Great Egret: The one that got away. Landing shot from behind.

My favorite Great Egret was in rare form yesterday. He caught this large fish twice and dropped it twice. The fish managed to escape the Egret's hungry beak. Very amusing to witness and capture with my camera. This was about 1630 in the afternoon, the lighting was slightly harsh for photographing a pure white bird but I think they came out well. I thought the fish was a bass but from doing a search, it looks to be a sunny. Fairly big from what I saw. #2 is the Egret landing with its wing spread out wide and the upper feathers lifting away from the wings. Nice viewpoint. Enjoy.

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Very nice shots, Brian. The reflection in the first shot is wonderful.

Levina de Ruijter wrote in post #10477368
Very nice shots, Brian. The reflection in the first shot is wonderful.

Thanks Levina! I had just switched from trying out a new Ground Skimmer set-up and back on the Wimberley Head when I spotted the Egret pulling that fish out of the pond. I was surprised at the size of the fish and the Egret's two attempts to swallow the fish. The fish got away...twice!

I'll be back to AMS again tomorrow, be in the city Tuesday. How are the Herons doing at Flevopark? I've only been once and that was back in March. Thanks.

Two really good shots Brian. Good story too.

Inse wrote in post #10477407
Two really good shots Brian. Good story too.

Thanks Ray. Always fun watching the Great Egret.

Nice shots. Exposure is a little hot. On the wings, those are spoilers, so, whoever got money from the patent on that, needs to give it back.

canonloader wrote in post #10479010
Nice shots. Exposure is a little hot. On the wings, those are spoilers, so, whoever got money from the patent on that, needs to give it back.

Thanks Mitch. It was tough lighting with a strong sun and a pure white egret! Would you suggest Spot Metering on the white bird the next time?

I'm always in awe of the 'construction' of the wings on these big birds...just like an airplane's wing...OR should we say the airplane's wing is just like a BIRD's wing!

If your close enough for the bird to cover the spot fully, use spot metering, you can't go wrong. It's when it's too far away to fill the spot that it starts acting funky.

Yeah, Leonardo built the first wing model after watching doves and pigeons and seeing how the airfoil was made, and the first helicopter was made from bird feathers. The Chinese even had kites that could carry men. I heard there were a lot of plane wrecks back then to. LOL