Blog Archives
Beautiful Great Blue Heron… Not Just Another Pretty Face
Great Blue Heron head-shot portrait – babsjeheron
Two peas in a pod: Great Blue Heron fledglings in symmetry – babsjeheron
Great Blue Heron fledglings in synchronized, symmetrical preening. Remarkable how in sync they are – babsjeheron
Great Blue Heron Feathers – Close-up Detail – babsjeheron
Look, you might as well know, this thing
is going to take endless repair: rubber bands,
crazy glue, tapioca, the square of the hypotenuse.
Nineteenth century novels. Heartstrings, sunrise:
all of these are useful. Also, feathers.
The focus for this week’s Lens Artist challenge hosted by Patti is “Close and Closer.” Patti wrote “we challenge you to move closer to your subject. Post one photo or a series of photos showing what happened when your subject filled the frame. Did this reveal new details? Did this eliminate distracting or unnecessary elements in the photo? Did this add more drama or empathy to your image? Get closer by moving your feet, by using a zoom or macro lens, or by cropping the photo.”
As a wildlife photographer, I can endorse the use of “a zoom or macro lens or cropping the photo.” However I cannot support the idea of moving closer to wildlife. Humans can unintentionally endanger the wildlife they wish to photograph. For example, as passionate Eagle blogger Doc Ellen points out, “People must stay 660 feet from an active bald eagle nest, according to Federal law.” Learn more from Doc Ellen about efforts to protect Bald Eagles CLICK HERE.
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From one of my own impassioned PSA posts about Great Blue Herons needing their space:
If the Great Blue Heron can read this, you’re too close.
It bears repeating: If the Great Blue Heron can read this, you’re too close. Every so often going back a decade or so, I feel compelled to caution folks that Herons need their space. In the past few weeks, I have seen several photos of Herons that had obviously been flushed by photographers. Flushing a Heron is not good, it is a rookie mistake – even if it makes for a dynamic photo. In fact, birding ethics organizations from Audubon to the US Fish & Wildlife Service almost all universally say avoid flushing birds. Don’t get too close.
People who know me know that my motto is “Walk softly and carry a long lens.™” It is important to give wildlife an extra-wide margin of personal space to not endanger them. I take precautions to remain hidden from their view, including use of telephoto lenses and natural-cover hides.
In taking hundreds of thousands of photos over a couple of decades, I can count on two hands the number of times I was within 10 feet of a Heron who could see me. Half of those times happened when I was hidden under a tree canopy and the Heron didn’t see my kayak and dropped down to land literally next to my boat. And one time was because I stepped in to protect the Heron from fishing lines.
This is a critical time in the life cycle of Great Blue Herons, when the Herons are getting ready to nest and create the next generations. This is the time of year when Herons can frequently be spotted, and when novice birders or photographers put them at risk by getting too close. Interrupt a nesting or feeding adult Great Blue, and the chicks may go without a meal. Interrupt a feeding fledgling could ultimately mean life or death for the bird.
As a photographer, ask yourself:
Did you get that perfect shot, but flushed the fledgling in the process?
How long will your friends and family remember your photo?
How long will the fledgling remember the meal he missed or the calories he wasted fleeing you?
Maybe only that single meal, those much-needed calories were his tipping point between life and death.
The post below was an earlier PSA rant about endangering Herons. Please humor me again.
“… Eventually it all boils down to this: fifty-nine million years later, a caveman, one of a dozen on the entire world, goes hunting wild boar or saber-toothed tiger for food. But you, friend, have stepped on all the tigers in that region. By stepping on one single mouse. So the caveman starves.”
Ray Bradbury, “A Sound of Thunder,”
In “A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories“
Great blue herons practicing 24 hours before they fledged.
The sleek kayak had been tugged up into the shrubbery on the hillside just south of the keyhole bridge. No, wait, make that a sleek kayak and a custom canoe nestling there in the bushes. How odd.
I had noticed the same two paddlers the day before, farther north. How could a person not notice their high-end boats and expert-looking water skills?
Fast forward a day, and there were those boats again, cruising the southern waters. The two men beached their custom-made canoe on the tiny nesting island. I quickly paddled my kayak over and explained to them about the great blue heron nest and the eggs that were due to hatch within the next 10 days. They replied, “OK, we’re outta here,” and left right away. Success!
