Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Monday, March 26, 2012

A Wonderful Encounter~

Last Wednesday, I had completed feeding my friends at the 3 feral cat colonies, and Bill and I decided to take the dog to the park so she could have a good run. 
En route there, we take the scenic drive along the Ohio River. 
I must confess the river itself is not the scenic part, but the drive is.  There are some reallyvery large,  fancy homes along this drive and also a couple of large manmade pools of water, call them ponds, lakes, I am not sure, but bodies of water. 
On the far side of the pool of water to the west, there is often times a lone Great Blue Heron, which I have photographed in the past.  It is usally so far away, that my images are not so sharp.  This time, as we passed this area, Bill spotted 3 White tailed Deer by the water and pulled in.  As soon as he did, I said, forget the deer, look what is right there!  The Heron was on our side of the water, my side of the car, really close to the lane, where we could pull off. 
I was estactic, for this is the closest that I had ever been to this beauty!
  I hope that you will enjoy the images, as much as I did gathering them in~
* Special note to those with Word Press blogs.  In the past week, or so, I have not always been able to leave comments on your blog, though I have tried several times.  I have a Word Press account too, but it is simply giving many bouts right now.  I shall keep on trying to get those comments posted though, for many blogging friends use WP for their entries~






























 

I am also linking with World Bird Wednesday, please visit other birding photographers and enthusiasts from around the world at:



http://www.pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

30 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

nice job, mary! up close and clear! :) and your flyaway shots made me smile.

Dominic Gendron said...

Hi Mary, those are very nice images. I really love the 2 last one.Its nice to be back i will be here more often now

Jann Olson said...

Wow Mary, you did get some great shots! What a beauty he is. I have never seen one that close. I especially love the pics of him taking off into flight. Sounds like your trip around the Ohio River was a wonderful adventure!
Hugs,
Jann

podso said...

These are wonderful images. Your camera did a good job (with you!) and how nice the blue heron was there for you to see, and cooperated. The picture of him soaring away is wonderful too. Also, I enjoyed your previous MM post of all your beautiful flowers! I hope you are feeling better.

Abhinav said...

Really beautiful photos of Heron.I like the last three pictures showing its flight very much. Also the third one - the series showing its movements - is awesome !

Thank you for showing them here.

Montanagirl said...

Oh lucky you! The GBH shots are fabulous!! I can never seem to get very close to one of these magnificent creatures.

Bob Bushell said...

Beautiful images of the Heron.

Κωστής Τζαγκαράκης said...

A really beautiful encounter and great shots again Mary.
Costas

Life Images by Jill said...

wonderful collection of stunning images of the heron. How wonderful to be able to photograph him Mary. Just goes to show one should always have one's camera.
The second flight photo showing his wings is perfect.
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for your comments - WAs wildflowers are so stunning - I feel privileged to be able to photograph them.
Have a wonderful week.

Walk the wilderness said...

Wonderful series of images on this Heron. It looks like you have used flash in some images. Cool captures...Thomas

Kathy A Delightsome Life said...

Beautiful photography. I loved visiting the nature preserves when we lived in Ohio to see these lovely birds and others.
I hope you have a great day,
Kathy

Audrey-eleganteconomies.blogspot.com said...

What serendipity! Glad you got such a close up of the Heron!

Connie Smiley said...

Mary, what a beauty! I love it that he stayed close for you to get those fantastic shots!

Andrew said...

Herons are beautiful birds to see.
I am so fortunate to have our Grey Herons in good numbers on my patch.
Your images are stunning to see
Mary it's another great post you have shared.. xx

Fjällripan said...

Wonderful photos of the beautiful heron!

eileeninmd said...

Wow Mary, awesome series of Great Blue heron photos.

(Queenmothermamaw) Peggy said...

You did indeed have a great day. The one of the heron rising into the air is amazing. You are so lucky to have someone to share you photo shopping excursions with you. I so hate to have to look and drive at the same time.
QMM

Carole M. said...

beautiful series; I enjoyed every one

Cottage and Broome said...

Your photos of the heron are amazing!!! Loved one inflight. I have a residential pond in my backyard and herons visit there. One of them walked on my deck!!! Thanks so much for stopping by, Laura

mick said...

A great series of photos. You were very fortunate to get so close to this beautiful bird. Thanks for sharing.

heyBJK said...

Gorgeous shots, Mary! The background is fantastic! I love GBH's and your photos are wonderful!

Chris said...

Wow and wow and wow... What a very ncie encounter indeed. These pictures are fantastic Mary... I love them all, but I really do love your composition with several shots!

Gary said...

Great series. They're most impressive birds. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Modesto Viegas said...

Great series!!!

Phil said...

You certainly got a special encouneter Mary and spent some time getting real nice shots. I like the dark background you engineered - really makes the heron stand out. I hope it got a meal.

Springman said...

I can't wait till the GBH's make it back to Michigan. What a great encounter you had and camera ready to boot. Great post!

joo said...

Beautiful photos, Mary! I love watching herons - they are so beautiful!

Pat said...

Wonderful shots!

NatureFootstep said...

so many great shots of teh Great Blue. It was nice to see and you are to be congratulated to the sighting. :)

Frank said...

Super views of the Heron. So glad you could close for once Mary.