Great Blue Heron
I was out on the San Francisco Bay before sunrise this morning in hopes of catching this Great Blue Heron fishing in the evaporation pond adjacent to the Bay. Coby and I ventured down a levee dividing two old Cargill salt evaporation ponds. The banks of the levee are covered with beautiful green and red vegetation similar to ice plant.
As the night started to surrender to the daylight, the birds started to come to life. A flock of pelicans flew east directly over our heads - Coby barked at them. Sometimes wildlife photography and dog walking aren’t really compatible. But as I debate whether or not to yell at Coby for scaring all the birds away, I realize that if it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t even be out here.
Several snowy egrets were visible in the water ahead of us. There were a bunch of sandpipers poking around in the sand bars and some black-crowned night herons were headed inland, probably to one of the interior marshes that cover much of Coyote Hills Regional Park. An owl flew by and disappeared around the hill overlooking the Bay. Then I saw what I was hoping to photograph today - the Great Blue Heron perched on an old pipe left over from the salt harvesting days.
I lay down in the vegetation and mud to get a coveted eye-level shot of the majestic bird. I rested my 600mm lens on a big dirt mound and Coby sat beside me, content to watch out for something to bark at. I got off several shots in the low light of the morning, but I knew they weren’t going to turn out very good due to the low light conditions. As we stood up to move to a different vantage point, the heron leapt from the pipe and took flight stretching its wide wings and squawking a sound only a heron can make. It was flying to the North and I was hoping it would land in the pond inlet pool because the sun was coming up and the lighting would be perfect. So, we headed north on the levee in search of a photograph.
As we turned the last corner before the inlet, I saw my shot. I sat down this time - laying down on mud and rocks had done its damage to my knees and back! The heron was fishing in the pond, the lighting was perfect, the background was dark which would make for good contrast with the lighter color of the bird. Its reflection was glistening on the water as he foraged for food, occasionally darting its long, dagger-like beak. After I got several pretty good shots, he turned to the east, sticking out its breast feather as it looked into the rising sun. Suddenly, there it was — the perfect shot. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed taking it!