Keyhole tunnel portal to the southern waters.
I should have expected that something was afoot when I noticed a white flag hanging off the promontory southwest of the keyhole tunnel the next morning, it wasn’t there the day before. I should have connected it to the two expert paddlers, but didn’t grasp what it foreshadowed.
The next morning, I was enroute to the secluded shady hide along the western shoreline, thinking to pull in and read a book while munching a bagel for breakfast, when I noticed a man in a red kayak heading for the island. I wanted to warn him off, and so spun my kayak around. As I was about to aim towards him, a red canoe came out of nowhere, making a beeline for the island, the woman in front paddling harder and faster than I’d ever seen in a canoe.
I intercepted them, positioning my kayak in their path and they started to curve around me back towards the island. By this time, the man in the red kayak had meandered around the island and maybe 20 yards to the south, not threatening the island, so I focused on the red canoe and explained to the woman that they needed to steer clear of the island due to the nesting herons and chicks that should be hatching soon. She got the message and she and her partner gave the island and nest a wide birth and paddled in the direction of the east shore. Whew.
Next, I paddled south of the island and to the shady hide on the opposite shore, and turned around to face the island before settling in, when I noticed a green canoe perilously close to the east side of the island, within a foot of the shore, ducking under some tunnel-like branches and then exiting and paddling farther east.
Curious about their odd behavior, I got out the binoculars and saw something hanging from one of the lowest branches on that side of the island. There was a flash of red, and I remembered seeing it Saturday afternoon when I had dissuaded the two men in a canoe from hanging out there – the two who said to me “we’re outta here.” I thought it was red from the baseball cap one of the men was wearing yesterday. But maybe it wasn’t that at all.
By this point, the man in the red kayak had circled the island and was coming around the north side, very close, too close. I paddled up to him and explained about the nesting herons and incipient hatching. He took off his baseball cap, craned his head and neck backwards to look straight up into the trees at the nest, and then back down. He gave me a level gaze and laconically drawled “Well, I need to rest my kayak in a stable spot for a few minutes,” and pulled out a snack and settled in. Aaarrrgh, he was virtually at the base of the nesting tree, his red kayak shining like a beacon that the adult herons couldn’t possibly fail to notice.
I paddled back towards the west because there was now another green canoe heading straight for the island. I paddled alongside and explained to the young woman in front that they needed to steer clear of the island due to the nesting birds, and – to my relief and gratitude – they headed much farther south.
Then, I circled the south side of the island and ducked into the tree tunnel and saw the red thing. There was a plastic ribbon sash circling a low branch, the red ends flapping down about six inches. Suspended from a white cord was a sort of rectangular card with a large number written prominently on it. The cord was wrapped around the neck of the top of a cut-off white plastic milk-bottle with the another number hand-written on it, such that about five inches of the milk-bottle top was suspended mid-air about three feet above the surface of the water. I thought maybe it was a trap for mosquitoes – they sometimes try to detect virus-carrying mosquitoes with traps, but an open-bottomed milk bottle wouldn’t be a very effective trap.
Putting one and one together, I deduced that it was some sort of scavenger hunt.
A scavenger hunt using the nesting island as a way station.
I was, and still am, horrified.
Even though I had explained to the men who placed the scavenger hunt apparatus in the shrubs about the federally protected herons sitting on eggs in a nest on the tiny island, they chose the island as part of their game. Even though I explained about the eggs about to hatch to the man in the red kayak, even though he looked directly up at the heron’s nest, he still chose to park his boat on the island shore for his snack.
I cut down the offending dangling plastic red sash and the milk bottle apparatus, and as I pulled it into the boat I noticed some sort of red plastic fob dangling from the bottom, sort of like a very large clothespin or something strange. I had no idea what it was, probably a weight to keep things from blowing in the wind, and I pulled that into the kayak too, and stashed it all behind the seat back with my sneakers and socks. In that instant, in my own small way, I understood what Greenpeace might feel like.
I then quietly, nonchalantly paddled southeast a bit and circled back to the front of the island. As I was doing this, a silver-haired couple wearing circa 1960 vinyl PFDs proclaiming Boy Scout Troop NNNN was bearing down hard and fast on the island in an ancient silver aluminum canoe. I explained to the woman that they couldn’t approach the island because of the nesting birds and eggs due to hatch and I thought they were paying attention to me, but I was mistaken. They were heading closer and closer as they circled around to the back of the island.
