Blue Heron: 2, Photographer: 0

When I stopped at Millbrook Marsh on Wednesday morning, I startled a blue heron fishing in the shallows of Thompson Run. It took off above my head before I even had a chance to raise the camera. Score: blue heron: 1, photographer: 0.

I was rewarded for my visit, however, by the opportunity to snap about two dozen pretty decent close-up shots (OK, so maybe some of the best I've ever taken) of a red-tailed hawk. Such moments come along far too seldom.

As I was leaving the marsh that morning, one of the young ladies who work at the marsh was walking the boardwalk. She stopped when I pointed out the red-tailed hawk in the tree above us, and we both spent a moment enjoying it together.

I told her about the blue heron that I'd startled, lamented that I'd missed a shot. And that's when she told me nonchalantly: "Oh, the blue heron has been hanging around here since Monday!"

Well, blue herons may come along every day if you live in certain places, such as the bay area, but in certain other places, such as land-locked central Pennsylvania, they are not all that common.

So I resolved to return to the marsh in search of the blue heron the following morning. It was threatening to drizzle during my drive in, and it actually began to rain as I parked my car and got out.

Having learned my lesson about how quickly I might need to whip out my camera, I pulled my camera out of its bag and was holding it in my right hand as I approached the boardwalk. In my left hand, I was juggling my umbrella.

Just as I set foot on the boardwalk, I heard it: FWOOP! FWOOP! FWOOP! - above my head! EEK! There it was! Flying, its body tucked into that familiar, awkward-looking shape that herons do.

I couldn't get my camera up fast enough. Just like that it was gone.

Alas, dear readers, I cannot present to you a photo of a blue heron. In fact, the score as it stands is: blue heron: 2, photographer: 0.

But let me present to you a photo of the bench near the black willow by Thompson Run (Thompson Run is off a bit to the left of the boardwalk). It is a great place to sit and watch birds and dragonflies. Even on the hottest days of summer, that tree lends a bit of shade.

Oh yeah, and if you're lucky enough, and fast enough on the trigger (unlike me), you just might capture a shot of a blue heron fishing in the shallows.

But for now you'll have to fill in the blue heron with your imagination. On some days, imagination is what we have instead of a view, or even pictures.