Saturday Photo

Great Blue Herons capture radiant heat in the bay
January 25, 2007

Once upon a time one of my jobs was to drive the offspring to school and back. The trip was 25 minutes each way. The morning ride was into the sun, blinding during the autumn-to-winter mornings when the sun changed its angle and blasted into our faces. Chilled to the bone, steam rising from the coffee in my travel mug, heater going full blast and defroster not doing a good job, we would join the fray of car riders going into town from the country.

The way back was magical for the sun was at my back, sharply angled casting deep shadows and layering fields and trees and waters in gold. This was a January morning. The air was snapping and cracking, temps were in the 20's and the winds weren't kind. Crossing the bay I see herons standing together in a nook, clearly outlined against the trees. The first day I noticed them I counted a dozen herons. The following day nearly 20 herons, but this time the camera was with me on the way home. Most were scattered throughout the bay in small groupings, but this little grouping of 10 seemed to have the best spot.

Great Blue Herons gathering in Turtle Bay, enjoying the radiant heat of a frigid January sunrise. One of Life's special moments!

Warmth and Friendship

Great Blue Heron stands in front of a curtain of local wetland grasses

Last week I receive an e-mail with the subject line "I've gotta get outta here!" or something to that effect. My Sunny Side Up pal, Eve, was going stir-crazy. We agreed to meet Tuesday so I packed up my kit, loaded up my iCar and headed East. Eve's new house is only 30 minutes from mine, and it's a stunningly beautiful drive through hills and past waterways, up a small mountain with views of paradise. Our plan was to meet for bird watching and photographing, our ultimate goal being Lake Guntersville State Park in search of bald eagles.

After touring Eve's house and substantial (and beautiful!) grounds we piled into her car and headed down the mountain toward water. First, we pulled off onto a parking lot area next to Lake Guntersville. There we saw gulls and coots in abundance as well as several great blue herons. We both chased them like photographers from National Geographic, trying to get interesting shots of these common birds. Well, okay...we weren't quite that dogmatic in our pursuits but sure had fun!

A lone gull claims this post way out in the shallow waterway

We spied this plant growing on the water's edge. Cotton? Can anyone ID this plant?

We fixated on a single heron perching on Guntersville's "Bridge to Nowhere." Clearly, we couldn't get to him and he never felt threatened. I love this shot with the coot coming through the center just like a boat through a drawbridge. Cute coot!

Another angle

As much as we enjoy herons, coots and gulls we were after eagles after all, so Eve suggested we take in a few funky shops and one antique mall before heading up the mountain. It was there that we found birds galore...! Not quite eagles, but we sure had fun...and we spent a little money!

Birds on top of birds

Birds on canvas, both a Robin...

...and a bird of blue

The next shop we went to was an amazing cottage filled with all manner of funky things that I fell in love with, AND ...I spied THIS on a shelf! Anyone recognize this cute business card? With that cute, precious pup? This is EVE's business card proudly displayed beside baskets of her cards that she sells! Yay! How inspiring! Her phone number was smudged out out of respect for her privacy BUT if you're interested in her cards contact her via her blog, Sunny Side Up.

A basket of Eve's cards gently glows as sunshine from a nearby window bathes it in light

Kala's Cottage is the name of the store. She carries amazing products, such as these locally-made vinegars of all variety. I'm a vinegar NUT and was tempted...sorely tempted!

After strolling through two funky shops and one huge, rambling antique mall Eve and I realized that it was already early afternoon and it was too late for eagles. That's okay - we'll just have lunch instead! She suggested The Rock House and it was perfect, with some of the best chili I've ever had. This is the ONLY photo I have of Eve...and she's out of focus (!), which is PERFECT! This shows just how "out of focus" our day together became. Originally, we were seeking eagles but instead we ended up simply spending time together laughing and exploring and chatting and just Being.

Before heading home I sat at Eve's comfortable kitchen table in her lovely home sharing time with Eve and her mom over a glass of wine. Our birdie bounty was lovingly caressed and handled and adored; we were extremely pleased with our day. Morgan, Eve's precious daughter, shared tales from school. We four gals talked like we'd known each other forever. Eve and I both thought it funny that we didn't even think to photograph each other and "plan" our blog posts. The day happened just as it was supposed to. It was Perfection.

Heron Love

A narrow roadway crosses a span of water flanked by rocks and boulders and trees and stumps. The waterway is also narrow. Fed by a stream, the waterway gradually widens before pouring into the Tennessee River. Here, birds are protected, fishes are plentiful in the shallows and this juvenile great blue heron takes advantage. If you click on the first photo to enlarge it you can make out a black feather in its beak, for what purpose I can only imagine.

