of the marsh at Back Bay in Virginia Beach.
Michael Schimmel came across a pair of yellow-crowned night herons having a crab feast at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.
Neil Rose sent photos of a yellow-crowned night heron nest with young in the nest in the Freemason District in Norfolk.
Kevin Jones sent photos of a yellow-crowned night heron at Chic’s Beach in Virginia Beach. “Several have made this section of the beach home,” Jones wrote.
Bill Caruso photographed a yellow-crowned night heron at the Myrtle Park area in Larchmont on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk.
Jane Hughey photographed a male house sparrow “trying to get kids to fledge from the birdhouse” in her yard in the Saratoga section of Norfolk. “Little piece of dried mealworm as incitement,” Hughey wrote.
Mike McClane sent a photo of a chickadee enjoying a snack on his deck in the Chelsea neighborhood in Virginia Beach.
Linda Glasson sent a photo of a dragonfly hanging out in the grasses at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.
Allen Waters got a shot of an assassin beetle peeking out of a Japanese iris at the Tidewater Arboretum in Virginia Beach.
Reuben Rohn got a photo of a terrapin resting in the sand at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach. Terrapins live in brackish rivers and streams along the Chesapeake Bay and the seaside of the Eastern Shore.
Tony Silvia sent a photo of a large snapping turtle on a log with a yellow-bellied slider in the Nottoway River near Franklin. “I can’t recall ever seeing these two species hanging out together, so it was a pretty lucky shot,” Silvia wrote.
Elizabeth Weller sent photos and a video of a box turtle laying eggs in her yard at the North End in Virginia Beach. “It took her two hours to dig the nest, and 20 minutes to lay three eggs,” Weller wrote, “and after a short rest about an hour to cover them up.”
Norm Grefe sent a photo of a skink with a caterpillar in its mouth at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk.
Connie Owen sent photos of a pair of northern water snakes enjoying the sun at Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. “I value the good things snakes do for us,” Owen wrote.
Gary Williamson got a shot of a cottonmouth gaping with its mouth open while resting in poison ivy at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake.
Dan Short came upon an alligator swimming through the dark waters at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. Alligators can be found throughout the coastal regions of the southeast with North Carolina being their northernmost range.
Vickie Shufer, wildfood@cox.net
