By Cecille Kennedy | 2024-02-25
On 02/26/2024 10:36 am by Lynzie Flynn| Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
I was doing a walk through the park, looking for interesting bird shots when I saw this Great Egret on a jumble of branches. I kept watching it and shortly after it started preening it's feathers. Right now is mating season and the birds go into breeding plumage, so as to attract a mate. Their graceful plumes called aigrettes grow from the shoulder to trail down the back. Preening is maintenance behavior that involves using the beak to clean feathers, position feathers, interlock feathers that have become separated, and keep parasites under control. Birds will preen on and off during the day.
This Great Egret was in dark shadows and there was a little green in the foliage in the back. I decided to take out all the color to make the bird stand out against a more stark background.
Om-1, M. Zuiko 150-400mm Pro lens
Adobe Lightroom