Great Egret...

[Joseph Przybyla]

Dottie and I went to the rookery at Gatorland last Saturday morning. For a long time I just watched this egret. At first she was motionless covering the nest, rising from the nest shaking out her feathers revealed a chick in the nest. Shake, fluff out the feathers then settle gently down covering the nest and chick again and again. This would occur every five to ten minutes. The night had been cold for Florida, mid forty degrees. Watching this behavior I realized it was her way of keeping her offspring warm by fluffing her feathers to trap air for insulation. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 98mm
1/1000 F/7.1 Matrix Metering EV -1 ISO 1100 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for composition and presentation

[William Dickson]

Hi Joe. The whites on the bird look real good against the BG colours. Lovely pose on the bird, and its good to get a glimpse of the little one on the nest.

Will