Late one afternoon at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I found a pair of Snowy Egrets (well, maybe just two Snowys, I am not sure of their sexes) “hop and plunge” fishing. That is my term for it. From a standing stop, with a single flap of the wings, they were leaping into the air, somewhat horizontally, for several body lengths, and then plunging down on something in the water. I have seen a lot of different Egret and Heron feeding behavior but I had never seen anything quite like this. It was not, by the way, noticeably effective, as I never saw either Snowy catch anything, but it did look like fun.

Canon SX40HS at 840mm equivalent field of view. f5.8 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 200. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.