Figure 1 – Great blue heron ready to strike. Great Meadows national Wildlife Refuge, Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

On Thursday I was walking around Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA, when I saw another bird photographer standing on a little bridge and gesturing to me. So I slowed down and walked as quietly as I could. When I got up close to her, I asked “what are we looking at?” She point straight ahead. It was my closest encounter with a Great Blue, and you get that goose-pimple feeling of what the world would be like if animals didn’t fear us. This one had positioned itself on the flat water in the outlet current from the pond and was waiting patiently for small fish to be carried by. I took several photographs. But my favorite was this one, where the neck is wound up like a spring, just ready to release. So wonderful!

Canon T2i with EF 100 to 400 mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens at 300 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode 1/630th sec at F/7.1 with no exposure compensation.