I was thrilled yesterday to see a Great Egret (Ardea alba) at my local marshland park for the first time in months. Unlike the Great Blue Herons, which stayed with us all winter, the Great Egrets flew south when the weather grew cold.
This egret was standing and fishing in a small pool of water near the boardwalk that runs through the marsh, undeterred by the crowd of photographers busily snapping away. I was a late arrival to the encounter and missed seeing the egret catch a frog, but I was happy that I was managed to get some good shots.
Egrets are always beautiful, but the wispy plumes they have at this time of year are especially spectacular. Normally I have problems with blowing out the highlights when I try to photograph egrets, but I think that the closeness of the bird helped me to get a decent exposure.
I can’t wait to see what other surprises are in store for me as we move into spring.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
This is such a beautiful bird!
Great shots, Mike. I don’t see Great Egrets very often, and certainly not in breeding plumage – never noticed that lime green color before. Usually have the same problem with blown highlights, too, if I don’t remember to underexpose to correct for the camera’s metering system trying to average all that dark water and white bird as a neutral gray.
Thanks, Joe. I was very fortunate to stumble upon this beautiful bird. I decided to underexpose by 2 f-stops and that seems to have worked out pretty well.
Exceptional photos, thank your for sharing.
Beautiful bird. You are fortunate to have good company.