I was watching some Great White Egrets (Ardea alba) yesterday at Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, a freshwater tidal wetland on the Potomac River, when something startled the birds.
The egrets and some mallard ducks took off from the water en masse in a great explosion of water. I captured some of that noise and confusion in the second photo. The photo I chose to feature shows the birds a short after the take off as they start to lift off a little and fly over a meadow-like area with tall golden grass. The light was especially beautiful on the wings of the egrets, which happily I managed to capture without blowing out the highlights as sometimes I do with these very white birds.
Click on the photos to see some of the beautiful details of the birds in greater resolution.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Being in the right place at the right time doesn’t happen often but when it does it can be magical. You’re right about that light!
I agree with everything New Hampshire Gardener wrote. Fantastic photos!
Beautiful birds. White is a difficult colour to capture even with flowers.
Yes indeed, beautiful light. A great action shot, were you shooting in burst mode? What settings do you use in this situation, when you think you’ll be shooting stationary birds but then need to capture high speed action?
Wow.
There’s something special about getting a natural action scene.