Special Egret Photos

I am always pleased when a plan comes together. I had been planning this photograph for a few days. Having been inspired by photographs from other people in other parts of the world, I came to the conclusion that most of the appealing and special images were all taken down at ground level. So that was my plan. I arranged a very basic hide/cover right down at the water level of the brook. Firstly, I covered the mud with a good layer of reeds, than on top of that I placed a military roll mat. That was something to lie on sorted. I pushed sticks in to the mud at all four corners and the middle, on both sides of the mat. I then attached camouflaged, plastic tarpaulin to the sticks with cable ties at about 2 feet high. Finally I covered the whole thing with scrim netting pieces, making sure that a piece of netting tumbled over the open end. To finish it off, I randomly threw pieces of grass and debris including leaves and the like, to complete the camouflage. It all blended nicely in to the bank-side. The camera was then mounted on a fishing "bank-stick" pushed in to the mud, meaning that it was almost at water level and pointing down stream. I then had to lie under the cover, hidden and still with a clear view of the stream. It was all a bit extreme and a little on the eccentric side but well justified. Last evening the egrets didn't turn up but as you have seen, the Grey Wagtail put on quite a performance. Then this morning, later than normal, because I am still suffering from my Gall Stone problem and in quite a lot of discomfort, I went back and tucked myself in. At first it was quiet but the Grey Wagtail came on to the perch on my right and at eye level. I also had a second camera with me loaded with a 200mm lens for the close-up opportunities. I had a clear view of the perch, and the Wagtail and I took a few shots. Surprisingly it started to sing, really musically and very nicely. But as 8 o'clock arrived, still no Egret. Then suddenly there it was, walking towards me, feeding as it went. I decided to wait until it was frame filling before I started to take pictures. Unfortunately, it was still quite dim and I had to set the camera's ISO at 1600 which meant that we were going to have some noisy images. The bird got nearer and I had some shooting pains from the Gall Bladder! I carried on and in the end almost got the pictures I am looking for. When the light is perfect, I am sure that I well be able to do much better. At the moment, because of the light, I haven't been able to get the action shots that would be so attractive.