It’s not yet insect season (although they’re coming back!), so I’m making efforts to practice photography anyway, despite how heavy my bird photography gear is.

My trembling noodle arms are not made to lift a 150-600mm lens.

Anyway, I try to have it with me more, including in my passenger seat when I drive around, and it paid off.

I found more kestrels!

Two of them seem to have settled in a church, a ten minutes drive away from my place, so I will now head there regularly, hoping to see them again.

Here’s the female.

I tried to find a heron

I did not find a heron.

I tried all the ponds and lakes I know they frequent, and went to a lock where I know they nested a few years ago, but no dice. I did get some nice pictures of cormorants, though! They have beautiful eyes.

An egret found me

It swooped down over a town street when I least expected it (mainly because I did not expect an egret in town, ever), and landed on a house’s chimney.

I needed a moment to process the white shape was not an “abnormally large seagull”, then I swerved off the road and ejected myself from my car in my hurry to take pictures.

The egret was kind enough to pose for me until I was done. I did not get a front view of its face, which is a shame because everyone should see an egret/heron from the front.

Incidentally, the egret found me while I was looking for the kestrels, not the herons.

My first pic of a great egret, ever:

Illegally fancy bird

I also saw a pheasant. He had zero survival instincts and did not seem to compute I was a human while I remained in my car. He did bolt when I got out, at least?

I hope he wasn’t raised in captivity and released for hunting because that shit makes me an enraged kind of sad.