I was over at the neighborhood pond today doing a few tests, and had a great egret (Ardea alba) spooked by one of the ubiquitous dog-walkers fly over close to my position, then continually stalk closer. I would credit this to my amazing abilities to remain unseen, had I not been far from motionless in plain sight and talking to The Girlfriend on the phone during the egret’s approach. So I’m crediting it instead to a hungry bird that was reasonably used to people.
It’s funny: I’ve long known that, when in pursuit of food, herons and egrets focus almost entirely on that and ignore how close people are getting, as long as it’s a slow and unobtrusive approach, but there are also personalities among individuals, regardless of species, where some aren’t too concerned about humans while some won’t allow anyone within 25 meters, and thankfully this was one of the former. The image is with the long lens and cropped of course, but the bird was still within five meters by its own efforts. I can always work with that.