The One-footed Egret - Posting # 1. For posting #2, click "Previous".

I found this Egret foraging for food on a rock-filled dike at a local drainage pond. It was accompanied on the dike by a Black-crowned night Heron who looked on from a safe distance as the Egret hopped about between the rocks. Subsequently, two Mink also made their appearance, but by the time they showed up both the Egret and Heron had flown off.The Egret moved about rather strangely as every time it change position amid the large boulders, it would flap its wings. This made for some good photo-ops.

Top Image: The seemingly one-legged Egret is moving about with its wings flapping. Through the translucent wing you can see the knee of its right leg. There was no foot visible, but it might have been hidden from view by the tail.


The Egret is about to take off. Here it is quite evident that the right foot was missing. I had not realized this until later as it wasn't obvious to me whilst looking through the viewfinder.


After the Egret took off, I managed a series of flight shots. In this shot you can just see the stub of its right leg below the tail feathers.


In this shot it is again clearly evident that the right foot is missing. But, still in the heat of the moment whilst concentrating on taking the shots, I did not spot that the foot was missing.

I met up with the Egret again about an hour later whilst it was fishing in a bay of one of the drainage ponds. By that time I had taken a quick look at my previous shots and realized the Egret's handicap. It looked pretty healthy though and was catching a good bit of grub. It also chased away an other egret encroaching on its teritoty. I will post some more images of it later.