"Bad Feather Day"
This Great Blue Heron approached me boldly thinking I was another fisherman who would provide a handout of squid and shrimp: At first, I had been photographing the dolphin about 40 yards off shore. And out of the corner of my eye I saw something coming towards me. I shrugged it off, thinking it was nothing more than another annoying seagull. But when it blocked the whole sun and seemed so massive out of the corner of my eye, I turned my attention from the dolphin to what appeared before me. This Great Blue Heron was coming in for a landing not more than 5 feet from me. What a site to behold. We both stood there motionless for about 5 minutes, he waiting for a handout, and I trying to figure how to swivel the camera around towards him for a picture. It turned out, he wasn't going to startle easily. In those few short moments, standing on the beach at the break of dawn, we both communicated by just looking at one another. Once he realized I was not going to dispense any food, he spread his wings and left, but not before I snapped the last picture. "Spiritual Splendor" has won a number of special recognitions in competitions besides the 1st place position. Looking at this shot and comparing it to "Spiritual Splendor," it is unimaginable that the "Bad Feather Day" bird is the one and same as "Spiritual Splendor" just moments before takeoff.
