2009/11/22

(Great) Blue (Heron) Sunday...

While it was still a cloudy Sunday, the good news was that the rain had finally stopped (for a while); thus, giving me the chance to finally go outside and do some biking and wildlife watching.

While there was a thick blanket of clouds northward in Vancouver and the North Shore mountains, there was actually some clear breaks in the clouds over at Steveston and the islands.

Juvenile Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Immediately arriving at the dyke, I saw this Juvenile Great Blue Heron doing some catching.

There were many harriers flying over the marsh today. I also saw my first Red-tailed Hawk (and possibly two) first time this season.

Then over in the distance was an adult Great Blue Heron standing on top of the "giant skull" (which is actually just a large piece of wood) and watching the field and the horizon. Quite a beautiful but lonely scene, I think.


Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Watching.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Zooming out.

The complete scenery.

Then a few meters away in the ditch stood another adult heron. Again posing beautifully.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Such a handsome creature, no?

By the time I was done, I had saw 5 Great Blue Herons, some harriers, many sparrows and blackbirds, a wigeon, and two coots. Not a great day, but I'll take whatever I get from this long-desired outing.

While heading home, the sun was slowly setting and the clouds blocked the view, but at the same time creating this beautiful warm orange color.

Sunset
This was a panoramic shot of the scenary. I wish my camera did a better job capturing the colors. Nevertheless, today was better than I expected. Hooray!

365 days ago (2008-11-22) - Forest & Ocean. ... How I wish the weather right now is just as good as last year's.
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1 comment:

Cicero Sings said...

Lovely pictures again. That sunset turned out great but I know it was probably greater in real life. That heron really did pose nicely for you.

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