In the meantime, I paddled up to the snacking man in the red kayak still beached on the island, literally to beseech him to leave before the heron abandons the nest. While I was trying to talk to him, the silver canoe came upon me from behind and rear-ended my boat. Outrageous lack of seamanship on a 700-acre body of water. I asked them to get away from the island and again explained about the nest and what would happen if they got too close for too long and the adult herons abandoned the nest.
My heart was in my throat again and I paddled away from the island, heading west. I turned the boat around, and the lunkheads in the silver canoe were still there. I boldly waved my left arm in broad sweeping strokes motioning them all away from the island. And I kept on motioning them away.
The silver canoe then came right up to me and the woman asked me “Did you see the remote?”
I had no idea what she was talking about and so honestly said “no.” It was only after they paddled away that I realized that the red plastic fob on the end of the milk carton string behind my seat back must have been the “remote,” whatever a remote is.
Father great blue heron has fled the nest and watches anxiously from the tall pines.
I paddled to a secluded spot on the northern shoreline of south lake and relocated the milk carton and dangling fob on the branch of a different bush, far enough from the island to not be a concern for the herons, but close enough to their original placement to not make a huge difference in their little game.
As I raised the binoculars, I could tell by then that the adult heron was not in the nest. Would the adult return? All I could do was watch and wait.
I lost track of time, but it seemed an eternity.
I headed west a little bit more, turned around, and there in the sky was the adult, making a nice big circle and a perfect landing on the nesting tree! He quickly got back into position on the nest and hunkered down.
By this point in the afternoon, the silver canoe was gone, the red kayak was a fair distance away, and I needed to head back for the day, and so I turned my kayak towards home.
Just then, a middle-aged woman in a tiny tan kayak with a big black dog wearing it’s own adorable PFD passed by. I remarked about her cuddly first mate and she said he couldn’t wait to get out of the boat.
I then realized that they were going very fast, straight for the island. I called to her and said you can’t go the island, there are nesting herons with chicks due to hatch soon and she replied, “I’m doing an orienting weekend. I need to get to the remote.”
And on she paddled towards the island, as my blood ran cold. I could only imagine the havoc her dog would cause romping about the island floor.
If you’ve been following this blog, you already know that the eggs hatched, the two heron chicks fledged and they have both successfully migrated, fall and spring, and found their way back to their home at the lake. I am in awe of how they did that.
Photographer gets too close to a great blue heron nest while the nestlings are being fed by an adult.
Between mid-June, 2012, when the above story took place, and August 12, 2012, when the herons fledged for good, there were many – too many – instances of human encroachment at the nesting island. The father heron in particular would leave the nest, and watch anxiously from tall pines across the channel.
Whenever I noticed people landing on the island, or venturing too close and jeopardizing the herons’ survival, I’d try to educate them, and often shared my binoculars to let them see the beauty of the herons.
Fellow photographers were often the worst offenders, so eager to get closer and closer to get that “perfect shot” of the baby birds.
What is the cost of people being careless or disrespectful in nature?
If you’re a nature lover, birder, photographer, boater, whatever, take a minute and read Ray Bradbury’s short story “A Sound of Thunder,” and imagine that instead of a butterfly, it’s a great blue heron.
And after your next nature outing, how would you answer these:
Did you and your children have a wonderful nature walk, but did the fledgling flush as your toddler squealed and clapped in delight at seeing the pretty birdie?
Did you and your group have a great afternoon orienteering, but did the mother heron veer away while taking fish back to the chicks because you ventured too close to the nest?
Did you and your friends have a fun time waterskiing, but did the father heron abandon his brood when your boat circled the nesting island too close one time too many?
Did you get that perfect shot, but flushed the fledgling in the process?
How long will your friends and family remember your photo? The waterskiing, orienteering, that particular nature walk?
How long will the fledgling remember the meal he missed or the calories he wasted fleeing you?
Maybe only that single meal, those much-needed calories were his tipping point between life and death.
Read “A Sound of Thunder.”
Imagine that instead of a butterfly, it’s a magnificent great blue heron.
Don’t be “that guy.”
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Here are some great resources for birding/photography ethics:
The Jerk – ABA Blog by Ted Lee Eubanks
About the tagline of this post, it’s a bumper sticker I’d love to see:
“If the Heron Can Read This, You’re Too Close”
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Folks, I have written here before that this is a politics-free space. You won’t hear me advancing any political agenda. Posts here are not opinion pieces about current events.
