Here’s a quickie, hope it makes you smile.
Sometimes a day at the office for this Great Egret brings on more than expected.
Or
The tale of the Egret that hoped to grow up to be an Osprey.
As my old footy coach used to say, “Never let you Ambitions Outweigh your Capabilities.”
I was sitting at The Shallows, and well, it wasn’t as the tide was running high, so not much happening. And the weather was blowing all get out and deep dark clouds were appearing.
I saw this Egret on the other side of the river. Too far for much real work, and besides it was mostly hunkered down among the small trees, trying to keep out of the wind. I spent more time with some dotterels and a few spoonbills, and was well into my second cup of Grey of Earl, when I heard a loud “SPLASH”, and without turning round, I knew instantly what had happen. The Egret had gone into the water. What I didn’t know was what it had caught. Hard to get it in the water and it was on the bank and behind the trees before you could say, “That’s a big Fish!”.
The next few minutes were between hilarious and painful, as it wrestled to get that size fish into a position to swallow. And to make things worse its new friends the Straw-necked Ibis were getting close hoping to get a morsel or two.
In the end after much neck manipulation, and headshaking, it decided that a new approach was needed and it took off behind the river bank, and I lost sight of the outcome.
I waited, but in the end the weather, and time ran out, and I left not knowing how it had fared.
Enjoy
A fish that anyone would be happy to catch! Quite a meal for the Egret!
DN
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What a challenge for the Egret!
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A great series of shots, Dave.
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Thanks Rodger, it was totally unexpected I must admit. Mostly I see them with tiny frogs or small invertebrates
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Let’s hope it got to eat its catch. I particularly like shot 3 – it’s just not going to work that way! Where’s the knife and fork when you need them?
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Hello Eleanor, and I think the one flying away shows the problem. It has to yet get down the rest of that long, slender neck. I hope it didn’t choke on it.
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