Blue Heron in a Pine Tree

It was back to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge again this morning to see what Mother Nature had in store for me. Like last week the small birds were scarce to find and photograph. It was a very nice morning anyway and as I was making my way through the middle of the Refuge listening and looking, I spotted a large bird off in the distance. I stopped to watch the bird as it could possibly be the first action of the day for me. As it circled closer I could make out that it was a Blue Heron. I was quite a distance from the marsh area so it surprised me a little.

I was just about to head out again when it looked like the Heron was headed straight at me. I figured I might get some flight shots if I was lucky and would not go home skunked. Then the Heron landed in a Pine Tree not far away. In fact it was almost the perfect distance for my telephoto lens. I watched and photographed the Heron for about 10 minutes when it flapped it's wings a couple of times and hopped to the other side of the tree. I then had another 10 minutes to photograph him before it took off for another tree in the distance. The encounter was great and I was so lucky to get some more nice bird photos.