Great Egret - Mermet Lake, IL
This white long-legged wader was in search of a meal in the swamp just outside the dyke on Mermet Lake. Great egrets are very closely related to Great Blue Herons and not their smaller white counter parts like the Snowy and Cattle Egrets. It just so happens that they are all white. The name Egret is really a place holder for white wading birds rather than a family group. These birds were once highly prized for they're breeding plumage and hunted world wide.