Whereas a green heron in flight is aerodynamically superb, a great egret in flight is something else: extra long feathers, neck, legs, and toes. But however strange, in flight a great egret is remarkably graceful, beauty on wing.
In today’s series of three photos, the first is my favorite. I would have saved it for last, except that would mess up the sense of flight progression.
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A great egret despite the odd proportions is graceful and has one of the longer migration flights. Nature must be doing something right, or perhaps a great egret has more than the usual share of dinosaur legacy?