From time to time I spot a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in a tree, but usually the heron is perched in a distant tree. On Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, however, I did not see the heron until I was almost underneath it. The heron was standing high in a tree that was overhanging the trail on which I was walking. The heron seemed a bit jittery, but instead of worrying about me, it kept glancing up in the sky—perhaps it was worried about the eagles that were flying about that day.
I captured a few images through the branches when I was below the heron and then moved past it a bit. I now had a slightly better view of the heron and was able to capture the final shot as the heron began to lift off from the tree.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.