Crouching on a small cliff overlooking the lake, watching for the instant that this Great Egret caught his fish. Not wanting to interfere with his hunt, I kept my distance to avoid spooking him when I took this photo.
During the 19th century, Great Egrets were at the brink of extinction due to an international feather craze. The flowing white breeding plumage of the egrets were highly sought after.
The birds rescue arrived early in the 1900s, when a brand new organization called the National Audubon Society chose the Great Egret as its first species chosen for preservation.
Since then, the Great Egret has made a quite a recovery, and that success is a fitting tribute to the efforts of the Audubon Society who chose the bird as its symbol, a living legacy of modern conservation at its finest.
Photo by @sally_siko