Catch

Great egret (Ardea alba) catching a fish.

Hi Sandor,

 

a great catch for the egret and you of course, very well lit too! The bands around the legs of the bird are taking away some of the beauty of this image for me, but that's not your fault. Kind regards, Vincent

A perfect photo, congratulations for the timing!

I agree with Vincent on the rings, and I add that they will also annoy the poor bird.

Best regards. Max

Thank you, Vincent, I appreciate your note. As for the bands, great egrets are normally registered. I personally have never seen otherwise even in natural environment such as this. Best regards, Sandor

Thank you, Max. These birds do not seem to care about the ring and it may not be more invonvenient than a wristwatch or jewels on us. The purpose of registration is to better protect them, and study their activities. Kind regards, Sandor

An extraordinary photo, perfect timing, excellent photographic point of view, the water column looks like a crystal block, ciao Giangiorgio

Thank you, Giangiorgio, for the kind note and the nice description, warm regards, Sandor

PS. È una bella descrizione dire che la colonna d'acqua sembra un blocco di cristallo.

Hi Sandor,

 

are great egrets rare where you live? Here I have never seen any egret with 'registration', but there are many of these birds in my region, while 20 years ago there were (almost) none, so as a species they're pretty successful here. They're great hunters with an enormous appetite. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi, Vincent. The photo was shot in the Kiskunság National Park in Hungary. The great egret is the symbol of the Hungarian nature conservation. It is highly protected, and is the bird of the coat of arms of the Hungarian nature conservation. The great egret stock was decimated in the 19th century in the country by the fashion of wearing egret feather. Since then the stock has been regenerating, and in the 1970s, the domestic herd of the great egret started to grow strongly. When counting in 2012, 5800 pairs were nesting in Hungary. I have just checked, and since 1951, 6054 great egrets have been banded, so certainly not all them are ringed. Thank you for your interest. Kind regards, Sandor

PS.: Where do you live?

Hi Sandor,

 

I live in Almere, the Netherlands, which has a lot of water and nature that gets the chance to take its course. The land of the city I live in has been conquered on an inland sea (the Ijsselmeer). The whole city is below sea level and about half of it is water. Kind regards, Vincent

Thank you, Vincent, so you have plenty of opportunities to be close to nature. I have read about the struggle of your country for gaining land from the sea and it is quite miraculous what you have achieved. That reminds me that although I am Hungarian as you might have guessed, I have been living in Rome, Italy for eight years now, so most of the photos I have uploaded to this site were made here. Best regards, Sandor

So many things just right here: Right moment, right sharpness and light, right blurred out background, right low POV. So in short, probably one of the very best egret photos ever.

Thank you, Philip, for the very kind note. Best, - Sandor

Fantastic timing to catch this action, Sandor. Excellent colors, light and composition. Best regards, Paul.