stunning detail here- makes one feel like reaching out and stroking it! New lens?

Thanks Gregory &Verena ! I actually lost a lot of shot of this moment because had the camera on single focus mode instead of continuous focus mod. But, I am lucky enough to get the begining sequence sharp (this one). Well, it not the Lumix 100-300mm that you originally mentioned as not as good as my Canon 500mm F4 but it's the same Olympus 100-400mm F5-F6.3 I got a couple week back. There' no upgrade from here unless I hit the lottery and that's because the next step up lens is the newly minted Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 which listed at $7500 . This one is ok since it's sharp and it's only draw back is the F6.3 at 400mm. It just need a lot of light and it's a ... 'sunshine' lens type of thing. When I put the 1.4x on it it's F9 and it's a bit soft. But, it seems to get better if I set it to F11. What that means is I have to shoot at ISO 1000 or more to get a high enough shutter speed to ensure I am not shaky because with the 1.4x that's 1120mm equivalent.

Outstanding capture! The exposure of the white feathers is perfect, showing all of their details.

Thanks Todd! Good to hear from you. I got lucky yesterday, no good shot today though.Generally, when I shoot egret it's very much EV -2.7 (that's almost 3 stop below what the camera meter). Also, mid-day lighting would be too harsh and only early morning or late afternoon would be more desirable.