Eastern Reef Egret fishing, Sabang Palawan

[Tonji Ramos]

On our last day in Sabang we woke up really early to get some birding in ;D before we had to take the long car ride to the airport.

We got a boat guide to ferry us across the mangrove area and to the end of the monkey trail. We were birding along the beach when we came across two Eastern Reef Egrets fishing on the beach. They were in their black phase and we were so excited to see black egrets! Lifer! I guess it was really early so they did not expect us to be there. We were partially hidden by some trees and we got great views of the birds fishing because we were so close. I guess they could not hear our shutters clicking away because of the sound of the surf.

They look at the waves and pounce into the uncoming crest of the wave. So cool to see. I don't have the video feature on my camera but I did get these action shots which show the bird fishing along the beach.

EASTERN REEF-EGRET
Egretta sacra
Sabang, Palawan





ISO 160, 1/320, f9.0

[Toto Gamboa]

Wow! beautiful bird!

[Ely Teehankee]

Nice shots Tonji. I really admire the skill of the birds who could catch a fish with their bill. I used to shoot fish that is underwater and you have to adjust the angle of reflection by aiming lower than where you see the fish otherwise you would miss it completely. The birds catches their prey with ease. Its so wonderfully amazing.

[Tonji Ramos]

Toto, thanks glad you liked them.

Ely, the birds moved in an interesting way, following the shoreline. The bird nearest us was fishing with great success. It did indeed recalculate the refracted image of the fish in the water plus the added difficulty of fishing inside the moving wave. They are well adapted to the task! I read somewhere that egrets in particular are good with the refracted light, they are tall and fish from up high and the fish don't see them. Cool.