Thursday, May 23, 2013

Me: Bird Brain

Great Blue Heron
May 23, 2013
charcoal, colored pencil
I wanted to tell this Great Blue Heron that I'd seen a big fat trout swimming upstream at the base of the dam, about 80-90 feet away from where he was hunting. But I had to be sneaky and patient enough to get him to pose and I didn't dare spoil the moment by trying to speak Heronese!

After ten fruitless minutes of peering into the rushing spray, the heron let out a squawk and turned toward me. It took a drink of water and then settled his feathers and started his vigil from a slightly new position. I think the tension must get to watchful herons and they need a little moment to regroup. Even this didn't work and soon the majestic bird flew downstream under the arches of the bridge only to take up the hunt again in a quieter section of the river. I wonder if it ever gets boring being a hunter like this? Who says that philosophy is a luxury?   A heron's worldview must be quite circumscribed and fishy but we humans could probably learn much from their patience and attention to detail.

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