Great Egret in golden light

The slightly overcast skies provided very soft lighting in this quickie sortie to the vast fishponds of Sto. Tomas (La Union), my first birding in 2015.

With the gape unmistakeably extending way past behind the eye, it seems to me the migratory bird in this photo is easy to tell apart from its white cousins. This waterbird has a wing span of 1.48 meters, and a length of 0.91 m.

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Great Egret (Egretta alba, migrant)

Habitat - Uncommon in a variety of wetlands from coastal marshes to ricefields.

 

Shooting info - Sto. Tomas, La Union, January 9, 2015, Canon 1D MIV + EF 500 f4 L IS, 500 mm, f/4, ISO 1250, 1/2000 sec, 475B/3421 support.

 

 

1500 x 1000 version