Image of the Week

“Undercarriage and Flaps Down”

Grey Heron juv. (Ardea cinerea) landing.

Fancourt, George, Western Cape Province, South Africa.

 Canon EOS R5 Mark II with a Canon RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and Canon extender RF1.4x.  Handheld.

ISO 800. 1/2500 sec @ f/6.3.  Exposure set manually.

The heronry on the estate is still very busy with Herons, Cormorants and Darters, many of which still seem to be breeding. This particular  Grey Heron is still a juvenile as indicated by the absence of a black eye stripe and has a rather pale head. You can sometimes, from certain angles, confuse it with a Black-headed Heron. In this case the underwing clearly shows as a uniform grey, whereas the Black-headed Heron has a distinct dark and light  pattern.