Flying Beyond the Beautiful
"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language." - Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
This set of photos of a great egret was taken on my walk along the San Antonio River on Wednesday, December 19.
A footnote: I would love to get feedback from someone who is both an experienced birder and an experienced pilot on this series. What isn't obvious is the egret was flying into a wind gusting up to 25 mph out of the south as it landed. When the egret approached the weir dam, it had to adjust for the wind gusts and lower its air speed to land. I have no doubt it is completely routine for an egret, but it was awesome to watch. The total elapsed time from the first photo to the one where it's standing on the weir was 2 min 42 sec.
A footnote: I would love to get feedback from someone who is both an experienced birder and an experienced pilot on this series. What isn't obvious is the egret was flying into a wind gusting up to 25 mph out of the south as it landed. When the egret approached the weir dam, it had to adjust for the wind gusts and lower its air speed to land. I have no doubt it is completely routine for an egret, but it was awesome to watch. The total elapsed time from the first photo to the one where it's standing on the weir was 2 min 42 sec.
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