![](https://narakiphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/20240407-Z8A_5564-1024x682.jpg)
ダイサギ・ホオジロ幼鳥 / Great egret and juvenile meadow bunting
A great egret (a. a modesta). It is a common heron in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and I personally encounter it more often than intermediate egrets in the summer. Many of them run away when I stop my car to take pictures, but I was able to get a relatively close shot of this one. The background was monotonous and not very good.
![ダイサギ great egret](https://xs993577.xsrv.jp/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20200919-DSC_0440-3.jpg)
![ダイサギ great egret](https://xs993577.xsrv.jp/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20200919-DSC_0478-4.jpg)
It appears to be a juvenile meadow bunting. I feel a little sorry for the grasshopper, which is perfectly pinned head-first by this thick, short bill.
![ホオジロ幼鳥 juvenile Meadow Bunting](https://xs993577.xsrv.jp/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20200919-DSC_0509-2.jpg)
![ホオジロ幼鳥 juvenile Meadow Bunting](https://xs993577.xsrv.jp/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20200919-DSC_0517-2.jpg)
Adult meadow buntings are usually found on the tips of branches, so I don’t think we see them on the ground very often. This posture with its wings down reminds me of a dusky thrush in winter.
![ホオジロ幼鳥 juvenile Meadow Bunting](https://xs993577.xsrv.jp/test/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20200919-DSC_0523-2.jpg)