One of the most colorful wading birds that we have around here in north central Florida is the tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor). As you can see, they look similar to the great blue heron, but with a rusty color on parts of the otherwise grey-blue body. Besides having more color than the great blue herons, the tricolored heron is much smaller. It’s similar in stature to a little blue heron. Like the other herons it wades in shallow waters hunting fish, frogs, snakes, and insects. Its hunting style is similar to the great blue heron slowly stalking its prey rather than dancing around trying to scare fish out like many of the other smaller wading birds do. This one was hunting in a swampy area with quite a few reeds just off the boardwalk at Sweetwater Wetland Preserve. As I watched it, it slowly crept forward, extending its neck out further and further until with a sudden strike it captured a small fish. The above shot was taken just seconds before the strike. To me it’s absolutely fascinating watching them do this and it’s remarkable how accurate they usually are.