Wading birds, I always assumed, stood quietly on long legs and waited patiently for tasty snacks to wander within range of their sharp beaks.
But recently I observed an interesting “grab ‘n go” technique by a hungry-looking snowy egret intent on snatching a ‘happy meal’ from a shallow pond.
He would launch himself from shore and glide low over the water.
Then, somewhat puzzlingly, he would drag his feet lightly across the surface.
What’s that all about, I wondered? Surely he can’t grab fish with his feet!
At times he almost seemed to be “walking on water.”
Suddenly I understood. At the last moment he would dig in and use his feet like rudders to maneuver his body and brake his momentum!
🙂 Brilliant strategy for the hunter, bad news for the hunted. 😦
NOTE: I have since learned that this is actually a tried & true technique that goes by the name of “dip-fishing.”
Giblets & Flapdoodle 
I will never as long as I live be bored by your bird pictures and the stories that go with them. So beautiful, and brilliantly discerned. (That’s a fabulous first shot too with the worn dock wood in a swirl behind him, yellow bootkins, lovely textures).
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What I wish I could have brought out more clearly with a better angle on that first dock shot, Barbara, is the cruciform shape of the railing in the background. Might have suggested a crucifixion theme (“forgive them, father”) to the speared fish!
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Amazing behavior and amazing photographs of it. Thanks!
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Thank YOU!
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Delicious meal for the inovative egret. Delicious photos for us mere mortals!!
FANTASTIC post, John!!
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Thanks, Bruce. I take it that we have both drifted away from Flickr, eh?
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i love to see you work in both places. As for me, still there on flickr, just doing a lot more family stuff with the THREE grandchildren!!
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And how fortunate your family is to have such a dedicated and creative “archivist”!
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