Category Archives: Black and White Photo Challenge
Tunnels of Great Blue Heron Love
Great Blue Heron at Keyhole Tunnel – babsjeheron
Great Blue Heron Morning – Charles River Blues Nbr 2 B&W – babsjeheron
Great Blue Herons know the best fishing holes in town: the entrances of tunnels often funnel small schools of fish into waiting Heron bills – tasty Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Walleye, Largemouth Bass and more. Smart fishermen the Herons!
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This post is prompted by Cee Neuner, Debbie Smyth, Marsha Ingrao, and the creative and inspiring Lens Artists Tina, Amy, Patti, and Leya, all of whom encourage the community of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
The focus for this week’s Lens Artist challenge hosted by Patti is “Shapes and Designs.” The lead photos today feature very old bridges and their tunnels with interesting arch shapes.
For Marsha’s and Cee’s co-hosted Photographing Public Art: Many towns have Little Free Libraries, but this town has a Free Little Art Gallery: Make Art – Leave Art – Take Art, which encourages making and sharing Art publicly.
Make Art Take Art Natick – babsjeheron
And below you see making Art in a public place in town.
En Plein Air Painting at the Dam Nbr 2 – babsjeheron
One morning I arrived at the Charles River dam and saw a big splash of color looming over the ancient grinding wheel across from the fish ladder. What came into view was first one, then two, then three, then four artists set up in 19th century vignettes with easels under brightly-colored umbrellas. They were spaced a good distance from each other, all with a differing vantage point of the river and dam and old stone bridge where the Herons fish.
En Plein Air Painting at the Dam Nbr 1 – babsjeheron
One of the painters in particular called to mind a scene from the mid-1800s as she gazed out over the lush water lilies floating above the dam, paints at the ready, paintbrush in hand.
The bridge in the second photo at the top of this post was constructed in the mid-19th century. There is a palpable timelessness to this location and the artists and easels enhanced that feeling. I can easily imagine a 19th century painter or photographer capturing an ancestor of one of the Great Blue Herons that frequent the area today.
Rosemary Morelli teaches painting including en plain air style at her studio in eastern Massachusetts. The artists painting at the dam that day were a few of her students.
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Thanks to Cee and Marsha for their jointly hosted PPAC from Marsha: Photographing Public Art Challenge #23. And here’s PPAC from Cee: Photographing Public Art Challenge.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: In or On Water.
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Thanks to Debbie for her Six Word Saturday: I Didn’t Recognize the Christmas Tree. The title is the requisite six words long.
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs .
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From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 174: Shapes and Designs.
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and a half and they need your love more than ever.
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Natick Center Cultural District
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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
Please watch this space for news of my upcoming Winter 2022 gallery show.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
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Natick Town Hall
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Five Crows Gallery in Natick
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Audubon Sanctuary
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Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Heron Time Stands Still
Pterodactyl? Great blue heron catching prize fish – babsjeheron
At breakneck speed, all were flung into the present as the man in the bass boat bellowed “It’s a Pterodactyl! It’s an effing Pterodactyl!”
At the time it was amusing – I had my head down stowing gear under the bow of the kayak and didn’t actually see the Great Blue Heron, but hearing the man shriek about a Pterodactyl left no doubt about what had just crossed his bow. So, when even a random fisherman makes that association, I am definitely not alone in seeing Great Blue Herons as modern-day relics of a prehistoric time.
Time stood still that day in the secluded cove.
The rumbling of a lumbering Diplodocus moving towards the tallest stand of trees echoed over the ridge. A school of Leedsichthys searched for plankton in the watery depths, swishing this way and that. Overhead, a flock of Archaeopteryx flapped and wheeled, warming their wings in the late day sunlight.
A lone Pterosaur spied a prize fish and dove towards the water, and in the instant it surfaced with the fish, time stopped standing still.
At breakneck speed, all were flung into the present as the man in the bass boat bellowed, “It’s a Pterodactyl! It’s an effing Pterodactyl!”
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The fisherman really did bellow that quote in the channel. At the time it happened, I was looking down in the cockpit of the kayak, stowing gear. The moment I heard his shouting, I knew it could only mean one thing: a Great Blue Heron flying nearby.
I rendered the photo in B&W to give it a more ancient look, and besides – they didn’t have color film back when Pterodactyls ruled the skies.
According to the wonderful resource, Heron Conservation:
The herons are a fairly ancient group of birds. Although bird fossils are rare, herons are exceptionally rare even by avian standards totaling fewer than 40 identified species. Herons first emerge in the fossil record some 60 -38 million years ago.
