Figure 1 – Great blue heron at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, April 21, 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

With my recent post of the courting mute swans I mentioned that I have made it back with some regularity to the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. The image of the swans was taken last Sunday and during the same trip I took the image of Figure 1. I had spotted this great blue heron (Ardea herodias) about fifty meters away and I had a bead on him, spot metering his eyes. Then he took off and I started shotting maddly and was rewarded by Figure 1. As pointed out by a reader the red spot on the wings is particularly prominent on this guy. I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that this is mating season, when plumage is most dramatic. I never can look at a great blue heron or a wild turkey for that matter without thinking, “Welcome to Jurassic Park.”

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 330mm , ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/400th sec at f/6.3 with no exposure compensation.