Golden Hour Great Egret

This past Wednesday evening I had about an hour to bird before needing to be at Monroe Community College for the first meeting of the Erie Shores Birding Association (ESBA). Driving slowly down Campau Rd I found a young Green Heron out in the middle of a small inlet near the golf course. I then stopped by Pt. Mouillee HQ as the sun began to drop toward the horizon and had the opportunity to watch a Great Egret feed in the shallows next to the boat ramp and observation deck. Grabbing the Nikon D70 and Sigma 400mm/f5.6 I decided to try my hand at shooting the egret as it fished for Gizzard Shad. I was able to get several sets of images as it struck lightning-fast into the water to grab an unwary shad. At 3.5 fps the D70 couldn't keep up, but did not do too bad a job at capturing the splash and subsequent meal intake. The "Golden Hour" - that first and last hour of the day when lighting is perfect for photography - made for a special encounter w/ a magnificent bird.
Watching the bird stand motionless for minutes at a time I'm amazed at the concentration it holds. Walking slowly forward, pausing, then striking fully extended, it comes up w/ a 3-6" shad, tosses it up in the air, and swallows. Then a burp(?).
Here's a composite of three images showing a strike and successful retrieve!
Moving up onto the observation deck I managed to capture some images front-on. Here's the pause, the strike, splash, and retrieve! Gorgeous bird!
On the way out, I stopped along Port Sunlight Rd. and found a Red-tailed Hawk sitting high in a dead snag. I managed a few pics of it before it turned, paused, then flew off.
Not a bad hour...