Reddish Egret portraitReddish Egret portrait – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited

On my Great Blue Heron post yesterday I mentioned that:

When I am out photographing birds I always appreciate when I am able to get close enough to them to get portrait frames of them because a portrait can show fine details that an image from further away can.

Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret.  They are also known as “The Drunken Sailor” for the wacky poses they exhibit while hunting, I wish that everyone of my readers could see that dance at least once in a lifetime. Maybe even from the perspective that I some times had while sitting or kneeling waist deep in a lagoon with expensive camera gear in hand while thinking “Oh oh, is that Reddish Egret going to mow me down because it isn’t paying attention to a thing outside of its prey let alone the crazy woman in the lagoon?”

I was sitting in the warm water of the lagoon when I photographed this adult Reddish Egret in breeding plumage but the egret was on dry ground near some mangroves so I wasn’t concerned about it running into me or spearing me with its knife-like bill while calling “Shiska-Mia”!

Okay, back to being serious. With this close up image I can see plenty of fine detail in the plumage, eyes, lores and bill. The details in the “mane” and other feathers show very nicely. I am not sure why but the “mane” has always reminded me a dreadlocks on Reddish Egrets.

Adult Reddish Egret in breeding plumageAdult Reddish Egret in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light, not baited

From a distance I can appreciate the full body of the egret and with more of the “mane” showing people who have never seen this wading bird before might understand why the feathers on the head and neck are sometimes even called a “mane”. The mane doesn’t look so much like dreadlocks when the bird is standing still but when it is running about chasing prey those ropy sections of feathers going flying about willy-nilly and that is when they most remind me of dreads.

For me; both images are appealing and tell me a lot about this Reddish Egret.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to view more of my Reddish Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.