Great Blue Heron

A week ago, I had to drive to the dentist’s office unexpectedly after cracking my dental bridge on an almond.  On my way there, I happened to see some blue herons flying around a pond.  I spotted the nests a few moments later and was very excited to learn there was a rookery so close to home.  (There are a couple of others north of us, but I never seem to get up that way during the nesting season.) 
I told myself that I would come back down that street soon and find a place to turn off and observe.  This Thursday, that goofy bridge cracked again, and so I called the dentist to schedule an emergency appointment.  They could see me right away, so I grabbed my purse and the camera bag and headed that direction.  Making a point to notice that there was a turn-off still existing from an old road that been closed during the airport expansion, I hurried to the dentist so I could get on with more important things.
What a beautiful way to spend the afternoon.  (I don’t mean going to the dentist, obviously, though he is very nice.) I found a great spot to park the mini-van, and got out to walk around. I observed and photographed and listened and savored the spring air.  For a few moments, I also longed for a fancy zoom lens.  But then I’d need to lug around a tripod, and that just seems so cumbersome to me.  So I tramped happily through the dried weeds to get as close as I could without disturbing the birds, and snapped away.
I’ll need to go back that way again soon.  I had the dentist take that pesky bridge out while I was there, so I’ll need to get a new one now.  That means at least two more trips past the herons’ rookery!

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