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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

People have town squares. These birds have 'The Log.' Today’s occupants: one Great Egret, one Mallard. They may have even had a conversation. 🤎🤍

A Great Egret and a Mallard stand at opposite ends of a partially submerged log in a shallow pond. The much taller egret stands upright with its long neck curved into an S-shape, while the Mallard stands quietly at the other end.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The Great Egret: elegant, graceful, dignified. Usually. 😂 #birds #photography

A Great Egret stands in warm sunlight against a soft blue-gray background, its long orange bill pointing to the right. The feathers on its head and neck are dramatically fluffed and sticking straight up, giving it a windswept, bedhead appearance.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I startled this Green Heron as I was making my way through the wetlands this weekend, and he flew up into this tree and settled onto this branch ands stayed for several minutes—long enough for me to back off, get into position, and capture this beautiful little perch. 💚 #birds #photography

A Green Heron perched on a slender tree branch, partially framed by pale branches and green leaves. The bird faces left, showing its yellow eye, long pointed bill, streaked brown-and-white chest, and intricate dark wing feathers. A softly blurred background in muted greens and tans surrounds the bird, with ample open space to the right.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Yesterday was UNREAL at the preserve. Storm clouds made for great lighting. 💛 Great Egret takes a drink after swallowing a 🐟. #birds #photography

A white egret shaking water off its bill, creating a splash of droplets in the dark water.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Those golden slippers. ✨ Snowy Egret moving through the shallows. #birds #photography

A Snowy Egret walks through shallow water, illuminated against a nearly black, warm-brown background. Its bright white plumage and delicate breeding plumes stand out dramatically in the light. One black leg is planted while the other stretches forward, its vivid yellow foot touching the water and kicking up a tiny splash. The egret faces right, with its black bill, yellow eye and golden-yellow facial skin sharply visible.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A pair of Mallards flying in synch low over the water, catching the last of the light. 🦆 #birds #photography

A female and male Mallard fly side by side from left to right, low over a pond. Both are caught mid-wingbeat with their iridescent blue wing patches visible. Warm light outlines their feathers against a dark, softly blurred background, while several ducks rest on the water below them.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A reddish egret, taking a moment, reflecting and casting a reflection in the still waters of a tidal lagoon. 🌊 #birds #photography

A reddish egret stands alone in shallow blue-gray water, leaning forward as it watches for prey. Its dark slate body and long rust-colored head and neck plumes are reflected in the water below, where gentle ripples stretch and soften the reflection.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Three Ruddy Turnstones. 🤍 Coming in for a landing above a mix of shorebirds. #birds #photography

Three ruddy turnstones fly above a large mixed flock of terns and shorebirds gathered in shallow water on a sandy beach, with bright turquoise Gulf water in the background.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Shorebird Rush hour at the beach. It was pretty amazing to be in the middle of it all. #birds #photography

A chaotic flock of coastal birds fills the sky, including several Brown Pelicans mixed with smaller gulls and terns. The birds cross the frame at different heights and angles, wings spread in every direction against a pale blue-gray sky.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I thought I was photographing a Snowy Egret. Nope. White-morph Reddish Egret. 🤍 I didn't realize what I had until I ran into a local photographer! #birds #photography

White-morph Reddish Egret captured mid-stride over shallow water, both feet lifted as its broad white wings sweep forward. Its long neck and dark bill point ahead, with windblown white head feathers and a blurred flock of shorebirds in the background.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Royal Tern (my first) banking over a tidal lagoon near Florida’s Gulf Coast. 🤍 #birds #photography

A Royal Tern banks sharply in flight over Florida’s Gulf Coast, its long white and gray wings nearly vertical and its tail feathers spread. Its bright orange-red bill stands out against the blue-gray sky, with turquoise Gulf water, pale sand and dune grass in the background.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Pretty sure this is a Willet coming in for a landing among a few hundred of its closest friends on Florida’s Gulf Coast. 🤍 #birds #photography

What appears to be a brown-gray Willet descending with wings spread and legs extended toward a large mixed flock of terns and shorebirds gathered in shallow water and on a sandy Florida beach. Bright orange-billed Royal Terns fill the foreground, with turquoise Gulf water visible beyond the sand.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

An immature White Ibis showing off its beautiful transitional plumage. #birds #photography

An immature White Ibis stands on a wooden boardwalk railing surrounded by lush green vegetation. The bird’s body faces away from the camera while it turns its streaked brown-and-white head back to look directly toward the viewer. Its partially spread wing reveals layered dark brown feathers interspersed with emerging white plumage, illuminated by warm sunlight against a deep green background.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

There a problem here? 😒 Snowy Egret serving absolutely unnecessary levels of attitude. 😂 #birds #photography

A Snowy Egret stands in shallow water in warm golden light, its white breeding plumes sticking straight up from its head like a wild, spiky crown. The bird looks toward the camera with an intense, almost comically indignant expression against a soft olive-brown background.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

📸 Two tiny Black-necked Stilt babies, just trying to navigate the pond while the mallards come in like bomber planes. 😂 They are so ridiculously squee. 🥹 #birds #photography