When even a random fisherman at my lake makes that association, I am definitely not alone in seeing Great Blue Herons as modern-day relics of a prehistoric time.
That gives me goosebumps!
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Thanks to Cee for her CFFC: Birds. A Pterodactyl is a bird, right?
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Thanks to Debbie for her Six Word Saturday . This post title has the requisite six words!
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Thanks again to Paula for her earlier Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past photo prompt. I’m linking to one of Paula’s earlier challenges, an act which involves something from the past, and certainly a Pterodactyl is from a trace of the past.
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The amazing Lens Artists Tina, Patti, Amy, and Leya are taking a much-deserved and much-needed break for the month of July. This week’s challenge focuses on the topic Black & White. Anne Sandler from her blog Slow Shutter Speed is the host this week.
Check out Anne’s beautiful B&W photos here: Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 156: Black and White .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Herons and My 15 Minutes of Satellite Fame on the Water
Wherein the Great Blue Heron Sticks her Landing at the Waterfall – babsjeheron
The helicopter flew low and slow above the channel. I glanced up at it quickly to see what insignia it carried, but didn’t bother with the binoculars and so didn’t get a good look. Helicopters aren’t rare over the lake, in fact the building next door had one parked on the roof, and besides, I was in a hurry to find Great Blue Herons to photograph.
I nosed the kayak through the first tunnel, then curved sharp right into the slender finger-like cove where Herons sometimes perched. Just as the kayak slid out from under the tree canopy, I heard it again. The helicopter was flying directly over the cove. Since the cove paralleled the turnpike for a small distance, I thought maybe it was a traffic copter, put it out of mind and paddled deeper seeking out Herons.
No luck finding Herons there, I paddled back out towards the big lake. Just as I exited the cove, the helicopter reappeared, right overhead again. Seeing the same helicopter in a short timespan over a small area seemed odd. Maybe it wasn’t traffic-related, I thought, maybe it was a video crew getting some B-roll footage for TV or a movie being filmed near Boston. Whatever it was, I hoped they wouldn’t capture me. I’m notoriously camera-shy. It’s not about me, it’s about the Great Blue Herons. In school, they taught us, “Report the story, don’t BE the story.” Words to live by.
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Guess who in the blue kayak? – babsjeheron
By the fourth time I encountered the helicopter that morning, I decided to make contact, and gave them a big wave goodbye with my paddle and took the kayak elsewhere on the lake.
Fast forward to the next winter.
It was a stormy night, one of those howling New England winter storms that made me long for warm days on the water. That night, I was frittering away some time online before sleep, and in an idle moment wondered what the lake looked like in a satellite view.
I found the lake, at left in this next photo, and then zoomed in until I found some of my favorite nooks and crannies, and then zoomed in again. In the second frame are two light dots. I zoomed in again, and in the third frame, the dots are larger still.
And with one final click to zoom in as close in as the satelite/mapping software allows, the two dots become two vessels. One, a fishing boat. The other? A blue kayak. With me aboard.
And then it all came back to me in retrospect, the day of the helicopter. It wasn’t the traffic or news or B-roll, it was part of the Google mapping project. And my concern about being captured was NOT unfounded.
At least a viewer can’t zoom in any closer than in the top photo of this post. I can live with that degree of anonymity. I think.
Zooming in on the lake – babsjeheron
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Out of curiosity, I looked for a satellite image of one of the nesting islands near here. The Herons and/or their nests stand out starkly in this next image.
Can you count the Great Blue Herons’ nests on the island in this satellite view? – babsjeheron
By my informal count, there are at least 70 nests and/or Herons visible in that satellite view.
My heart leaps with joy at their numbers.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Trees or Tree Parts. The satellite view of the nesting island has enough trees to support.that large Heron colony.
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The amazing Lens Artists Tina, Patti, Amy, and Leya are taking a much-deserved and much-needed break for the month of July. This week’s challenge focuses on the topic On The Water. John Steiner is the host this week.
Check out John’s beautiful water photos here: Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 155: On the Water .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Beautiful Great Blue Heron Garbo
Great Blue Heron Garbo Pose – bw – babsjeheron
When I Met My Muse
I glanced at her and took my glasses
off–they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. “I am your own
way of looking at things,” she said. “When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.When I Met My Muse
by William Stafford
Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
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Over decades of spending time with dozens of Great Blue Herons, I have given names to only three: Romeo, his (unrequited) inamorata Juliette, and the Heron you see today, Garbo. Are there any artists who don’t fall in love with their models, their muses? I am unabashedly smitten by Garbo.
