I am not sure what caught the attention of this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), but the heron was intensely focused on something on the shore for quite some time recently at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Perhaps it was thinking back to warmer days, when it might have been able to snag a frog or even a dragonfly, but, alas, the weather has turned cold and those creatures are no longer stirring.
Eventually the heron gave up on that spot on the shore and re-focused on fishing, hoping for better luck.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Hard times are coming…
The heron’s delightful, yet my eye kept being drawn back to that bit of bright red at the base of the broken branch. Is that the natural color of the wood? or something else? I’ve never seen such bright red wood.
That’s a good question. The adjustments that I made when processing the image were global ones and the other colors seem to be “normal,” so I am thinking that is the color of the wood, but I have to admit that it does look pretty bright. I can’t tell for sure what type of tree it came from, but wonder if it might be from a sycamore tree.
The red looks to me like perhaps a leaf got stuck between broken wood and a stick? There is a smaller spot, too. The heron is stunning!!
Thanks, Molly. Perhaps it is in fact a leaf–I can’t tell for sure.
Nice Mike! I have seen that a lot when photographing Great Blue Herons! They seem to spot something and lock focus on it! Great Image!
Thanks, Reed.
It impresses me that you get these wonderful shots in the birds’ natural environment. Most of my birds are on the feeder which makes them look alike.
Happy Holidays.