I first became aware of the presence of this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) last week when I caught sight of it lifting off into the air from a small stream at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I swung my camera around quickly and captured a few in-flight shots of the large bird.
Normally I would not post photos of a bird flying away from me, which are derisively referred to as “butt shots” by many photographers. In this case, however, I was quite taken by the way that the dangling feet of the heron stand out in the photos. The heron was flying only a short distance and did not bother to lift its legs. In the second photo, the heron was preparing to land on the large branch that was protruding from the vegetation.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
‘Our’ heron flys right by our house when he leaves our pond. It would be great if I could time a photo! 😂
There is a lot of luck (and persistence) involved in getting a shot of a bird in flight, including the large ones like the Great Blue Herons. 🙂
Indeed, Mike! I’m not sure many know just how hard it can be! 🤣
I end up with a lot of those “butt shots”, and like you, I don’t usually post them, but those are pretty cool!
My default position is to take shots, even in situations when I don’t think that they will turn out well. I can always delete the really bad ones later, but sometimes I am surprised when reviewing my photos and one of the “bad” ones looks pretty cool.
That’s my strategy, too. It’s nice in the digital age to be able to do that. I surprise myself when I review those photos sometimes, too.