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Experimenting with the final look and feel of a photograph using different color tones is a fun method of artistic license. The photos here show the same scene rendered 5 different ways. The top version is an infrared-style B&W. Next, clockwise from top left are Sepia, B&W, Cyanotype, and then Full Color.
Great Blue Heron, Takes 2, 3, 4, and 5 – babsjeheron
How much artistic license is too much?
As befitting the name of this beautiful Heron – Garbo – I think an old-style platinum print would be best.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Five. Today’s post has five photos.
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This week’s Lens Artist challenge from the amazing artists Patti, Tina, Amy, and Leya, focuses on our One Photo Two Ways. I took some liberty and used five ways, not two. Check out the Lens Artists’ beautiful photos here:
From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 154: One Photo Two Ways .
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Folks, now that some areas are opening back up, please consider supporting your local Arts communities – whether music, theater, crafts, visual arts venues, and others. All have been impacted over the past year and they need your love.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
2015 (May), 2016 (March and July), 2018 (May, June, July), 2019 (December), 2020 (January) several one-woman photography shows at TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick
.
2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
.
2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
,
2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
.
From December 4 through January 28, 2020, my Great Blue Heron photographs were once again on display on the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Many of the photos in the exhibit were shown for the first time, and do not appear on the blog. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed.
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.
Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2021 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Heron’s Guest Bird of the Day: Beautiful Swan Taking a Bath
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
Mute Swan Bathing Beauty – babsjeheron
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The secret is to stay present always, to not take nature for granted no matter how often we think we are seeing the same ol’ same ol’.
That Saturday, I was tired, and the journey back to the home dock would take another hour and a half. I had already bagged a fair number of Great Blue Heron captures and was eager to take out.
From a distance, I gave a passing glance at the southern shoreline and saw the usual pair of Mute Swans floating in their usual spot, and so I paddled on.
Rounding the curve below the Labs, coming closer to the Swans, I noticed an odd-looking thrashing and splashing unlike any Sawn behavior I’d seen before.
Binoculars up, I sat transfixed, watching from across the channel as one of the Swans took a Saturday bath. Amazing.
Many of us have seen Robins, or Warblers, or other small songbirds splashing about in a backyard garden birdbath. Now, imagine a bird with a 7-to-8 foot wingspan behaving just the same – dunking their head and neck fully below the surface, coming back up to shake off the water, rearing up on legs, wings akimbo flapping and expelling droplets galore, and preening, preening, preening to sort out feathers. The Swan’s bath lasted more than 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
And so, as I said before, the secret is to stay present always, to not take nature for granted no matter how often we think we are seeing the same ol’ same ol’.
View other large birds bathing: Red Tailed Hawks aka Beauteous Buteo and a Great Blue Heron aka Rubber Ducky You’re the One.
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For the months of September and October, the Great Blue Herons are featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA. Feel free to stop in during office hours Monday thru Wednesday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm; Thursday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm; Friday 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
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From May 1 through July 11, 2018, my Great Blue Heron photographs once again graced the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
Thanks to Cee for her recent WPC: Black & White Challenge. The Mute Swan bathing beauty turned in gentle circles for more than 15 minutes taking that Saturday bath. It was mesmerizing. (And apologies to Cee for once again bending the rules.)
Thanks again to Paula for her earlier WPC: Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past. This bridge and tunnel are from days gone by, using ingenious technology of the earlier era.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area. Five Crows is on FaceBook.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, B&W
Beautiful Great Blue Heron at the Keyhole Tunnel
Great Blue Heron at Keyhole Tunnel – babsjeheron
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For the months of September and October, the Great Blue Herons are featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA. Feel free to stop in during office hours Monday thru Wednesday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm; Thursday 8:00 am – 7:00 pm; Friday 8:00 am – 12:30 pm
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From May 1 through July 11, 2018, my Great Blue Heron photographs once again graced the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
Thanks to Cee for her recent WPC: Black & White Challenge. The water had been smooth as glass until a passing pair of kayakers played through! (And apologies to Cee for once again bending the rules.)
Thanks again to Paula for her earlier WPC: Black & White Sunday: Traces of the Past. This bridge and tunnel are from days gone by, using ingenious technology of the earlier era.
