Great Blue Herons

Yesterday day morning we started out for the day with the objective of taking our tax information to our accountant at Keswick Valley.  My hope was to perhaps find something interesting to take pictures of.  While driving along highway 101 nearing New Maryland, suddenly I saw a deer standing on the shoulder of the highway, so surprising and startling was the deer that I gasped loudly as my husband braked as quickly as he could and the deer sped into action,  And to my dismay, no picture  was taken... but, thankfully, no accident either as that had been avoided. After arriving at Keswick Valley we decided to drive to Mactaquac and when passing the Keswick Flats , my husband shouted, "Look at all the geese!!  I thought he was joking as the flats there were very snow covered.  I asked, "where?" and he answered, " behind us", I turned and saw a huge flock of geese flying away, high in the sky!  Another good picture missed!!!! I was starting to wonder if that was going to be the theme of my day, missing the potential of good photo opportunities?  But my luck was due to change.  As we were driving along Keswick Ridge, after returning from Mataquac, we saw two beautiful Great Blue Herons flying slowly across the highway in front of us. They looked as if they were gently floating, with their long legs dangling and their claws open as if wanting to grasp something or to find a safe perch.  We watched as we saw them land in a dead tree and I was ready with my 400mm lens on my camera, and following are some of the pictures I was able to get. The heron to the lower right was displaying  its beautiful breeding plumage!  What a wonderful photo opportunity this turned  out to be!!

 

     Heron above displaying breeding plumage