Scottes
27th of July 2004 (Tue), 21:12
I haven't been shooting much - other than feeder birds - and I haven't been happy about this. Well the other day I heard that one of my favorite spots was getting increased traffic in birds. I thought it was going to be sunny this morning, so I woke up early and headed out to Great Meadows (where I get all my RWBs).
Well it wasn't sunny - kind of a bright cloudy - and I wasn't about to go to work an hour early, so I stopped in. Looking out over the marsh I saw many Canadian Geese, a couple dozen White Egretts, and some White Breasted Itty-Bitty Toofaraways. Walking across the dike I passed the Tilted Duck Box and there was a bird on top. (Seems to be a juvenile Great Blue Heron according to Sibley's - correct me if I'm wrong.)
I took a few shots through the reeds and marsh grass just in case he flew away, then went walking to find a better spot. Don't you know that the marsh grass here grows to exactly 6 feet tall? Grrrrr. A little ways up I came to some Vertically Challenged marsh grass, and got some great close-up shots of his back. OK, many shots as I showed unusual patience. Then I walked on.
Here's one of the patience shots of his back. Nice back. TURN AROUND!
Nope, justaheronback.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7501.jpg
After a little bit I got to the drainage channel and there was no marsh grass. Finally, a clear shot.
But no movement.
Tic toc. Tic Toc. Same Pose. Tic Toc. Tic...
Hey, he's moving! He moved his head!
And then...
...he yawned.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7511.jpg
Yeah, he was pretty bored by then, too.
After after 20 minutes (10 seconds in reality) of yawning with his head down - in the same exact pose - he moved again!
He moved and...
...lifted...
...his head...
...UP...
...and...
...finished yawning.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7518-2.jpg
Tic Toc. Tic Toc.
But he just sat there.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7548.jpg
Oh darn. I gotta get to work. So I start walking back down the dike to the car.
And the sun came out! Woo-Hoo!
Of course, I was facing his back again... So I waited some more.
Nothing but some nice shots of the sun hitting his back. Hell, at least I was at ISO 100 for a few minutes.
31 minutes spent watching a heron yawn.
What a glorious day. (Seriously. I enjoyed it.)
PS: Funny how the very early light changed his color so much in the first shot. I really wouldn't think that was the same bird except that I had watched him the entire time.
And I did see a Cedar Waxwing. I didn't get a decent picture though, as he sat in the darkest part of a tree directly above me.
And then I saw a Bunny Rabbit. They're cute.
Except for the one in that Monty Python movie....
Well it wasn't sunny - kind of a bright cloudy - and I wasn't about to go to work an hour early, so I stopped in. Looking out over the marsh I saw many Canadian Geese, a couple dozen White Egretts, and some White Breasted Itty-Bitty Toofaraways. Walking across the dike I passed the Tilted Duck Box and there was a bird on top. (Seems to be a juvenile Great Blue Heron according to Sibley's - correct me if I'm wrong.)
I took a few shots through the reeds and marsh grass just in case he flew away, then went walking to find a better spot. Don't you know that the marsh grass here grows to exactly 6 feet tall? Grrrrr. A little ways up I came to some Vertically Challenged marsh grass, and got some great close-up shots of his back. OK, many shots as I showed unusual patience. Then I walked on.
Here's one of the patience shots of his back. Nice back. TURN AROUND!
Nope, justaheronback.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7501.jpg
After a little bit I got to the drainage channel and there was no marsh grass. Finally, a clear shot.
But no movement.
Tic toc. Tic Toc. Same Pose. Tic Toc. Tic...
Hey, he's moving! He moved his head!
And then...
...he yawned.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7511.jpg
Yeah, he was pretty bored by then, too.
After after 20 minutes (10 seconds in reality) of yawning with his head down - in the same exact pose - he moved again!
He moved and...
...lifted...
...his head...
...UP...
...and...
...finished yawning.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7518-2.jpg
Tic Toc. Tic Toc.
But he just sat there.
http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Heron_7548.jpg
Oh darn. I gotta get to work. So I start walking back down the dike to the car.
And the sun came out! Woo-Hoo!
Of course, I was facing his back again... So I waited some more.
Nothing but some nice shots of the sun hitting his back. Hell, at least I was at ISO 100 for a few minutes.
31 minutes spent watching a heron yawn.
What a glorious day. (Seriously. I enjoyed it.)
PS: Funny how the very early light changed his color so much in the first shot. I really wouldn't think that was the same bird except that I had watched him the entire time.
And I did see a Cedar Waxwing. I didn't get a decent picture though, as he sat in the darkest part of a tree directly above me.
And then I saw a Bunny Rabbit. They're cute.
Except for the one in that Monty Python movie....