Collage of 4 images (captured on 6 November at 4.15pm)

When I first caught sight of this great egret emerging from the water’s surface, it was thrashing around a bit, and I was a little worried. It didn’t take long for the bird to steady itself. However, its still-ruffled head feathers (and possibly even a slight hint of an embarrassed smile?) seemed to suggest this beautiful and normally quite composed bird might have preferred to have been elsewhere when I took these photos…