Little Blue and Great Blue Herons in Flight

 I am fortunate to live by a golf course pond that is a wonderful ecosystem. It attracts a variety of wading birds (Egrets and Herons especially), turtles, frogs, alligators, and the occasional snake. And there are some fish in there too and residents and guests occasionally fish the pond. Over the years, though not lately because the pond is no longer stocked with bass, I have caught and released a number of bass, crappie and sunfish. 

The other day I photographed a Little Blue Heron that I have seen at the pond for a while. After popping off a few shots as I got closer and closer I set the camera to burst mode to see if I could capture a decent in-flight shot or two. Take note of the dragonfly in a couple of pond-side shots. 

These next two shots include a dragonfly that I did not notice until the shots were uploaded to my iPad. 

In-flight photos are always a challenge to keep a fast-moving bird in the frame and in focus. 

The middle shot is my favorite. The shadow on the water is cool! 

Today (Sunday) I returned to the pond when I spotted a Great Blue Heron. I grabbed my camera and was able to get this picture before the magnificent bird flew away to the other side of the small pond. Nice closeup though right?! 

As I moved around the pond I spotted my friend Little Blue! This I’m pretty sure this is the same Heron featured earlier in this post. 

I again had a chance to capture Little Blue airborne…

Notice the bird’s crooked left claw. I noticed this too in the earlier photos but I did not notice a labored limp when he or she was on the ground. So not sure what to make of this flying style. 

Here’s the Great Blue Heron in flight. I shot this from a greater distance. Note that the Little Blue is on the bank as the Great Blue flew by! 

Not the sharpest images of the Great Blue Heron. But as they say about “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!”