PHOTO OP-ED: A vision of brilliant white on a Saukville river bank

Their delicate white feathers nearly condemned great egrets to extinction near the end of the 19th century, when hunters slaughtered the birds for plumes sold to decorate fashionable women’s hats. Now their stunning plummage is a symbol of the remarkable survival story of how their population recovered after the birds were given protection by federal law. Ozaukee Press photographer Sam Arendt came across this egret on a mudflat beside the Milwaukee River in Saukville. The large wading birds, about the size of a Canada goose, are quite numerous in Wisconsin, though concentrated in the Horicon March and wetlands near Green Bay. The Saukville visitor was likely hunting for fish or frogs before it spread its gorgeous wings to fly away.    Photo by Sam Arendt