Great Blue Take Two

The Halloween prop shop is in full production as we get closer to the haunt event. This year’s effort should be epic if I get everything done in time – every year there are always a few ideas that don’t make it onto the trail just purely due to only being given a mere 60 seconds in every minute (damn thee Father Time, damn thee!). The good news is I had a giant breakthrough in a design of a motor housing tonight which I’ve been struggling with for couple of days. The best part about all the Halloween activities is I get to dust the rust off my 3D solid modeling and electronics education. Now just sitting here waiting for the 3D printer to finish with my new parts – since I don’t like to just sit figured why not claw a bit of ground back on the post quota..

Decided it was time to feature the second part of my series on the big birds. If you recall, I covered the first set back in June – where the hell has the summer gone!?! (link here). That set of Great Blue Herons was brought to you from the great birding mecca of South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. This second series comes from a couple of different places although still down on the Texas Gulf Coast from our trip down there in late December 2016 into early January 17. These first two specimens were found at Galveston Island. They were so intent on Froggies stupid enough to wander too close to natures living spear that they didn’t pay me any attention. Ended up being able to move in to the point where The Beast couldn’t retract enough to get those long bodies in the frame. No worries, always happy when I can put some nice close ups in the tin.

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of the Great Blue.

Love those yellowy eyes looking straight down the business end of a wicked bill. Add the smooth lines from the bill to the white accents over the head and out the crown feathering – all nicely complimented by the graceful arcs formed by the necklines. Think I will go ahead and get these put to paper for our portfolio along with one of my favorite shots below.

The shot above was taken in Bolivar Peninsula and shows the full breeding plumage for these stoic looking birds. I’ve commented on Bolivar a few times in the past. One of those places where the birds are really abundant, but the setting isn’t the greatest. The place this was taken had a lot of trash on the ground which makes my heart sink at the callousness of humans (is it really that hard to dispose of your personal trash in a proper bin?). The less than appealing ground was definitely juxtaposed to this pretty bird perched above it.

Contrast that with Aransas National Wildlife Refuge which is amazingly clean (or more accurately the way it should look when people care). The following shots were products of that visit.

Something about these birds has a calming effect on me (badly needed with the hectic activities as of late). This is probably due to how still these birds are against the backdrop of the turbulent water. Patient, cool, collected and confident. Guess it helps being on the upper stature scale and possessing a bill that gives even the most aggressive predator reason to hesitate.

Arguably it depends on your perspective. My guess is the small Fish and Froggies curl up in a ball of fear when they find themselves in the Heron’s shadow. With that scary thought, looks like the printer is finishing up the parts. Time to get back at it.