Great Blue Shows It's Stuff

And I rose
In a rainy autumn
And walked abroad in shower of all my days
High tide and the heron dived when I took the road
Over the border
And the gates
Of the town closed as the town awoke.

~Dylan Thomas, Poem in October

We are usually in the park as the town is waking. We watch for the heron as we hug the bank of the creek. Some days it is near the footbridge and will spread its wings and glide 30 or 40 feet looking for a better place to fish.

More often it is wading in the shallows with ducks all around. It walks stealthily and gracefully. The strike is sudden and a surprise of splashing water and flailing wings. Then, after a couple of juggles of the fish, a swallow.

On this day the hungry heron seemed to ignore me. But I think it was keeping an eye on me.

It headed down the creek and turned its back on me to watch the fish.

Suddenly it made its move.

These photos were taken from my short video of the catch.

And there you go - a fish.

After eating and shaking its wings a bit, it moved down the creek for a calmer spot.

And slowly started to move out to where the fish were swimming with the current.