ENTRY DESCRIPTION
The Image is of a pair of lesser Egrets in the magical marshlands of Mangalajodi in the Eastern state of Odisha in India. Mangalajodi historically is a fishermen village and had been notorious for poaching of the migrant bird species that used to visit it every year. Over the years through awareness and conservation activities, it has been a tremendous success story of a village of poachers being turned into naturalists and boatmen for wildlife enthusiasts.

One such boatmen happened to drive me through the marshlands of this ecosystem on a winter early morning. Photographing from a moving boat comes with it's own set of challenges. I spotted this pair of Egrets squabbling over a female near by. Understanding bird behavior is a prime factor in positioning yourself for making an image.

Egrets generally get into mid air displays of courtship rights battles, this is one of them. It appears as if the two individuals are performing a mid air ballet for their audience, in this case, me

AUTHOR
Nature & Wildlife photographer from India

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