One of my favorite birds, and one I saw often in the salt marshes of San Francisco Bay (those few which haven't been developed over), is the magnificent Great Egret. We often had snowy egrets, their somewhat smaller cousins, as marsh visitors as well, and those were perhaps more common than the larger great egrets, but it's hard not to catch one's breath at the gorgeous and very large great egret as it takes flight. Only the great blue heron surpasses it in size as a salt marsh wader. 
continued at Daily Kos....
