I followed a great blue heron down the beach, trying to get close enough for a clear photo. I was walking on sand; he waded over drowned rocks, through tidepools, and over the dry rocks - big ones. While he was at it, he caught and ate several fish. And after an hour of patient stalking, I finally got close enough. For two whole minutes.
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| 3:11:10. In rocky water. He's noticed me. |
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| 5 seconds later. He's faster on rocks than I am on sand. |
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| 35 seconds later. He's stopped to check for fish. And to show off his long rock-walking toes. |
And then he flew away, complaining as he went, about nosy people cluttering up his stomping grounds.
When we went to Vancouver Island on our honeymoon in 1973 we were amazed at how much more tolerant of human proximity the GB Herons were, in comparison to Ontario birds that wouldn't let you get within 100m of them. but over the decades the Ontario Herons have learned that we're no longer shooting at them, and the now do the "complaining as he went, about nosy people cluttering up his stomping grounds" thing http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.ca/2010/06/at-dam-oil-on-canvas-5-x-7-in.html
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