Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Heron Hunt

I almost didn't show you the thing I have for you today. I encountered this Great Blue Heron at the pond at the back of Woodland Hills Nature Park. This was the first day of the major changes I made to my camera settings, and the results were not very good. I had the sharpness and the ISO both turned up way too far, and it gave the pictures an unreal look.

The heron almost looks like it was a wood carving or something. The pictures look more like a painting than photos. I had to enhance these photos quite a bit to get them to look good. I just had to show this bird to you. Most importantly, I wanted to tell the story of what happened. So here we go!

I was taking pictures of a couple of ducks that were splashing around in the water when my camera batteries began to go dead. I decided I had enough pictures of them anyway, so I walked back to the front side of the pond where a bench was, so I could change my batteries.

I got really lucky right then. Because just as I turned the camera back on I saw these huge wings pass over me! This big bird flew silently from directly over me to the other end of the pond. It perched on a big log sticking up out of the water. I just got lucky enough to get one picture of it while it was flying.

After a few more pictures, just in case it flew away, I turned back to the trail that runs behind the trees and around the pond. I ran as fast as I could down that trail, ignoring everything in my path. I had to get to the other side of the pond and closer to this majestic bird!

I was glad that the pond and the path were separated by trees so the water birds wouldn't see me running like a madman right in their direction. I was still a little worried that they would somehow detect my violent footfalls. When I got out of the trees I was relieved to see that I had not disturbed them. The trees had hidden me once again.

I quickly began taking more pictures of the heron. I even got a few more of the ducks. I had some good closeup shots like the one you see at the top of this post. Through the view screen on the camera, everything looked great. I went home happy thinking that my pictures would be great. At least I got a record of what I had seen, even if I was wrong about the picture quality.

After all of that I'm glad most of my camera issues have been worked out. The next time I see this bird, I think I'll do much better. I've already seen it three times, so I think there's a good chance I'll get to see it again. Then I'll show you some good pictures of the bird, and this little heron adventure will be complete.

On a side note, I have something new in my posts. Some of the links in the post lead to useful information at Wikipedia. I'll be trying that out for awhile. So if you want to learn more about herons, just click the link. I hope it's helpful for you.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Ratty- great post again. I love herons, I have just never been lucky enough to get close enough to one to take a good photo like yours.
    The link idea to wikipedia is a good idea- many of your readers are from across the waters so it is nice to learn about animals from your way too.

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  2. Beautiful post of the herons!

    I would love to see one up close, one day.

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  3. Herons are a special treat! Do you get green herons where you hike? We have both kinds at our pond and I never tire of watching them. Thanks, Ratty. Diane Tucker, Estate Naturalist, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT

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  4. You are a great but mad hunter without a gun. Luckily those animals will not become extinct no matter how eager you are.

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  5. Bemused - I hope to get better pictures of it soon. I remember somebody having to go and search for info about one of my animals, so I thought the Wikipedia link would help.
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    Icy BC - This one is the fist I've ever seen up close. I hope to see it again.
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    Diane T. - I haven't seen a green heron yet. I'll keep a lookout for any. If they're in Michigan, I hope I find one.
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    Rainfield - I'm glad they won't become extinct so I can chase them forever. :)

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  6. Oh wow very scenic its almost like a movie reading about it and looking at these pics... *hint* actually I this is a hint for my next post. What a nice coincidence. ;-)

    Btw, thanks for the possessed link. I would like to watch that movie!

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  7. Daisy - My movie isn't quite as good as the ones on your list though.

    The Exorcist is much better than Possessed too, but Possessed is the story about the real kid.

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  8. First time I see a Heron, hope you get more photo of this bird Ratty :)

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  9. Vanilla - I went to the same place today, but I didn't see the bird. I saw something much better though! I will probably post that tomorrow.

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  10. i love blue heron, and they always behave enough for photography :) for some reason, i actually am drawn to the painting like picture above. but yeah, have to agree that with very high ISO we lost the crispness of our picture .

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  11. I love, love, LOVE the blue herons...they are some of my FAVORITE birds...aren't they huge!!? I am always amazed when I see one up close. I think your pictures of it turned out great!

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  12. Betchai - I hope I'll be able to have another chance at this heron. The high ISO took fixed the blur in my pictures, but it hurt them even more. I'm glad most of my camera problems are solved now.
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    The Retired One - What I like about these herons is their huge size. I loved seeing it up close, but I had to do a lot of photo editing to make the pictures look okay.

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  13. Blue Herons are Soooooooo awesome. I like the pic with the wings spread.

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  14. Sharkbytes - I have another set of pictures of a blue heron from yesterday. I have two of it flying. They came out a little better, but the heron is further away.

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