Last fall I was sitting in my office reading Asthmagirl's blog and out of the corner of my eye through the window I saw a very large bird flying, then I heard a very large thud on the roof right above my head. In the matter of a fraction of a second I processed it was a heron, it had landed on the roof and it was scoping out the fish in the pond.
Sure enough by the time I got to a window where I could see the pond the heron was sitting on the side looking with one eye to the water and the other eye looking everywhere else, they are such shy bird. I frantically searched for the camera, found it in Star Wars Son's room and went to the kitchen where I knew I could the best shot. Dead battery!!
I've been waiting for that heron to come back. I've seen it fly over the house a number of times, but I haven't seen it stop until yesterday. I grabbed the camera, hurried to the kitchen, but not too close to the window, again no battery. At least this time it had been on the charger and Handy Man went to grab it for me. I didn't want to move, for fear of scaring away the heron.
Through the window these are the best shots I could get. My shutter speed was a little too slow and my ISO was set for 200, instead of the 400 it should have been set at for a shoot like this, but it is what it is. I really didn't know how long the heron would hang out.
Then he took off!
Before the battery was in the camera he went after the fish twice by torpedoing his head into the water. When Handy Man got back to me with the battery he saw what the heron was up to and made a move to scare him away. "Not before I get my shots." I said. Then Dancing Daughter came to see was we were oohhing and ahhhing over and freaked out, in a really good way, except it scared the heron away.
The pictures were taken through the window. I hope to get more opportunities to take more shots of the heron. Hopefully next time the storm window will be off and I will have washed the kitchen window.
He's beautiful! I'm betting Handyman has issues with him eyeballing the koy fish!
Great capture!
Posted by: Asthmagirl | April 11, 2009 at 09:31 AM
oh these are good even thru the screen/storm window!
and we can definitely swap cards .. there are no stinkin' rules this is my swap idea .. and I would love some of your mom's cards ...now what I do need is your email AND your snailmail ...
Posted by: Daryl | April 11, 2009 at 10:58 AM
He's a beauty.
Posted by: Mental P Mama | April 11, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Hats off for getting ANY shots of the beautiful blue bird!
Posted by: phd in yogurtry | April 11, 2009 at 01:07 PM
These birds were actually in your backyard? How long do they stay?
Posted by: deb | April 11, 2009 at 01:16 PM
What a fantastic blog you have going here Delusions.....I love it!!
Your pics are so awesome......let me ask you something please..
Would you consider joining our "Friday Shoot-Out" gang? We have folks from the U.K., Brasil, Japan, China, Canada and all over the U.S. shooting picture's of our beautiful hometowns to showcase on Friday's. No rules, just friendly fun and seeing how other people live. Details are at my blog so please think about this and let me know. We have a blast and it's kind of like a free vacation, no?
One with no kids screaming "are we there yet", "I'm hungry" or "I don't want to eat at a fancy resturant.....I want McDonald's", lol.
Great blog and Easter blessings to you and your family.
Steady On
Reggie Girl
Posted by: Reggie Girl | April 11, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Funny what we will do for a picture! The herons are beautiful and elusive, but they sure will destroy a fish pond in a hurry!
Posted by: Tracey | April 12, 2009 at 05:52 AM
Very cool. However, I've heard they will take over an area if they nest!
Happy Easter to you.
Posted by: noble pig | April 12, 2009 at 08:59 AM
Wow! Great shots We used to have Herons at the lake but they never allowed us to get close enough for shots like this. Good job!
Posted by: Snooty Primadona | April 12, 2009 at 10:39 AM