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

'Swallowed Up.' A Northern Rough-winged Swallow, tiny against layers of trees and late-day light. Sometimes the bird doesn't need to fill the frame. 🌟 #birds #photography

A Northern Rough-winged Swallow flies through a vast, softly blurred landscape of trees. The tiny bird catches the light against layers of deep blue-green foliage and warm golden trees in the background, its wings spread downward in flight.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

A few stills of Mexican Jays from Madera Canyon, AZ. 🐦‍⬛🪶 One of Arizona's most intelligent songbirds, always curious and rarely still, which I quickly found out trying to track them in a thick grove using manual focus! #photography #wildlife

A Mexican Jay perches on a branch while looking at something out of frame to the left, with its eye clear and visible. The blue-gray bird is sharply focused against a warm, creamy background of golden foliage, with soft afternoon light revealing fine feather detail.

A Mexican Jay stands among dry grasses and fallen leaves on the forest floor. The bird's blue-gray plumage stands out against warm golden and brown tones, with soft foreground grasses and a blurred woodland background creating a sense of depth. The jay looks alert as warm sunlight illuminates its feathers.

A Mexican Jay perches on a sunlit branch, facing left. Its blue-gray plumage contrasts with a softly blurred golden woodland background. The bird's eye is sharp, and warm afternoon light highlights the subtle feather detail across its head, wings, and breast.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Wild turkeys don't usually make anyone's list of "beautiful" birds. But spend a few minutes watching one in the right light, and the bronze, copper, and iridescent feathers tell a completely different story. Gobble, gobble. 🪶 #photography #wildlife

Close-up portrait of a wild turkey against a black background. The bird is lit by warm sunlight, highlighting intricate bronze and brown iridescent feathers and the textured pink skin of its neck. Its amber eye is sharply focused, giving the portrait an elegant, dramatic look.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Moody fine-art portraits of a Snowy Egret tending to its plumage. 🖤🪶 #Photography #FineArt

A vertical shot of a white snowy egret perched on a dark diagonal branch. The bird is twisting its head back to preen its shoulder, causing the long, fluffy white feathers on its head to stand straight up like a wild crest.

A close-up vertical portrait of a white snowy egret looking down with its neck curved. The composition highlights the incredible texture of its long, silky white breeding plumes draping down its body against a dark background.

A tight vertical portrait of a white snowy egret facing forward against a solid matte black background. The bird has an intense downward stare with bright golden eyes, and small wispy feathers are wrapped around the tip of its black bill.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Found this beautiful Red-backed Dark-eyed Junco catching the morning light on a perfect perch. 🌲📸 🪶 #BirdAndWildlife #NaturePhotography #FeathersAndFluff #BirdsOfBluesky

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Perched high above the Oregon coast, this White-crowned Sparrow paused just long enough for a portrait. 🪶💙

A White-crowned Sparrow perches at the tip of a spruce branch against a pale blue-gray sky. The bird faces slightly downward from its elevated perch, showing its black-and-white striped crown, gray breast, and warm tan bill. Fresh green needles frame the perch while the uncluttered background keeps the focus on the sparrow.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

A juvenile Cooper's Hawk pauses in the shadows of a cottonwood, watching the world with the intensity only a young raptor can muster. Despite an injury to it's left eye (not shown in this image, this young bird remained alert, observant, and determined.🪶 #photography #wildlife

A juvenile Cooper's Hawk perches between the split trunks of a weathered cottonwood tree. The young raptor's brown plumage is patterned with pale spots, and sunlight highlights the feathers on its head and shoulders. One bright yellow eye is visible as the hawk looks attentively into the distance. Twisted branches frame the bird, while the softly blurred background reveals hints of water and reflected light from the riparian habitat.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Three moments from an osprey's hunt from over the weekend! 💙 1. Post hunt attempt 2. A banking turn against the clouds, 3. Low pass over the shoreline after nabbing a fish. All in all, there were about 6 Ospreys hunting. My head was definitely on a swivel! #birds #wildlife #photography

Osprey after a hunting attempt in a lake, the bird flies past the camera with wings arched and droplets of water falling beneath it.

Osprey banking sharply against a cloudy blue sky, showing the underside of its wings and tail.

Osprey gliding low over the shoreline with a fish in its talons, eyes locked ahead.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

The light through the ponderosas was almost as good as the birding. 🌲🐦‍⬛ #photography

Sunlight streams through a stand of tall ponderosa pine trees, casting long shadows across the forest floor. Golden light illuminates patches of grass and a small meadow beyond the trees, while dark trunks frame the scene and create a peaceful woodland atmosphere.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Somewhere in northern Arizona, the rain was falling over there, the sun was shining over here, and I was standing in the middle of it wondering what the weather had planned next (torrential downpour eventually). 😀🦋 #photography

Vast northern Arizona grassland beneath towering summer thunderheads. Sunlit prairie stretches to the horizon while rain falls from distant clouds under patches of deep blue sky.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

King Snowy on patrol. Snowy Egrets always look elegant until the wind catches those crown feathers and reminds you they're basically tiny punk-rock herons.😀 #birds #photography 📍Riparian Preserve, Arizona

