Close Encounter with a Heron

This morning, as I stood by the kitchen sink, I looked out the window and noticed a deer biting leaves off of the trees on the bank across from our creek. I called Trevor over and we watched for several minutes. Perhaps, it was the studied eye, looking for the deer, but after the deer had gone, I found myself still looking and the looking paid off. I saw the shadow of giant wings hovering over the grass and trees and knew it had to be a blue heron. Sure enough, one landed in the branches of our tree.

Unfortunately, I had just poured batter for pancakes on the griddle and couldn't afford to devote much time to heron watching. I snatched one obscure photo while the bird perched in the branches. As I waited for the pancakes to cook, it took off and flew down into the creek bed.

Once the little boys were settled at their trays in front of the television with plates brimming with pancakes and cups full of milk, I snuck out the back porch door and did the "fox walk" all the way down to the edge of the creek.

Bryce used to go to a fabulous day camp at Russell Woods Forest Preserve, back when we lived in DeKalb (we loved it so much, in fact, that the first summer after we had moved to IN, we drove back and stayed in a hotel so Bryce could attend one more session of their nature camps). He loved the camp and he loved the instructors. One particular instructor, Jason, taught Bryce how to "fox walk," creep through the woods as stealthily as an animal, with silky smooth movements, barely making a sound. I remember how he would practice in the back yard, trying to creep up on squirrels. Thankfully, Bryce passed this skill on to me.

I made it all the way down to the tree at the creek's edge, without the heron seeing me (not because I am an expert in stealth, per se, but more because the heron was perfectly positioned behind the tree during my entire descent down towards the banks). At that point, I held my camera (just a basic point and shoot, mind you - imagine the shots an expert could have gotten) and caught some wonderful close-up shots of my beloved heron. I was on cloud nine.





Although this one is blurry, I like it because the heron almost looks like a prehistoric creature.


This final shot is probably my favorite. I was really hoping that the bird would startle and spread his wings, so that I might attempt a shot of his incredible wing span. However, even after the heron became aware of my presence, he didn't bolt. He merely walked down the creek towards the woods.

I think, perhaps, I was almost as excited as Trevor was earlier in the week, when he and his dad found a black salamander near a drainage spout. He begged to keep it as a pet. John agreed to let him keep it for a day.







I'm so thrilled that we have this opportunity to live in the midst of such beautiful surroundings. There are constantly new experiences with animals here. The other day, Trevor found another baby bird that had left the nest without fully understanding the mechanics of flight. He would have goaded the thing to death, if I had let him.





Of course, the birds that had taken residence in the swing-set were a bit of a nuisance. We never really noticed those baby birds leave the nest, but we did notice that the entire fort area was covered in tiny bird mites. We had to remove the nest, spray a pesticide and then hose the whole things down a day later. I don't think I'll be as welcoming next year, if birds try to build a nest in the swing-set fort again. However, I'll always welcome the blue heron!