The camera loves the subject but the heron grows nervous and soon flies off seeking privacy.

The Heron

The heron stands in water where the swamp
Has deepened to the blackness of a pool,
Or balances with one leg on a hump
Of marsh grass heaped above a musk-rat hole.

He walks the shallow with an antic grace.
The great feet break the ridges of the sand,
The long eye notes the minnow's hiding place.
His beak is quicker than a human hand.

He jerks a frog across his bony lip,
Then points his heavy bill above the wood.
The wide wings flap but once to lift him up.
A single ripple starts from where he stood.


--Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)

New Year's Day

Entrance to Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center

Decatur, Alabama

I've needed a road trip for quite some time. Alone, I can drive along any road I damn well please, listen to the music I want to hear, head down random roads and change my path at the sight of a beckoning sign. Road trips bring a certain freedom that cleanses and refreshes my soul and heart. After picking up my new Timberland's (Yay!) I want to see the Sandhill Cranes, but the Visitor Center is closed. It is, after all, New Year's Day.

Mallard Fox Creek Wildlife Management Area
Northwest Loop of the North Alabama Birding Trail

So I head toward Wheeler Dam in search of my beloved American White Pelicans. Hello? What's this? Traveling West on Alt. 72 I see a North Alabama Birding Trail sign and decide to take a quick detour, hoping the Yaris will be up to the task.

The first 1/2 mile wasn't too difficult. Passing fields of fescue and chopped down corn stalks the Yaris was humming happily, as was I.


First water sighting rewarded our efforts with a gazillion gulls of some variety. My bird identifying books are packed up so maybe someone can ID these guys? Obviously, they were in a complete feeding frenzy, devouring some poor hapless fishes.

Resurrection Fern

More gulls

Soaking up the beauty - a sycamore leaf.

After a half mile the road became way too potted and bumpy for my little iCar so I decided to turn back and go to my original destination - Wheeler Dam on the Tennessee River.

We were greeted by blinding cold winds blowing straight into my face off the chilly, turbulent waters created by the dam. Not one pelican in sight. Even Pelican Island was dark and silent in their absence. However, the Great Blue Herons were in abundance, even more so than usual.

Walking down a pathway, trees offering some shelter from the wind, I lean up against a tree and watch the gulls and herons, who outnumbered the cormorants for a change. This guy landed a short distance from me and caught a fish...just like that! What luck! The heron barely had a hold on one fin of this large, flapping fish. He held on for a bit but the fish got away.

As you can imagine, the heron was not happy and left shortly thereafter.

From my sheltered perch I snapped a few more shots before the freezing winds sent me dashing to the warm interior of my car. It was only later, after downloading and perusing my pics, that I noticed the sheer number of herons in this last shot. I counted 16 (and had to get really close to see some of them) including the obvious guy in the foreground.

Waters below the dam are swift and strong. I watched fishing boat after fishing boat speed up to the dam, cut off their motors to fish, only to be washed back into the river just as speedily as their motor took them to the dam. It's incredible. And to think these birds dive and fish in these roiling waters without so much as a life vest.

Pelicans, Redux

I've been MIA - sorry. We've been doing some moving, which is NOT what I want to talk about so instead I'll inundate you all with more pelican photos. Mine are not stellar. They're rather common. I know this because I found some uncommon and fantastic white pelican photos that are a-freakin'-mazing by a gentleman I only know as JCompton. His name is probably in the website somewhere, but oh...my goodness what an amazing photographer. It looks as though he's able to get pretty close to a whole bunch of white pelicans. Go straight to the section about beak stretching for a good chuckle and literally jaw-dropping shots. I was searching on-line for pelican anatomy and found Mr. Compton, who was much more entertaining and amusing.

As I said, we've been doing some moving....which I wasn't going to discuss. Fortunately, Life goes on and I had another meeting scheduled at the beautiful Doublehead Resort on Wilson Lake. Alabama. (Not that mega-wilson-lake in Kansas.) Because this was my first fun time in a bit I had to go check out the pelicans. They're doing fine, thank you very much. Pelican #1 was posing on what at first glance seemed to be a log but after closer inspection turns out to be an old tire. So much for pristine, eh? I guess some trash has a purpose. That, and birds are opportunists. It was sticking up just right after all. As a bonus, the tire seemed to be attracting turtles. See the little head below the pelican, to the left? So cute - little pond sliders.

Pelican #2 was waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy far away preening, cleaning his feathers while a great blue heron skulked around behind him. Not long after this shot a few Canada Geese flew in. Bliss. I just sat in the car with the windows down and listened to the peace. So idyllic, so restful, so beautiful. As peaceful and blissful as this setting was, there was no time to spare as work awaited me at home. Hopefully, I'll be back with more adventures soon.