Unusually freezing temperatures brought the Egret to the little bit of free water.
For the first days of the frigid temperatures, 15°, a single Great Egret was at the lake looking really cold! These are called large white herons (Großer Weißer Reiher) in German.
The sun came out the next day and I watched it eating one little fish after the other right up at the shoreline which was still free of ice.
After the lake ice melted, the Egret moved on.