A Great Egret (Ardea alba, family Ardeidae) in the summer plumage with black beaks was found standing on a footpath between rice paddies. It wore turquoise eyeshadows as a nuptial colouration. As soon as I aimed it with my camera, the bird got alarmed and flew away in spite of a strong crosswind to take a safe distance from me. The moment of takeoff and landing was replayed at 5x slowmotion. Captured in the cloudy and windy earlyafternoon (around 12:30 PM) of lateMay 2023 in Japan.

For a full story (text in Japanese);
https://sigmanaturevlog.blogspot.co...