HOWEVER, failing to weigh in on the heartbreaking events unfolding in Europe would be exceedingly tone-deaf on my part.
I wrote back in December “Tis the season for wishes of peace on earth, goodwill to all. But wait. On second thought, why should those sentiments be extended only during the holiday season? I encourage peace on earth and goodwill to all for every season of the year. May 2022 bring you peace, health, happiness, and joy to all.”
And now in
FebruaryMarch, it seems my sentiment from onlytwothree months ago has fallen on deaf ears. I pray that it is not too late to turn the tides of war.
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The Great Blue Herons once again graced the gallery walls through February 26th for a one-woman all-Heron show at the Summer Street Gallery, of The Center for Arts in Natick.
Great Blue Herons at TCAN Lobby Nbr 2 One-Woman Show January-February 2022 – babsjeheron
The Center for Arts Natick believes the arts are essential to a complete human experience and to the creation of a vibrant, healthy community. To this end, TCAN strives to present arts programs of the highest standard that are available to everyone and dedicates its resources to providing community access to diverse arts programs, reducing barriers to attendance, and building appreciation through arts education. Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.
Some of the images from my January February 2022 TCAN show have been placed in the online Art gallery, with more to be uploaded in coming days. You can be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
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Cee Neuner, Debbie Smythe, Mama Cormier, and the community of Lens Artists encourage the entire international network of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
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Thanks to Cee for her CFFC: Birds. Anybody see any birds around here?
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Thanks to Debbie for her One Word Sunday: Symmetry. The two photos of the Heron fledglings are symmetrical.
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Thanks to Mama Cormier for her Thursday Trios. The panel of three mirror-image Heron fledglings is a trio, even if today isn’t Thursday.
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer.
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From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer .
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From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer .
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From Anne Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer .
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From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer.
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From John Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 190: Close and Closer.
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Natick Center Cultural District logo
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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The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Click here and here to learn more!
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My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – Current one-woman photography show through February 2022
.
Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru June 2022
.
Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
.
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™
© 2003-2022 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Romancing the Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Herons pair bonding – babsjeheron
During a break in nest building, the Great Blue Heron pair enhanced their bond with courtship moves so intimate I imagined hearing the soft refrains of that old chestnut “I only have eyes for you, dear.”
“Our love must be some kind of kind of blind love.
I can’t see anyone but you.
Are the stars out tonight?
I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright.
I only have eyes for you, dear…”A. Dubin, H. Warren
I Only Have Eyes for You
“I Only Have Eyes for You” is a gem of a tune. This chestnut has been performed by a who’s who of musicians, including The Flamingos, Sinatra & Count Basie, Rod Stewart, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Mathis, Carly Simon, Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and more…
But the best ever version in my opinion is this very sweet Art Garfunkle cover. Trust me on that.
This next trio of frames taken during a break in nest building that day shows the obvious connection between the mated pair of Great Blue Herons.
The Herons engage each other during a break in nest building – babsjeheron
Nest building had been completed four weeks earlier and the Great Blue Heron eggs were due to hatch any moment. The suspense was mounting daily – would this be the day? And then one day, the female swooped back to the nest bearing a small stick. How sweet, I thought to myself – a token of her affection for her mate, who was hunkered down on the eggs.
Four weeks after mating, a Great Blue Heron returns to the nest and presents a stick to the mate, hunkered down atop the eggs about to hatch – babsjeheron
It was a touching, tender moment to behold. They only had eyes for each other while courting, but even once they got down to the business of incubating the eggs, their pair bonding efforts persisted, with lavish greeting displays when one returned to the nest, occasional preening (allopreening) of each other, and more. I had watched their courtship and nest building four weeks earlier, but there was something special about seeing her bring that twig back to the male in the nest. I had never before seen them take little gifts like this small stick back to the nest. How sweet.
I am still smitten by their deep bonding, their dedication to each other and their nest.
Happy Valentine’s Day from the Great Blue Herons & me!
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Once again, the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the water’s surface is gracing gallery walls.
TCAN One-Woman Show January 2022 Lobby Wall With TCAN Sign Reflected; TCAN Stained glass art by Carol Krentzman, framed by Jay Ball
TCAN One-Woman Show January 2022 Front Lobby Trio
My Great Blue Heron photographs are 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.
Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.
The Center for Arts Natick believes the arts are essential to a complete human experience and to the creation of a vibrant, healthy community. TCAN serves the Boston MetroWest region by increasing opportunities to experience, participate in, and learn about the arts. To this end, TCAN strives to present arts programs of the highest standard that are available to everyone. TCAN dedicates its resources to providing community access to diverse arts programs, reducing barriers to attendance, and building appreciation through arts education.
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.
And who knows, maybe I’ll see you there one day.
I’d like that.
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Cee Neuner, Debhie Smyth, Becky B, and the community of Lens Artists encourage the entire international network of photographers and writers. Please click the links below to see the beautiful offerings from these wonderful photographers.
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Thanks to Cee for her CFFC: Square Odds and Thursday Trios.
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Thanks to Becky for her The Square Odds challenge. Yes, it’s hip to be square!
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Thanks to Becky also for her Square Odds Gallery which showcases some delightful images from many interesting photographers.
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Thanks to Debbie for her One Word Sunday: Even.
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Natick Center Cultural District logo
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.
.
The Natick Center Cultural District is situated in a friendly, classic New England town hosting a vibrant, contemporary fusion of art, culture and business. Click here and here to learn more!
.
.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – Current one-woman photography show through February 2022
.
Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru June 2022
.
Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
.
Audubon Sanctuary
.
Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
.
.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2022 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick, Pink Flamingo
Read the rest of this entry
Beautiful Great Blue Herons on Exhibit (Quirky Artist Stories Nbr 20)
Great Blue Heron Camouflaged – babsjeheron
It was the golden hour, that last hour of daylight when the sun’s rays bathed the cove in gold. It was so close to twilight that the Heron’s body was nearly camouflaged against the slate-grey rocks. The only movement was a slight tilt to her head, first to the left, and then an almost imperceptible extending of her neck, up up higher higher until she was staring straight down into the lake. Whoosh, as her arrow beak pierced the surface, and her body lunged fully beneath the water, energy exploding water droplets everywhere. This was the scene only moments before the Great Blue Heron flew off with the prize catch – the enormous Pike clenched in her bill that you can see in the top right-hand photo on my blog.
The patron in the Audubon gallery had browsed through the collection of my Great Blue Heron photos on the walls, but she kept returning to the one you see above.
Finally, she came over to me and asked why I had included one without any Herons.
We walked over to the wall together and I pointed out the Heron, it’s back perfectly camouflaged against the rocks.
Had I cropped out the tell-tale burst of water drops that were flung upwards as the Heron thrust her head beneath the surface, the camouflage effect would be even more apparent. If you cover that burst of water in the photo with your hand, you can see how the Heron’s back blends in with the rocks.
Once again, the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the water’s surface is gracing gallery walls.
TCAN One-Woman Show January 2022 Lobby Wall With TCAN Sign Reflected; TCAN Stained glass art by Carol Krentzman, framed by Jay Ball
TCAN One-Woman Show January 2022 Front Lobby Trio
From January 12, 2022, ongoing, my Great Blue Heron photographs are 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.
Since 2001, the Center for Arts Natick has been housed in the circa 1875 historic Central Fire House, where the Summer Street Gallery provides an opportunity for accomplished visual artists in the region to have their work prominently displayed for TCAN’s diverse and loyal audience.
The Center for Arts Natick believes the arts are essential to a complete human experience and to the creation of a vibrant, healthy community. TCAN serves the Boston MetroWest region by increasing opportunities to experience, participate in, and learn about the arts. To this end, TCAN strives to present arts programs of the highest standard that are available to everyone. TCAN dedicates its resources to providing community access to diverse arts programs, reducing barriers to attendance, and building appreciation through arts education.
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.
And who knows, maybe I’ll see you there one day.
I’d like that.
.
.
Cee Neuner, Debhie Smyth, and the community of Lens Artists encourage the entire international network 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 “Interesting Objects.” The stained glass TCAN lobby art is an interesting object and it adds visual impact when the reflection appears superimposed on the photo of the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the surface.
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Thanks to Cee for her CBWC: Black and White Birds. Many of the Heron photos are monochromatic.
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Thanks to Debbie for her One Word Sunday: Action. The image of the Great Blue Heron diving beneath the surface is a dramatic action shot.
