There's something so serene and quiet about this shot. It's not the most technically perfect, but it really speaks to me.

Background seems a little to bright.

Great subject that fits this theme very well. I think you could have enhanced this image by getting down in the muck for a lower camera angle (assuming the egret would wait for you...). The lower camera angle would improve your background (it would be farther away and less sharp--possibly a wash of color*) and might eliminate the contrast problem between the shaded and brightly-lit parts of the subject. That is, if only the shaded portion of the egret were in the image, you could expose for that without blowing out the sunlit portion.

*King's "bokeh." See www.birdsasart.com for fantastic examples of this type of bird image.