Reddish Egret

This is another shot from my Safety Harbor Meetup last night.

This Reddish Egret was looking for food during low tide at the Marina. These Egrets are the funniest thing to watch when they're hunting. First you'll see them standing very still just gazing into the water like you see him in this photo. All of a sudden, you'll see him run around like crazy, then fly/jump up about 3 feet off the water, then start running around again this time with his wings half spread. I know I'm repeating myself, but it is so funny to see them do this dance.

They spread their wings for two reasons, they're trying to disguise their appearance from the fish, and their wings provide shade to reduce the glare on the water so they can see the fish better. I guess that's pretty smart even if they do look silly.

This one finally got his fish, so he won't be starving.

Here's a little tip when photographing Reddish Egrets. To bring out the red in his plumage, set your White Balance to Cloudy or Shade. That'll give you about 6,000 Deg. Kelvin and it'll warm up the entire photo a little bit.