World Bird Wednesday - Stalking an Egret

Last week, while staying with my sister in Melbourne, I had a

chance to check out the wetlands in Rowville near the golf course.

Actually, I was just stretching my legs with a camera trying to

capture some suburban birds when I spied this guy far across a

swampy meadow. A 135mm lens is not the ideal weapon for

shooting at this range, so I lined myself up with the scant cover

of the bush at right and squelched my way down until I was right

behind it.

Even before I was in position, I felt him watching my progress

and when I broke cover for a better shot,

he was decidedly skittish -

and took to the air just enough

to land again near the reeds. This is an Intermediate Egret,

as far as I could tell, Ardea intermedia. Unfortunately his

mate was killed and now he mourns his loss and lives a

hermitic existence since egrets usually mate for life.

Click to enlarge.

Next week I'll give you a short burst of the common suburban birds

in the area.

This is one of my favourite memes , you too can join it by clicking

on the Logo on my side bar.