Egrets -The Migratory Birds (Part1)

Part-   1   2

Photographed by: Pixel Pro Photography, Malaysia

I love birds.The only creatures on earth with the gifts of both flight and beauty.  Watching birds indoor and outdoor brings me closer to nature. Through watching these species, I developed my patience as I truly appreciate the natural beauty of nature around us.  Bird’s life seems to be eternal, but they are dangerously threatened by human activities.

Just Recently, A friend of mine posted photographs on facebook.  It was a portrait of a bird, photos of egrets flying through the blue skies of Malaysia. I was captivated by the beauty of the egrets because it appeared to be real. I was in contemplative mood at that time,  all my attention was into birds, and thought, it’s an interesting subject to write about.I sent a message directly to my friend. Egrets are the top of our agenda, anything about it and related to nature.

Few days after, my plan quickly paid off. We began exchanging ideas, messages, and sending me photographs of different species of birds. I’m happy with the clarity people there care to share. I did some research on birds, even meeting with the zoologist of wildlife. I have gathered plenty of captivating photos of birds from these talented photographer who captured the beauty of natural world. Believe it or not!  We reached up to more than 90 photographs-. What a great number of pictures! These birds taught us a lot of friendship. Let’s meet him!

 

Alex Chan, a professional photographer and Director of Pixel Pro Photography with his club members captured the shots of migrating birds that flies through the blue skies of Malaysia. Just to catch the glimpse of these beautiful birds, They made the most of this opportunity by taking river cruises to spot  the migrating egrets along the  Perak river of Teluk Intan.  Perhaps, having a great name means a great deal of responsibility to share images, good news and events.  All photographs was majestic and impressive that  I would like to share with you  and the stories behind it. Not even a story that was told many times. This is a quality work in perfecting the shots with his camera. You can see it by yourself. Be the judge!

His camera shines giving the freedom to capture life in different forms. Alex says, ‘’My passion for the birds and having a camera that match our vision is imperative. I photographed  birds in natural habitat and my mission is to save it. I have taken my camera everywhere with me around. A camera that I can depend on. Something that would be the least of my worries so I can concentrate on capturing the birds. When you are shooting on a trip, you must be ready always. Photography is quiet a difficult and challenging task, the exposure of image and apparent brightness is very important. It’s hard to locate the birds, they hardly ever stay still.  you can’t go closely and approach them. This is the kind of gear that delivers great image performance, quality that you can rely on it. This model is more than enough for sharing it on web’’.  The picture speaks. Now, Let us check the main subject.

Photographers in action.-Aizat Rosli and company  Taking shots of flying birds can be quiet a challenging task. This shot is inspiring!

 

The subject:  CATTLE EGRET (Migratory Shorebird)

This is critically important, to find and discover the beautiful egrets alive and well in its natural habitat.  Let us know more about it.

  THE LONG DISTANCE MIGRATION AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE EGRETS. 

The moment you’ve been waiting for. The  much awaited event. The arrival of the birds from all parts of Asia. What a dream to see impressive number of birds!  How I wish to be here at this time of the day so I can see it by myself. I can’t feel the emotion but it somehow gave me the feeling of enthusiasm to see the birds migrating in flocks is already enough. These egrets flying south, heading to destination.A far away place is an opportunity. A warmer climate and a good breeding ground. Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds for food availability, habitat and weather.Egrets abandon the area where there is no more use.

Egrets used V- formation when migrating.  Amazing! I only live once to see this and I was very happy. I felt like, I was very close to nature to see the heavenly blue sky. It reminds me of my science teacher during my high school days. I have learned from her about larger birds like egrets, flying in flocks reduces the energy cost that it is a sort of technique to make flight easier. This explains the reason why? Thus, birds spend most of their lives in air.

  

How beautiful.  They are designed to such perfection. Peninsular Malaysia is really beautiful for nature lovers and birders. This makes bird watching particularly interesting. This is the  location shooting  for watching migratory shorebirds– Teluk Intan,  Malaysia

The Pixelpro Photographers in action. For me, This is the paradise for  the egrets.  You can see in this photograph the large dispersal flocks travelling along the way. I just hope the survival of these species will continue to multiply through the ages. They are very much an integral part of our ecosystem.