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From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 182: Interesting Objects .
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From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 182: Interesting Objects .
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From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 182: Interesting Objects .
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From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 182: Interesting Objects .
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.
Natick Center Cultural District logo
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.
.
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!
.
.
My brick & mortar presence in Massachusetts dates back to 2009 in several local venues/galleries.
TCAN – The Center for Arts Natick – Current one-woman show thru January 2022
.
Natick Town Hall – Current group exhibit thru June 2022
.
Five Crows Gallery in Natick – Represented since 2013
.
Audubon Sanctuary
.
Be a fly on the wall! Please CLICK HERE to see the Great Blue Herons gracing the gallery walls.
.
.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
May the Muse be with you.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2003-2022 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, Kayaking, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Read the rest of this entry
Great Blue Herons Abundant Nests (Not Art Nbr 29)
Great Blue Heron flying from the nesting island across the channel to gather twigs – babsjeheron
With upwards of fifty Great Blue Heron nests, this island is absolutely ripe with new beginnings, with the seeds of new life.
Six Great Blue Heron nests on the island. The flying Heron in the top photo here is the same Heron flying up to it’s mate in this photo – babsjeheron Click here to see a panorama showing thirty-two occupied nests.
[Note: Ordinarily, I feel that if I need to use yellow circles to point out features in a photo, I’m on a slippery slope and probably shouldn’t publish them, but it was an extraordinary experience to see such abundant Great Blue Heron nesting (and mating) taking place on the island, so I’ve made an exception.]
I stood along the shoreline, binoculars trained on the island, trying to count nests and Great Blue Herons. The island is a good distance from shore and even at a healthy magnification through the binocs, that is a challenge. It occurred to me it would be easier to take a series of photos and stitch them together and count the nests and birds that way.
Sweeping the camera from West to East the length of the island for the panorama, I had zoomed in on a nest with a Heron that was closest to me, and suddenly out of the corner of my eye realized that a second Heron was making a beeline across the channel, flying fairly low across the waters towards me.
I started firing off frames – with little time for re-focusing – and at the last moment, only a couple of yards from shore and me, the Heron shown in the top photo in this post arced sharply upwards into the stand of tall pines along the shore to my right.
The pine bough shook and bounced and then quivered under the bird’s weight, and then the Heron poked up its head and looked straight at me.
Great Blue Heron bouncing after landing in the pines, then turning to look at me – babsjeheron
The Great Blue Heron climbed higher into the pine, in and out of view, and then – just as suddenly as it had arrived – it took off back to the island.
I watched it course across the lake and then up, up to the top of the trees there, landing at the nest.
I watched some more through the binocs, and the Heron once again made a beeline for me, only to soar into the nearby pines once again at the last minute. I watched the boughs bounce and the Heron clamber about in the tree for five to ten minutes before it returned to the nest across the waters.
This odd behavior repeated itself several more times before I was able to get a proper focus on the Heron as it was about to leave the pine on my shore and return to the nest. This time I saw it: the Heron had a long twig dangling from its bill as it swooped down from the pine.
Great Blue Heron leaves the pine tree carrying a twig for the nest across the channel – babsjeheron
It was building a nest, gathering its lumber from off-island. Until that day, I had never before seen nest building in person, how exciting that was.
I then focused the binocs back on the nest to better watch the Heron weaving the twigs into the nest and it was then that I noticed: not one, but two Great Blue Herons in the nest. Two adults. Two adults building their nest together. Thrilling to watch.
After a while, they celebrated the day’s nest building efforts with full-on mating – more thrilling, an incredible sight even from the distant shore.
I took more than 500 photos that day. The island is far from shore and totally inaccessible to man: boating is prohibited and there are no access roads. There isn’t much detail in many of the photos here, and they are not art, but I wanted to share that experience with you. Readers of this blog know I’m both fine art photographer and nature photographer, and the only “fine art” in today’s post is that of the Great Blue Herons, themselves, building their nests. There is no doubt that buildibg large sturdy nests is an art, nests that are capable of keeping eggs and chicks safe in our often wild New England weather.
I am enamored of that Great Blue Heron, his industriousness in foraging for twigs and taking them back to his mate in the nest. That Heron had come to know me from my frequent walks along the shoreline there. I’m humbled that he accepted my presence that day of nest building and mating.
