Camouflage-Perfecto

[Roopak Gangadharan]

I almost walked into this Indian pond heron before he took off from a hay stack 3 feet away and landed on another and gave me a start. Later came to know that they are so confident of their camouflage that they do this often and humans in all their vainity call them short sighted in some places.

I have no doubts who is short sighted ......

500D, 55-250, 250mm, Aperture priority F5.6, 1/250, ISO 400

Here is an intresting peice from WIKI :

The habit of standing still and flushing only at the last moment has led to widespread folk beliefs that they are semi-blind and their name in many languages includes such suggestions. In Sri Lanka the bird is called Kana Koka which translates as 'Half-blind Heron' in the Sinhala.[37] The phrase "bagla bhagat" has been used to describe a "wolf in sheep's clothing" or a heron appearing like a meditating saint.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Since we are not aware about the behaviour of birds and animals there are lot of misconceptions. It is nicely camoflagued. The pose and eye contact is nice. You could have tried using a narrower aperture.

Thanks for sharing the information. Look forward to more.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I have sat in the open ground near a waterhole without moving and have seen the reactions of herbivores coming to drink water. Most of the times if you are absolutely still, they chances of getting noticed is less. That is the principle adopted by these birds. In Oriya, we call it Baka dhyana means meditation like a egret (dhyana means meditation).

I like the composition. The eye contact is fine. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bibhav Behera]

I like the composition. The colours look nice. It is nicely camouflaged. Thanks for sharing.