Put a bunch of birders together and most would probably agree that Great Egret, and other heron birds are about as graceful as you can get in the bird world. They're like ballerinas on stilts, with wings. To watch them walk along the shore, jabbing their bills in the sand, wings outstretched - you'd swear you were watching a performance.
I last left off with our Black Crowned Night Heron sighting at Hagerman, and we were mesmerized by it's swooping flight. We didn't realize there was another bird just a few feet away from us. As we got up to leave, we were both startled by a huge commotion; rustling, flopping sounds. Not five feet from where we had been sitting a Great Egret was flapping out of the grasses. It wasn't all that graceful - it actually looked a little stuck. It flapped trying to get higher above the grasses and it took me a few seconds to turn my camera on to get the action.
I missed the struggle, but got some shots as it was flying off. We feel pretty badly that we ruined it's resting spot for the night, we had no idea it was there, and never would have if it hadn't spooked.
Ok, this picture sucks...but look in the top right corner. It's a Belted Kingfisher!!! I only saw it when I got home and reviewed the shots. I have no decent photos of a Kingfisher.
And off it went, to find a nice place to rest - without us crazy birders.
No comments:
Post a Comment