This day-old great egret could barely lift its head. You can already see in its cold, steely eyes something of the predator it will become. At this stage in its life, an egret has downy fuzz, not feathers. Note the sibling(s) lying at this one’s feet. Perhaps it’s their greenish yellow skin, but to me, a baby egret is among the ugliest creatures on earth. They give no hint of the beautiful creatures they will become. Taken at the Smith Oaks Rookery in High Island, Texas on April 27, 2014, with a Nikon D4 and 800mm, f5.6 Nikkor with 1.4x teleconverter.
