A great egret preens its feathers while standing in the shallow water of a pond in the Merritt island National Wildlife Refuge.

A great egret preens its feathers while standing in the shallow water of a pond in the Merritt island National Wildlife Refuge, which borders NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The breed feeds alone, stalking fish, frogs, snakes and crayfish in shallow water. They inhabit freshwater and salt marshes, marshy ponds and tidal flats. The center shares a boundary with the refuge that includes salt-water estuaries, brackish marshes, hardwood hammocks and pine flatwoods. The diverse landscape provides habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann