Young Heron

While walking around my local nature center recently, on a quiet morning where I wasn't expecting anything especially interesting, I was startled when this young heron flew from near the path to a branch not too far away. Since he didn't go too far I was thinking that he wasn't really too afraid of me, so I calmly swapped lenses on my camera and prepared the tripod.

While I snapped some initial shots he preened himself for a while. Then he moved to this branch, above the walking path. Here I was able to inch closer and capture some clean shots.

I'm not sure what variety of heron this is, as I think his color will change as he gets older. It may be a white heron.

One lesson that I have learned while walking through natural areas is to always be prepared, and be wary of what's around you. I often go walking with a destination in mind, sometimes completely oblivious to what's around me. But then I may be startled by a deer or a heron or other large bird along the water's edge. At the very least have a medium to long lens on the camera if you have one.