I saw my first Reddish Egret, and my first Reddish Egret canopy feeding, 11 years ago at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on my first visit to the Space Coast Birding Festival. I have attempted to catch that behavior 100s of times since…on each encounter with a cooperative Reddish Egret…but, for 11 years, the image has eluded me. I have come close…but never close enough. 🙂 Yesterday, at my very first stop at the very tip of the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas, barely 5 minutes off the ferry, all that changed. This Reddish Egret made up for all the others. It was close, and it was actively canopy feeding. My new Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom might be just a shade more capable then the super-zooms I have used in the past. I now have a very satisfying set of Reddish Egret canopy feeding in almost every pose imaginable!

This is the classic, one-wing canopy, pose that satisfies because of its inherent grace and the elegance of the lines. It looks like the bird might hold this pose for minutes as it studies the fish in the shadow it creates with its wing…but the fact is that this is just one position, generally held for only a fraction of a second in the feeding dance…which is why it is so hard to catch. It was full overcast, and slightly foggy at distance, but it was excellent light to bring out the full detail in the bird’s plumage.

Camera as above. Shutter preferred. 1/800th @ ISO 500 @ f6.7. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.