A Snowy Egret flies low over calm water in a wetland, its bright white wings fully extended and reflected on the surface below. The bird's yellow feet trail behind it, and its wispy crown feathers are blown back by the wind. Tall reeds and dark shadows create a dramatic background that makes the egret stand out against the scene.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

After months of writing and rewriting, and wondering if I was ever going to finish it, Ellie and the Egret King is officially being queried. 48,849 words. If you feel like it, please wish King Snowy luck. 🦢🙏🏻🪶 #EllieAndTheEgretKing #AmQuerying #KidLit #MiddleGradeBooks #WritingCommunity #Wildlife

Book poster for Ellie and the Egret King. A girl sits at a writing desk beside a window overlooking a sunlit wetland preserve with ponds, trees, and a flying egret. Wildlife sketches, books, and a white feather surround her workspace, suggesting themes of nature, observation, and discovery.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

It may not seem like much, but a few feet of discarded fishing line is enough to devastate wildlife. PSA: If you pack it in, please pack it out. 🦋🙏🦋 Thank you,

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

There are some birds you photograph once and forget. And then there are Snowy Egrets. Elegant one moment. Completely ridiculous the next. This particular Snowy spent the evening strutting through the shallows, looking equal parts royalty and chaos. King Snowy. 👑🪶

Snowy Egret walking directly toward the camera through shallow water with crest feathers standing upright and wings partially spread. The bird's white plumage glows in warm evening light.

Snowy Egret standing in shallow water during golden hour. Long breeding plumes stream behind the bird while soft blue water reflects the evening sky.

Snowy Egret silhouetted against bright water as it bends its neck downward while foraging. The bird's dark reflection is visible beneath it among circular ripples.

Snowy Egret splashing through shallow water with one wing raised high overhead. Crest feathers flare outward while water droplets scatter around the bird.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The neighborhood mockingbirds absolutely lost their minds over this Harris’s Hawk on my block wall this morning. I managed to catch the whole dive-bombing sequence through my screen door before the hawk finally bailed. Full video is up on my YT channel if you're interested in seeing it. 💙🦋🪶

A Harris’s Hawk hops up onto a higher portion of a block retaining wall, with both wings raised and its feet suspended in air as it eyes a landing. The hawk’s chestnut wings and white tail feathers glow softly in the backlight, giving the scene a dramatic, almost theatrical feel.

A Harris’s Hawk lands awkwardly on a tan block wall with one wing raised and one foot lifted mid-step while sunlight filters through green leaves behind it. The hawk’s chestnut wings and white tail feathers glow softly in the backlight, giving the scene a dramatic, almost theatrical feel.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Royal Pond 9 energy. 👑✨🪶 Caught this Snowy Egret looking like he just stepped out of a fantasy novel and into the preserve. #photography

Snowy Egret perched on a thick tree branch with long white breeding plumes blowing backward in the wind. The bird’s bright yellow feet and intense yellow eye stand out against a dark, softly blurred green and brown background. Sunlight highlights the delicate feather details, giving the egret a regal, windswept appearance.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Spent sunset tonight with this crew. 🦆🎴 The Message Said to Meet at the Lake. 🪶 Full video, here: www.youtube.com/shorts/BO8Tk...

Three domesticated ducks walk towards the camera, with a geese family walking in the same direction a ways behind them; all with a gorgeous sunset backdrop.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

POV: your parent said ‘you’re gonna figure it out yourself’ 😅🦅 Juvie: but I’m literally yelling??? Bald Eagles—Salt River, AZ 4/24/26. #birds #photography #wildlife

An adult bald eagle steps away along a shallow, rocky riverbank with wings raised, while a scruffy juvenile bald eagle stands beside it calling loudly, appearing to beg as the adult moves off.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Male Vermillion Flycatcher.🪶 "Framed." Salt River, AZ.💧

A vivid red flycatcher sits on a bare branch, centered between out-of-focus tree trunks that create a natural frame.

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Ruddy Duck—Guiness World Record contender for the longest 'wing dry off.' 😂🪶

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Bathe, Dry off, Prance, Look. Black-necked stilt. 🪶

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Harris's Hawk.🪶 Caught this guy/gal in my neighborhood over the weekend (two of them actually—maybe more).

Harris’s hawk perched in a palm tree in golden evening light.

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Reposted by Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️

Jenny @wildmustanglover.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Another fallout from the Heritage Foundation. Page 579. They hate wildlife and horses. They stand in the way of them raping our land for money. pure greed. #banhorseslaughter

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Lizzy Esau 🌱 📸 🐾 ✍️ @lizzyesau.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

A few stills from the egret vs. heron video I shared earlier. The full video’s already up if you want to see how it actually unfolds.🦋🪶🐦 😊

Great Egret standing in shallow water facing away, framed by tall green reeds with a soft reflection on the water.

Great Blue Heron standing in dark water with a blurred egret in the background, both partially lit against shadowed reeds.

Great Egret with wings fully extended above the water, creating a wide reflection as it lifts or lands near the reeds.

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