Click here to see a panorama showing thirty-two occupied nests.
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Thanks to Cee for her CMMC Challenge: July. I chose trees and green as the topic from her photo. Green pine trees are abundant and blanket the nesting island and shoreline across the channel.
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Thanks to Debbie for her One Word Sunday: Count.
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The always-inspiring Lens Artists Tina, Patti, Amy, and Leya are still taking a much-deserved and much-needed break for the month of July. This week’s challenge focuses on the topic Along Back Country Roads. Beth Smith from her blog Wandering Dawgs is the host this week. This memorable encounter with the Great Blue Heron gathering twigs for the nest took place during a walk along a road near my home.
Thanks to Beth for her Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 158: Along Back Country Roads . This Great Blue Heron encounter took place during a walk along a road near my home.
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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
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2018 (September, October) one-woman photography show at Natick Town Hall
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2013 thru now 2021 Five Crows Gallery in Natick
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2009 one-woman photography show at a local Audubon Sanctuary
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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.™
May the Muse be with you.™
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 Gets the Point (Memory Lane Nbr 1)
Solar Twinkle Spots and My Kayak – babsjeheron
Life spreads itself across
the ceiling to make you think
you are penned in, but that
is just another gift. Life takes
what you thought you couldn’t live
without and gives you a heron instead.On the Meaning of (excerpt)
Linda Back McKayThe Next Best Thing: Poems
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My goal that December was to spend New Year’s Eve out on the lake in my kayak. Mother Nature had other ideas, and the lake was frozen over on December 31st. This was the last kayak photo that year. The sparkling spots were from sunlight glinting on the slushy ice.
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Changing the subject for a moment, I am recovering from some foot and eye injuries that mean I won’t be in my kayak any time soon. I long to be out with my Heron friends and that poem is a source of optimism. Please humor me as I’ve combined three photo challenges here. Reading and writing are a challenge these days.
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Changing the subject once again, fall migration can be very exciting in the cove, and no two years are alike. The scene below shows my favorite spot on the water, as my favorite Great Blue Heron was literally overrun by ducks who had been practicing their take offs and landings ahead of migrating. By the following evening, they were all gone, off to their winter grounds.
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For twelve minutes the ducks arrived non-stop…
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…in wave after wave overtaking the Heron as purple twilight deepened – babsjeheron.
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And just for the lighter side, I saved the best for last:
Great blue heron in molt preening – babsjeheron.
(Here’s the carrot…but where’s the stick?)
i took many photos of the above Great Blue Heron preening, and his bill poked through on only one single frame. It was a blink and you would have missed it moment. In fact, I did miss it entirely there in the cove real-time. Only did I see it when flipping through the downloaded photos. I like those sorts of surprises!
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Thanks to Cee for her CMMC Color Purple. The twilight sky bathed the ducks and heron in an ever-deepening purplish hue, and the color of the kayak takes on a purple tone in some conditions.
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Debbie’s One Word Sunday’s prompt asks for posts with a Point . Do you like the humorous carrot-like point of the heron’s bill as it penetrates his wing feathers while preening? The kayak bow is also a pointy thing.
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The inspiring Lens Artists – Patti, Tina, Amy, and Leya – focus on Spots and Dots this week, with some very unique photos on their sites. Check them out:
From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 148: Spots and Dots .
From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 148: Spots and Dots .
From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 148: Spots and Dots .
From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 148: Spots and Dots .
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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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During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
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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 Balancing on the Fish Ladder
Great Blue Heron Balanced on Fish Ladder- babsjeheron
Life spreads itself across
the ceiling to make you think
you are penned in, but that
is just another gift. Life takes
what you thought you couldn’t live
without and gives you a heron instead.On the Meaning of (excerpt)
Linda Back McKayThe Next Best Thing: Poems
My blog and I have been very quiet for many months due to serious illness that has prevented outings in nature.
This morning, though, I ventured to the nearby dam for the first time since last September, camera in hand. Less than five seconds after arriving, a beautiful heron swooped down to fish at the base of the waterfall. It was the same heron you see at the top of this post.
I was, and still am, thrilled to see her again.
Life has given me a heron, as the poem says. .
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Thanks to the Lens Artists Patti, Tina, Amy, and Leya for their unstinting devotion to elevating and celebrating photography.
From Patti Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 53: Your Choice.
From Tina Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 53: Your Choice.
