Last year the marsh behind our neighbor’s house was overflowing with great egrets, most of them juveniles. They stayed for a couple of weeks in early April, probably decimated the fish and and amphibian population in the place, and then were gone.
This year, just a few showed up, and I only photographed a couple of times: this adult, who proved a patient model, and later, a juvenile who would not even stick around for a single shot.
Their majestic beauty and placid manner belie skillful and ruthless abilities as predators; this one caught and swallowed a fish just one minute earlier.