Great Blue Heron At Pond

As anyone in Oregon knows, it's raining again, and it sounds like we have a set of storms poised to hit us for the next few days. It is NOT what we need as the streams are already flooding and we are in the throws of mudslides and things you do not want to think about!

I got up early and sat and looked at the pond, in a sort of gray sullen way....what in the world would I photograph today? Then in flew a beautiful Blue Heron, and it lit on the closest side of the pond right in front of me. It stayed for well over an hour as I watched and photographed it. He preened himself, and did a few amazing maneuvers....some were actually hilarious! He can certainly get himself into amazing positions. At one point he went sort of crazy, squawking at something and flipping himself around...was he just trying to dry himself off or scare something away (notice the drops of water on the photo)?

I decided to put on my raincoat and got my camera ready with the ziploc bag....and decided to try and sneak up on him from behind....went out the front door and made a big loop around to his back.....just then he turned and caught sight of me, and off he flew! My poor camera lense was already totally fogged up....NO FLIGHT PICTURES TODAY!!

To see more photos of this lovely blue heron, check out my Flickr page, CLICK HERE!