Great White Egret was shopping for a frog appetizer

This Great White Egret was slowly moving away from me and toward a very attractive pond located behind the Ocean Prime restaurant and the Crate & Barrel store. Both are located just at the Westshore entrance to Tampa’s International Plaza. Ocean Prime has a particularly good menu, and very cool atmosphere inside and out; it certainly would serve a few delicacies that the Egret would enjoy. But, it’s more likely he was hoping for a small frog hiding in the tall grass at the water’s edge. From his height, and with his slow, silent and deliberative movements, I bet he spots his dinner before it spots him. He uses his bill to spear his prey…yummy. This is an exquisite bird, very graceful and proud; he owns any habitat he may find himself in, even if it’s behind retail establishments and beside a manmade pond. (The landscaping could not look more natural to Florida, with tall sea grasses, lily pads and palms of every kind.) The Egret was very much at home here.