The Saturday before Labor Day, my granddaughter was introduced to the idea there are big gentle birds called herons that walk along the shore, looking for fish to eat. She wanted to see one, but there were none around.
One evening last week, when we went to the playground for her to burn off some energy and for me to get some new photos of her to go along with the hundreds I've already shot this year, she saw a heron walking on the banks of the Ohio, where the water was high from recent rains upstream.
I told my girl she would have to walk slowly and quietly if she expected to get near the heron, as they are very shy around people. She surprised me by doing just that.
As my granddaughter drew closer, the heron walked away slowly. We were limited in where we could walk because much of the parking lot was still covered in thick, wet mud.
Eventually the heron got too far away, so we went to play on the playground. My granddaughter was disappointed that she could not get close enough to the heron to touch it.
I was reminded of that today when I was at the park at the mouth of the Guyandotte River. Across the Guyandotte a white heron landed and walked in the water near the shoreline, jabbing at the water every now and then in search of a snack, I assume.
I apologize for the quality of the photo. It's as much as my camera and lens would allow, given the distance.
I wish my girl could have been there to see it.
P.S. In case you're wondering about all that trash along the shore in the first photo, the river rose the next day or two and carried it all downstream. Now it's someone else's problem. Isn't that the reason people threw all that stuff in the river and its tributaries to begin with?
P.P.S. I made a mistake at the park last week. We stayed until she was worn out, not until I was worn out.