This is a very good image, the sharpness and the natural movement.

Egrets have bodies designed to be efficient in flight. Like many waders, these particular birds fly long distance during migration. Their head, body and wing shape help them propel themselves through the air. The long legs of egrets extend out beyond the end of the tail when the egret is in flight.

I love to see this flight of natural pose. A beautiful wading bird can brighten up the sky.

The bird island  is a paradise  home for the egrets. What a beautiful place to live in. This is the Perak river of Teluk Intan. Their preferred wintering grounds are mangroves where there are mudflats suited to their hunting style and providing preferred roosting sites.

 

Peral

This is the most common sight in this environment. Around 7:30 a.m. a number of egrets were seen circling above the paddy fields. You can see the egrets hanging with the cattle.

In this grassland, It seems that these egret will wait for the cattle to disturb the insects from the long grass, following closely as it glazes. They have a very good relationship.

What a beautiful day.

A friendly manner pose with the photographer.

It seems the cattle is a good listener. What do you think are they talking about?

What kind of relationship is this? This picture proves everything.

Is this an instinct? Or a tempting situation?   The cattle wants the egret to ride on his back, and the egret is about to ride.  You can find these two buddies in a dry grassy habitats like Paddy farm .This egrets are useful in reducing the numbers of flies which will annoy the cattle. The egret sit on his back, the cow gets a free cleaning and anti-insect service, some sort of spa service- the bird way cleansing. and the bird gets food and a free ride. Awesome! Just like humans too.  It’s a give and take situation.

 

These photograph will show you. This is something completely different. Fantastic pose! Egret nests in colonies and the nest are made of sticks on a tree.

It is about to rain as you can see dark clouds.

The egrets are rushing to respire before the rain will pour.

Home before dark Each one flies to their own specific tree, Cattle egrets roosting in trees so numerously that the trees look completely white, as shown here. I love this  wonderful scenery, a perfect place to respire.

  

A quiet sight! It’s now a goodnight time for the egrets. All set up to sleep. There’s no place like home. The darkness..the peaceful night makes the egrets sleep  and wakes up for a brighter tomorrow.

 

 CONSERVATION MESSAGE

None of us wants animal to suffer and in spite of many times people made mistakes. We, the generation of today never want to go through what they have encountered before. The youth of today never tends to shut off. We will continue to serve and save them.I want to make it clear, I don’t want to use animals to teach humans. I just want you to know that, It is the responsibility of humans to love and care for the animals.It’s my great wish for the young people who’ll read this record of my story should learn from it.

Sadly, some spectacular species have died out in former habitats because of human activities. Now, The sightings of the spectacular Egrets in Malaysia is a reminder to all Malaysians and to the rest of the world about the role of humans as stewards of the planet earth.  We should not abandon our role in environmental conservation and preservation so that animals like egrets do not completely disappear and follow the path of other animals that became extinct because human actions and intervention weren’t enough to save them.

I hope that in our own way, We help raise awareness for the protection of the wild birds. Me, and  Alex   wish that our children, and children of our children’s children will still behold the beauty of the egrets long after our generation has gone. Help protect and restore key habitats for threatened and declining migrant and endemic species. Be part of crucial campaigns to reduce threats to birds. Egrets were threatened by hunting for their feathers, more threatened by habitat destruction and pollution.

It is very clear that , this is a coverage of conservation, as far as the birds are concerned threatening their numbers, I am planning to make a trip to Malaysia this year and after seeing what Malaysia actually is from Pixel Pro Photography pics, I can’t just wait for months to come. Eventually, Alex came up with shots worth publishing. Each picture was mind-blowing and beautiful.I would like to thank  Pixel Pro Photography, Malaysia and to all club members for providing images and for the kind permission to reproduce all photos. Thank you very, very much.

( EGRETS FEATURED, FULLY ILLUSTRATED THROUGHOUT WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND INFORMATIVE TEXTS )

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