Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Great Blue Heron Downtown

A Great Blue Heron was hunkering down on the west side of the Cannon River by Ames Park this morning. Sorry the resolution on this zoomed-then-cropped photo isn't great (click on the photo for a larger view), but it's exhilarating to see such a magnificent bird in the middle of town life. When I look at herons' formidable bills, I always imagine being a fish whose last thoughts are, "Oops, I think that's a her---!"

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4 comments:

Rob Hardy said...

I was sitting on the patio at the Cow at dusk a week ago and saw a heron flying downstream over the river. So beautiful.

Brendon Etter said...

When the herons fly over our house, having just taken off from the pond on Superior Drive and, if the house and its occupants are quiet, and, if the windows are open, you can hear their wings pushing the air.

The way they fly always seems somehow both awkward and graceful.

Unknown said...

There is something so primordial about herons. It's just occurred to me that they are among the most pterodactyl-like of the modern birds. Huge and beautiful and from a human perspective utterly "other."

Anonymous said...

Mom! You never told me that you saw a Great Blue Heron downtown. And now it's three years after.