Spot the Blue

This photo looks like nothing. A drab grey November day at the Reservoir, enlivened only by the presence of the ducks. Who will soon be leaving, but never mind, they are here now.

However, smack dab in the middle of the photo, on the far shore of the pond, is a Great Blue Heron masquerading as a tree stump. He does a great job of it, the only reason I know he is a bird and not a dead tree is because of very occasional, tiny movements of his head. Tree stumps don't have heads, or at least not heads that can move.

He has been here now for three days. On the first day I saw him flying above the pond, a truly magnificent sight. I thought he looked young and very curious about the pond, flying around it several times before disappearing northward. The second day I saw him standing upright on the pond shore where he now does his tree stump imitation, and today he is hunched over and almost motionless in the dreary weather. Apparently he was more than a little curious about this pond.

A flying Great Blue looks to me like a miniature pterodactyl: something very ancient, very stately, very awe-inspiring. There used to be a colony of Great Blues not far from here but I have not seen them in years. I once went on a field trip to their nesting site back in the '80s, but I have heard nothing about that site recently, so I imagine it has been long since abandoned. They are migratory birds and usually all gone from this province by December. This bird seems to be a straggler, perhaps he is lost.

The ducks are curious about him, they cluster around the shore where he stands.