Beauty with Brains by Priyanka Arora

Description

I was spending a week in Fort DeSoto, Florida a place famous for its Reddish Egret population. Whats unique about the Reddish Egrets is their hunting technique, the dance they do on water constantly prancing, jumping and spinning around spreading their wings. While I was watching a Reddish Egret, I noticed a Snowy Egret imitating the same hunting technique. Having photographed a lot of Snowy Egrets in the past I knew this was an adapted behavior so I quickly turned my camera and followed the Snowy and got this shot of the complete wingspan open just about to pounce on a fish. The tide pool was surrounded by mangrove trees and the sun was still pretty low in the sky giving the background and water a dark shade contrasting nicely against the white bird. This pose reminded me of a fashion model catwalking the ramp flaunting its gorgeous outfit.

Species

Snowy Egret in Breeding Plumage