Great Egret Mating Dance from High Island

Made another road trip yesterday to the High Island rookery.  Just can’t get enough except for the mosquitos.  They are very intense before the sun comes up.   Hosed myself down 5 times with bug spray and still got several bites.  Not for the faint of heart but worth the reward of seeing the morning light shine through the breeding plumage.

Tried shooting from the upper level on the last platform this time and liked it better than the lower platform.  On the upper platform you can get the distant trees in the background which allows for a dark background with the white birds.  Had better luck this day with some mating dance action.  This Great Egret spent about an hour strutting her stuff but didn’t have any takers except for a few photographers.  She flew away rejected and dissatisfied.  I left with a smile on my face and craving a cigarette for some odd reason…

Taken with Canon 7D and 100-400 lens on tripod with Sidekick gimbal mount.

1/640 sec @ F5.6, – 1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400

1/1000 sec @ F5.6, spot metering, – 1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 400