From Amy Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 53: Your Choice.
From Leya Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 53: Your Choice.
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Thanks to Debbie for her Travel with Intent Challenge – One Word Sunday: Relax. Although I was relaxed while waiting for this Heron to pounce on her lunch from the pooling water below the fish ladder, she was anything but, poised there on one foot, straining her neck and head downward for a better view of any fish that had cascaded over the waterfall.
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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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During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
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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 current gallery show at TCAN. 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™
© 2019 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Great Blue Heron, TCAN, Five Crows, Natick
Beautiful Great Blue Heron’s Peace on Earth 2018 (Not Art Nbr 22)
Great Blue Heron Peace on Earth 2018 – babsjeheron
“…I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things…”
The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry, excerpt
from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
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Thanks to Tina for her Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 24: Seasonal. What is more seasonal than a holiday greeting card?.
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Thanks to Debbie for her Travel with Intent Challenge – One Word Sunday: Christmas Time. Even the Heron gets in the holiday spirit.
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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.
.
.
During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
.
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 current gallery show at TCAN. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
.
.
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.
.
.
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, Natick
Beautiful Great Blue Heron and Magical Light
Great blue heron diving beneath the surface – babsjeheron.
Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderfulthan the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon…
It was the golden hour, that last hour of daylight when the sun’s rays bathed the cove in gold.
The backlit gold-orange spray of water droplets danced before my eyes as the Great Blue Heron plunged her head beneath the surface in pursuit of a prize catch.
It was so close to twilight that the Heron’s body was nearly camouflaged against the slate-grey rocks.
A few moments later, the Heron and I were both rewarded. She with this huge fish and me with these photos.
Solar Twinkles and Kayak – babsjeheron
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Thanks to Amy for her Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 19: Magical Light. I find golden hour light to be sheer magic.
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Thanks to Cee for her CFFC: Things People Drive Ride Pilot or Captain. The kayak shown here has been my vehicle-of-choice for many years.
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Thanks to Debbie for this week’s Travel with Intent Challenge – One Word Sunday: Purple. Yes, the kayak is a shade of purple.
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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.
.
.
During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
.
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 current gallery show at TCAN. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
.
.
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.
.
.
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, Natick
Great Blue Heron in Autumn Nbr 6 Urges Get Out the Vote
Great blue heron in small pond in Autumn.
This is a politics-free space. You won’t hear me advancing any political agenda.
The Great Blue Herons, on the other hand, want to remind everyone – regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof – to vote when and where you can so that your voice can be heard.
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A couple of days ago, I took down my one-woman Great Blue Heron photography show that had been hanging at the Natick Town Hall for the months of September and October. A couple of the Heron photos were displayed above examples of election ballots. Upon entering the building, this sign reminded everyone that early voting was underway.
Early Voting in Natick Town Hall
Whatever your party affiliation or lack thereof, please exercise your right to vote this week. The future depends on you.
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Thanks to Debbie for this week’s Travel with Intent Challenge – One Word Sunday: Earth. Nearly all of the Heron photos on my blog were captured from my kayak floating on the water. The photo in today’s post, however, was taken with both feet planted firmly on earth. Out of hundreds of thousands of Heron photos, all but two locations were shot from the water. Less than 100 of the photos were captured on solid earth. This photo is one of them.
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Thanks to Dawn for her Festival of Leaves: Week 7. I was delighted to see this Great Blue Heron in the small pond on my afternoon walk. A woman with a small child also stood at pond’s edge, transfixed by the Heron. It was a thrilling moment for all three of us.
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Thanks to Su for her (The) Changing Seasons Challenge. One final submission for Su’s delightful October challenge. Where has the year gone, November already? (I wrote this post while it was still October. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
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Thanks to LEYA for this week’s Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge 17: Blending in or Standing Out. As seen form this vantage point, the Great Blue Heron in the top photo of this post stands out. But from across the pond, the Heron blends in behind the grasses, as you can see in the thumbnail at left. Same Heron, same pond, same day – it’s all a matter of perspective.
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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.
.
.
During September and October, 2018, the Great Blue Herons were featured on the walls of the Natick Town Hall, located at 13 East Central Street in Natick, MA.
.
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 current gallery show at TCAN. The gallery is open whenever the box office is open, so please check hours here.
.
.
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.
.
.
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, Natick
Babsje Heron 