Three from Marsh and Foster Islands

[holyoutlaw]

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Foster Island, Seattle

Directly under the 520 bridge, hundreds of vehicles per minute literally only feet over its head, this bird stood and hunted. We watched it for several minutes. It would stand like this for a while, then cock its head, looking down at a particular point in the water. Then it would stab the water and bring up a fish. Flip the fish around in its beak, and then swallow. It acted precisely as the moment required; without hesitation when action was required and without passivity when waiting was required.


Into the swamp


Maybe I should try to convince you that this is a vast picture, the trunks those of old growth trees and the field of view hundreds of yards deep. But it's really quite small.

Tiny Blossoms


Both: Marsh Island, Seattle


All: August, 2009

The heron image is now available through imagekind.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The rainy wedding-day "irony" of it all is that thoughts about the zen heron woke up the monkey mind last night, as I was trying to fall asleep.

I'm just an animal.