{"id":102416,"date":"2021-09-17T05:29:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T11:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=102416"},"modified":"2021-09-17T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T16:04:22","slug":"this-is-what-a-progressively-angry-snowy-egret-looks-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/17\/this-is-what-a-progressively-angry-snowy-egret-looks-like\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is What A Progressively Angry Snowy Egret Looks Like"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn’t find any raptors to speak of yesterday at Farmington Bay but I did find some highly agitated Snowy Egrets. This is one of them.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning at Farmington the Snowy Egrets were really feeling their oats. One minute they would all be peacefully basking in the warming sun and the next minute a mini-war would break out as two or more of them skirmished while squawking loudly. I got some interesting shots of fighting egrets but today I want to focus on a single bird and ‘his’ reaction to another egret that he thought was invading his personal space.<\/p>\n

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This egret took major exception to another egret that he thought was too close to him. I like this series for several reasons, including some interesting shadows and the increasingly ‘angry’ look on his face as he challenges the other bird. These first five photos are sequential shots in a burst with no skips that only lasted for 5\/10ths of a second.<\/p>\n

Here he’s beginning to rush the other egret out of frame to the right.<\/p>\n

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Then he accelerated toward his perceived opponent. I think the trademark “yellow slippers” of this species help to accentuate his speed and the seriousness of his intentions, especially when he…<\/p>\n

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really strides out. He didn’t appear to be in the mood to take any prisoners.<\/p>\n

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Here he lunged toward his opponent whose shadow can be seen on the right as the second egret took off to escape his wrath.<\/p>\n

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In this last shot of the sequential series the aggressor completes his lunge as the other egret, based on its shadow, flees the scene.\u00a0In some of my photos parts of the second egret can be seen but I cropped that bird out because I think the shadow is more interesting and even mysterious than the actual bird.<\/p>\n

I’m going to include one more photo, taken five frames and 1\/2 second after this one, but because of an unusual shadow of the still-fleeing egret it needs some explanation.<\/p>\n

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The egret that took off headed directly toward the early morning sun (over my right shoulder) so its shadow remained on the pond bank for quite a few frames. Readers know that I’m a fan of quirky shadows and I think this one fits the bill. The actual shadow of the bird on the muddy bank, combined with the reflection of the same shadow in the water, produced what I think is a very interesting shape – sort of like two attached ellipses.<\/p>\n

That shape reminds me of something that I believe is science related but what it is escapes me. It seems like it might be the orbital path of a subatomic particle or the orbital path of a planetary object but I simply can’t remember what it might be. Or maybe I’m imagining something that doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n

Either way the shape of that shadow certainly caught my eye. And yes, I know, I can be more than a little weird.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n