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Thanks to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place is where the Herons are, of course it is. And the Herons? Their place is near the water, but also on the gallery walls and my blog. How else can I share them with you?
Thanks also to Ben H and WordPress for their WPC Challenge: Liquid. The Herons are drawn to water, as am I.
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area. Five Crows is on FaceBook.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows
Great Blue Heron’s Salmon Fishing Prequel (Not Art Nbr 17)
Great Blue Heron Fishing at Fish Ladder – babsjeheron
There is no problem so complicated that you can’t find a very simple answer to it if you look at it right.
Douglas Adams
The Salmon of Doubt
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When last we saw her at the fish ladder, the Great Blue Heron had snared a large Salmon from the base of the torrent.
For more than an hour, she had stalked the Salmon, climbing the fish ladder slowly, intently scanning the pooled water at the base of the dam.
Great Blue Heron Catching Large Fish – babsjeheron
The Charles River was in drought conditions, with the usually-robust waterfall at the dam subdued to a trickle. The fish ladder, however, cascaded mightily. The Heron’s wings-akimbo balancing act paid off as she teetered at the edge of the fish ladder long enough to land lunch.
Great Blue Heron Has Gone Fishing – babsjeheron
Fortunately for the Great Blue Heron, the ‘no fishing in fish ladder’ policy doesn’t apply to wildlife.
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Thanks to Cee N and WordPress for her Black and White Challenge: Birds.
Thanks again to Erica V and WordPress for the recent WPC: Place in the World. My favorite place in the world is on the water with the beloved Great Blue Herons.
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From May 1 through July 11, 2018, my Great Blue Heron photographs once again grace the walls of the lobby and theater in a free one-woman show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick. If you’re in the Boston or Metro West area, please stop by to see the Great Blue Herons. As always, many of the photos were taken on the waterways of the Charles River watershed. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area. Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows
Great Blue Heron and the Salmon of Doubt (Apologies to Douglas Adams)
Great Blue Heron Catching Large Fish – babsjeheron
There is no problem so complicated that you can’t find a very simple answer to it if you look at it right.
Douglas Adams
The Salmon of Doubt
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For more than an hour, she stalked the Salmon, climbing the fish ladder slowly, intently scanning the pooled water at the base of the dam, then pausing to rest, perched there on one leg. All the while, she faced away from the torrent gushing down the ladder behind her.
I could see fish in the rushing waters and wondered if the Heron would shift her focus.
True to that Douglas Adams thought, she finally looked at the fish ladder right, and left no doubt at all about that Salmon.
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Thanks to Krista S and WordPress for their recent WPC Challenge: Tour Guide. Krista had asked us recently what we love about where we live. Today’s photo was taken a short walk from my home. In fact, all of the photos on my blog were taken within 5 miles from home. I love that the beautiful Great Blue Herons spend part of their lives each year within the Charles River and Sudbury River watersheds. I’m very fortunate that my studies of them don’t require expensive travel to distant locations.
And more thanks to Krista S and WordPress for their recent WPC Challenge: Weathered. Do you notice how weathered the Heron’s toes are?
Thanks to Paula for her occasional Black and White Sunday challenge. Paula, your captive gibbon is exquisitely enigmatic, moving.
Thanks to Debbie for this week’s Travel with Intent: Fish.
Thanks to Cee for her recent Black and White Photo Challenge: Water. Once again, I am very tardy, Cee.
Thanks to CosmicGirlie for hosting Silent Sunday. I do really like CosmicGirlie’s ethos about the way that words can affect the meaning of photos and her goal of no words, just a single photo. Yes, there are “words” in today’s post, which is against the “rules,” but I can’t credit the authors of the fine prompts mentioned above without using words.
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From July 1 through July 30, 2016, I was the Featured Artist of the Month at the Summer Street Gallery. The Great Blue Heron photographs once again graced the walls of the lobby and theater in a one-woman show at The Center for Arts in Natick. In addition to the visual arts shown at the gallery, TCAN has a lively, dynamic lineup of upcoming performing artists.
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Through July 13, 2017 I was a Featured Artist at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
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Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2018 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows
Not Art Nbr 2: His Phantom Foot
When the birds
come to breakfast
some have lost
legs or feet
to the world,
and I give those more,
their lives
being difficult enough,
but I never
see the ones who have
lost wings.470 Fidelity Agape (excerpt)
One-legged Canada Goose
Five kayak outings in a row, the young Canada Goose has followed along as I ply the shores of the lake. He hadn’t joined the other gaggles of geese as they readied for migration south, and remained behind after their departure. Instead, he could be found in the company of the ducks in various coves or near the gulls congregating along the boat launch.
