In the Blink of a Shutter!

It came from the past(behind me) into the present(beside me) and on into the future(beyond me). Time was stopped for an instant in the blink of a shutter. 



Nikon D-90  300mm at 1/500s   f/9.0    ISO 200  (Click for a bigger Picture)

This mature Great Blue Heron was cruising for lunch below the Wheeler Dam on the Tennessee River in North Alabama. There are bait fish galore in the water coming through the turbines and the birds know how to find them. They just cruise up and down a stretch of river directly below the dam until they spot a fish and then will lite in the water and pick it up. It is amazing to watch them go back and forth all day long.

"Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires."            Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832): English Cleric, Writer and Collector

The Fisherman!

Just happened to catch this Great Blue Heron going in and pulling up a fish for lunch on the Tennessee River near Wheeler Dam in North Alabama.

"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethern, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
           Matthew 4:18-19 King James Version Holy Bible

A Patient Fisherman Who Can't Sing

Couldn't help but snap this shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) near Wheeler Dam just east of Florence, AL on the Tennessee River. A small island located behind the Wheeler Dam acts as a rookery(nesting area) for many Great Blue Herons during the summer months and this is probably a juvenile bird from the summers nesting efforts since it does not have the coloration of a mature breeding bird. The waters flowing through the dam are rich in bait size fish which the herons and other birds love. This is a favorite spot to visit for bird watching as many species can usally be found feeding in the swift waters. Two observations of Great Blues are their patience and their vocalizations. I have watched them stand motionless for long periods of time waiting on a fish or crawfish to swim by for dinner. Secondly, a mocking bird they are not when it comes to their voice. They can make the most awful galking sound when they are disturbed and scared from their perch or fishing hole. It is down right pitiful, something on the order of a Crow with a bad sore throat. Regardless of their voice, they are a lovely bird to watch.

"Use the talents you possess- for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best."
Henry Van Dyke (1852-`933): American Author, Educator, Clergyman