Lodi Gardens, New Delhi, India.
Hunted for meat and plumes, Egrets were once a doomed species.

Wading with the grace of a ballerina on stage, a member of the subspecies Egret Garzetta searches for a quick meal in the rich algae fed green waters of an artificial lake within the 90 acres Lodi gardens in Delhi – oblivious of the conservation laws that saved its ancestors from extinction in the eighteenth century.

Identified by a black beak, pair of yellow feet and two long white plumes (during breeding season), Little Egrets are not among the listed resident birds but sometimes drop in during their search for wetlands to feed and breed.

A reminder, present day metropolitan Delhi wasn’t always a part of the landscape. Where concrete buildings now stand, nature reigned supreme with forests, marshes and ponds richly populated by birds and wildlife. The garden is a glimpse of what the area was like, even a mere 70 years back.