As the weeks drew on, several waves of geese migrating from farther north would briefly stop over at the lake – a way station on their route south – and the young goose would join along the fringe of the newcomers, but I noticed he always remained behind when they, too, headed south.
It was then, as autumn gave way to winter, and most of the ducks had migrated, that one day I noticed the young goose seemed to be following me about the lake.
The next day, I came across the goose near one of tunnels where the Great Blue Herons perch, pulling up greens from along the shore. By then, much of the vegetation had dried to straw, but that patch was still a vibrant green, and most days I would sight the goose there on my way to the north. And most days from then on, he would follow along behind the blue kayak, from middle lake into north lake, and back, then east into the shallow cove favored by the herons.
The weather here on Christmas was unexectedly warm for Massachusetts in December, near 60 degrees, and my gift to myself was an hour in the kayak, tucked deep in the slender cove, drinking hot coffee and eating a friend’s home-made cookies. Any my companion there? The young goose – delightful company.
Yesterday was again warm, and so once again I headed out on the water. Once again, the young goose was near that patch of greens. Once again, he followed me, at times paddling behind Blue Boat, at others circling around alongsides to port or starboard, at others pulling out ahead of my bow.
He seemed healthy enough, despite being an unusually solitary goose. His chest was plump, feathers abundant and glossy, eyes clear, tongue pink. The only thing amiss seemed to be a shallow, silver-dollar-sized wound at the back of his head where it joins the neck, but the short feathers there looked like they were growing back in just fine.
So why hadn’t he migrated with the others? I assumed he couldn’t fly, although I had seen him stretch out his wings once when he accidentally came to close to the kayak. It was only for a moment, and so my glimpse of the wings was brief, but I couldn’t see anything obvioulsy wrong with either wing.
It was a mystery, his flightlessness.
Canada Goose
At the end of the day yesterday, the young goose followed me back to the boathouse, and watched from the shallows as I beached the kayak. I wondered if he would flee in fear were I to stand up full height on shore, and so I slouched down to look smaller as I clambered out of the boat. Apparently that worked, and he simply paddled about in small circles, watching me all the while.
Then he started to preen, just like any other goose, tucking his head under first one wing, the the others, craning his neck over his should to reach his back feathers, nibbling at his tail.
And when he stood up, it hit me – the reason for his flightlessness. He stood there gracefully on his left leg, the stump of his right wavering slightly as he regained his balance, and settled in preening on one leg.
The photos in this post are clearly not “art” (they were taken with my phone). And even though they are not art, there is something curious about them. Look closely at the top photo here, do you see what I see floating on the surface of the water below the stump of his right leg? Doesn’t that reflected shape look like the reflection of an intact goose’s foot? His phantom foot?
It is remarkable how nimble he has been in paddling after me for miles all over the lake, how agile he looks standing on one leg preening, how healthy he seems to be apart from his missing foot. How endearing he is.
And even though these photos aren’t art, the young Canada Goose is.
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This week’s photo challenge is Warmth. Thanks to Ben H and WordPress for this topic.
Thanks to Paula for hosting her Black & White Sunday challenge.
Thanks to Cee for hosting her Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Circles and Curves.
Thanks also to Leanne Cole and Laura Mackey for hosting the Monochrome Madness challenge.
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A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2014 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking
Who Needs a Time Machine?
1835 seems only a split-second ago.
Great blue heron poised under railroad bridge.
There are moments on the water when time falls away. This dark and drizzly day was one.
The great blue heron and I had the lake to ourselves – no powerboats with big wakes disrupting the smooth glide of the kayak, no fisherman on the rock slab interfering with the heron’s fishing.
The railroad bridge and tunnel date to around 1835. The photo isn’t one from the local historical society, of course, but I like to think that it could have been.
I like to think of generation after generation of great blue herons, all fishing from that same spot by the tunnel.
Fishing before my time began, fishing after my time has ended.
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Thanks to Shane Francescut and WordPress for their Weekly Photo Challenge: Split-second Story.
Thanks to Paula for her new Black & White Sunday Non-Challenge.
Thanks to Cee for her Cee’s Black & White Challenge: 50 Years or Older.
Thanks to Leanne Cole for her Monochrome Madness Challenge.
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A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2014 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking
Babsje Heron 