Heron

[nanila]

Our resident heron flew straight over our heads today as we took our permitted daily exercise along the canal towpath. Very exciting!

Comments

[sonia]

Lovely shot! I had a blue heron fly overhead while stopped on a bike path, and it was really exciting. An unexpected blessing.

[nanila]

Thank you! Yes, it does feel that way. :) We saw it again tonight but it spotted us a bit earlier on, and took off in the opposite direction.

[shirebound]

Wow, look at that! Terrific shot.

[nanila]

Thank you! I kept my finger on the shutter and followed it all the way across until it landed the next lock up.

[pensnest]

Splendid! I saw one earlier this week, and it was so still at first that I thought it must be made of wood, so that when it took majestically to the air I was too slow to get a picture of it.
Amazing birds.

[nanila]

They are so still when they're hunting, it's terribly easy not to spot them at all. They always look to me like their wings fold in improbable ways, too.

[rose_griffes]

Lovely!

[nanila]

Thank you!

[pameladean]

Oh, that's beautiful! P.

[nanila]

Effortlessly so! Such an elegant bird.

[yourlibrarian]

Wow, I can imagine. What a great shot!

[nanila]

Yes, it normally does everything it can to fly off in the opposite direction when it spots us. I've no idea what changed its mind yesterday!

[kaberett]

LONG POINTY SEAGULL.

[nanila]

LONG, YES, VERY LONG

[genarti]

Oh, that's fantastic! I love herons.

[nanila]

I was happy to have my wits sufficiently about me to point my lens at it and hold my finger down on the shutter until it had passed!

[earthspirits]

What a wonderful photo - so graceful and beautiful!

[nanila]

It is an elegant bird. And thank you. :)

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Ooooooh! Very nice.

[nanila]

Such a well-groomed bird. Its feathers are so perfect.

[turlough]

What a fantastic photo! The light and shadows are so cool.

[nanila]

Thank you! The heron is backlit, so getting a shot at an angle where the sunlight illuminated its face was great.

[notyourwendy]

What a nice shot!

Such graceful birds in flight or hunting. Such awkward birds on land or in the trees.

Vancouver has a camera on our local colony of nesting herons: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/heron-cam.aspx

[nanila]

Thank you!

You're so right. They look worryingly precarious in trees.

The heron cam doesn't seem to be working right now, but I've bookmarked it.

[jitterylittlething]

Very majestic.

[nanila]

Yes indeed. Definitely the king of this particular stretch of the canal!