Tracking the Egrets

As I indicated yesterday I intended to try and get some reasonable shots of the egrets which are currently living in Belhaven Bay. As Margaret was taking the dogs for their morning walk I picked out my strongest telephoto combination (Canon D7 with 120-300mm lens and a doubler) and ventured forth to the beach. These birds seem to be hypersensitive to human or indeed canine presence. I spotted one just over the wall near the outflow from Seafield Pond to the beach and quickly dived behind the wall whilst I was getting out removing my camera and lens out of my backpack. Unfortunately the egret must have already spotted me as it flew off before I could get any shots of it. 

There was another one further down at the edge of Bielwater as it flows out to sea and I got close enough to take some static shots. Then it flew off and though it took me a while to latch onto it with my auto focus eventually I did manage to get one or two shots. Because of the light levels were not great and I was shooting at too slow a shutter speed (1/800) they are not pin sharp but I guess they mark progress. I was not sure which was the best to show you so decided to include the second shot which is against a darker background as an extra shot. I would be interested to hear which you prefer.