As many of you know from my posting last week, I recently came upon a dead body of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and several of us who regularly visit this marsh have wondered if perhaps this was the young blue heron who hung around the boardwalk throughout the fall and early winter. We had previously noted that this heron was not very proficient at catching food and worried that it seemed to lack basic survival skills.
I took a lot of photos of that young heron, whom I encountered repeatedly during my early morning visits to the marsh, and decided to post a few photographs from late December and early January. I’ll never know for sure if this heron survived the winter, but these images help remind me of some of the special moments that we shared.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Nice shots. It’s been a long time since I was that close to a heron.
Wonderful shots of a beautiful bird!
nice shots and interesting story mike
do they do a lot of banding at huntley meadows to track the birds there?
I don’t think they do any banding at all, though I confess that I don’t really know for sure.
It is amazing how we can get attached to a subject. It’s nice to have those good memories to walk back through.
Great photos and a great memory.
A fine tribute, Mike. If they are one and the same, you have helped to stretch it’s presence in the wheel of life yet a bit further.