Mostly fishing.
Three days ago on my long trip to the west desert this Snowy Egret was a surprise find on a pond where I rarely (as in almost never) see them. ‘He’ was pretty close and the sun was behind me so there was no way I wasn’t going to stop for him. He gave me some static reflection poses like this one but I was hoping he’d get used to my presence, relax a little, and maybe give me a little action. Like fishing perhaps.
But I knew that getting quality photos would be a challenge. I didn’t find him until 10:07 AM, 4 hours after sunrise on a cloudless, intensely sunny day, so the light was already harsh – a terrible situation to try to get a good exposure on a brilliantly white bird. I did what I could, including shooting at -2 EV for these shots, but I sure wish I’d found him earlier.
When birds rouse I always fire off a burst in the hope of…
capturing a shot or two like this one, with feathers going every which way.
He was chasing fish all over that pond. His incredibly fast, herky-jerky movements made it very difficult for me to avoid clipping body parts, of the bird and/or his reflection.
In this case he missed the fish, but after the strike he could still see it in the water so he…
wheeled around 180° and chased it in the other direction but he still didn’t catch it. In the nine minutes I spent with him I only saw him catch one tiny fish. Lots of work for very little return.
This is the beginning of another instantaneous 180° turn. Notice how the base of his neck is twisted. To me it almost looks like his lower neck is becoming detached from his body.
A pretty good look at his signature “golden slippers”.
I’m including this shot just because I like the symmetry of bird and reflection.
We’ll end the way we began, with a rouse. This time he doesn’t look quite so… discombobulated.
Soon after I took this photo he took off and flew to the back of the pond where he was too far away for photos. And I headed for home. Next time, if there is a next time, I hope to find this bird or one of his buddies earlier in the morning.
Ron
Beautiful images!
What a wonderful series!! I’ve been spending the last several days (weeks/months…) organizing my Class of ’74 50th Reunion. That 2nd rousing shot reminded me of what my cat looked like one time it fell into the bathtub with me and levitated out with all the wet fur going every which way, LOL Thanks for this wonderful distraction from the less than loving thoughts I’ve been having about my classmates today. 😀
Ha, I can just see your cat after its dunk, Karen. Can’t help but smile about it.
I see what you mean about the disconnected neck. A delightful series and I particularly like the rouse shots. And the reflections.
I hope that he did better in his hunt earlier or later. And applaud your efforts in less than ideal light.
Thanks, EC. He could have done better than I thought he did. He could very well have caught more small fish that I couldn’t see. He was often partially or completely hidden behind emergent vegetation.
Beautiful series and some great poses.
Thanks, April.
A very nice series on my favorite egret. Did you happen to see what type of fish it was after?
I didn’t, Patrick. It only caught one fish, it was tiny, and I didn’t have a very good look at it anyway.
OK. Thanks!
p.s., I’ll have to visit the West Desert on one of my Utah trips, but not during the hottest months of the year. 🙂
Considering how late it was, you and he did a great job not blowing out all those white feathers. The rouses are so exciting to see and the reflections are icing on the cake! As the kids say, “Chef’s kiss!”
“Chef’s kiss!”
That’s a new one on me, Marty. Although I can see it in my mind.
Stunning — really showcases your skill and the camera’s performance. The egret did ok too😀
Thank you, Kent. You’re right, the R5 deserves some of the credit, although it did struggle with focus at times.
Although a serious matter to him (fishing), this series is a ballet of whimsy if one views the pictures in speedy succession. Bravo!
Kinda like a flip book. Thanks, Karen.
That is a really nice series. Given the time of day, I like the brilliance of the whites in the bird.
Thank you, Bruce.
Gorgeous indeed. Your mastery of difficult lighting conditions really paid off with this series. Very glad a friend pointed me to your blog – you brighten my life.
I’m also glad your friend pointed you this way, Burrdoo. I enjoy having you around.
Love this post. One of my all-time favorites. I always get revved up when I see them. Photo number 8 is my favorite of all these, but hard to chose since all so good. In Jack E. Davis’s Pulitzer Prize winning book The Gulf he tells about their wholesale slaughter for their feathers for hats for the wealthy women of the east coast and Europe.
That’s right, Everett. The plume trade almost wiped out several species of egrets and herons.
I loved this series– it’s the first time I’ve seen photos of an egret
“living his life”, rather than presenting himself in only elegant poses
(in shot #3, he looks like a punk tornado! ). I also enjoyed #8–“golden
slippers” and #9 –symmetrical spread-winged reflection.
Much appreciated, Kris. Then it sounds like I chose some of the ‘right’ photos to post. I had a lot to choose from.
Congrats at overcoming less than ideal conditions to capture some brilliant shots.
The onw with the neck turn does look a bit odd. If this was a sculpture I would have criticized it as being unnatural.
Love that second to last photo.
“If this was a sculpture I would have criticized it as being unnatural.”
I probably would have too, Michael. That’s a characteristic of some of Audubon’s paintings that doesn’t much appeal to me.
Great sequence! Interesting behaviors and lovely symmetry.
Thanks, Brett.
WOW! Wonderful series! 🙂 I sure wouldn’t catch most of that just watching! I wouldn’t think they were capable of such contortions either! 🙂
“I sure wouldn’t catch most of that just watching!”
I wouldn’t either, Judy. That’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to photography.
Gorgeous.
Thanks, Suzanne.