Field Notes Update

Great Blue Heron in a Tree /  by Todd Henson

A Great Blue Heron landed in a tree right along the trail.

Great Blue Heron are common enough in this area that I’ve photographed them many times. But I never tire of them, and I’m always on the look out for new opportunities. Sometimes I don’t have to look far.

My first image of the heron shows how the eyes are able to see below. It very likely knew we were there; it just wasn't bothered by us.

We were hiking in a nearby wildlife refuge, one I’ve spent a lot of time exploring. Just as we walked under a lone tree between two wetland areas we heard a squawk and a rustle of wings as a Great Blue Heron flew over and landed atop the tree we were walking under.

We froze. Most herons I encounter here are skittish and will fly away when you get too close. As you can see from the photo looking through tree branches, we were almost directly below the heron. We slowly moved to get a better view and the heron stayed where it was, seemingly ignoring us.

I walked back the way we’d come to position myself on the sunlit side of the tree, still moving slowly to avoid spooking the heron. It proved very patient, letting me position myself and create a series of photographs. As I photographed I noticed it making quiet guttural sounds, and could see its throat moving to the sounds. It was an interesting behavior, one the photographs didn’t really capture.

Closeup of the Great Blue Heron's head as it watches the nearby wetlands.

Eventually, we moved on, leaving the heron in peace. As luck would have it the heron flew off not long after we’d moved on. I turned around to watch when I heard it fly off, but wasn’t able to capture any images of it. Maybe next time.

Great Blue Heron in a tree, with its head tilted slightly in my direction.

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Great Blue Heron Swallowing a Fish /  by Todd Henson

Great Blue Herons are experts at fishing, and they can consume fish you’d think were far too large to fit down their throat. The sequence below shows a Great Blue Heron swallowing what is, admittedly, a small fish. This heron was fishing in a local wetlands park not far from the boardwalk, completely oblivious to the people watching and photographing.

Take a close look at the first photo. Notice how the heron’s eye looks very milky, especially towards the upper right? That’s the bird’s nictitating membrane, an extra eyelid birds have that helps them clean and protect their eyes while still being able to see. It likely closed its nictitating membranes when it plunged its head into the water to catch the fish.

Be sure to click on any of the photographs for a larger view.

And just over 5 seconds later the Great Blue Heron is ready to begin fishing again.

Satisfied with its catch the Great Blue Heron goes back to fishing.

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Eastern Box Turtle Along A Paved Path /  by Todd Henson

Eastern Box Turtle on pavement shot from ground level.

Any day I can photograph an Eastern Box Turtle is a good day. This particular turtle was along the side of a paved trail in a local wildlife refuge. It used to be a road, but is now just part of the trail system.

We found the box turtle stopped maybe 6 feet from the edge of the pavement. There were trees on either side, and a stream nearby that passed under the road. This was a perfect environment for the turtle.

To capture these images I used a long telephoto lens to help blur the background. I wanted to look right at the turtle, from its perspective, so I set aside the tripod and instead lay down on my stomach on the pavement with the camera in front of me resting on the ground.

Closeup of Eastern Box Turtle

Then I slowly crawled forward to get as close as I could but still capture the entire turtle in the frame. I moved in a little closer to capture the closeup image. I love the eyes on this turtle, all the colors and patterns.

One of these days when I find a turtle like this I want to stick around long enough for the turtle to get used to me and begin walking. But this part of the trail was somewhat busy and I didn’t want to attract too much attention to the turtle, or agitate it. So I moved on after capturing these images.

For another example of this technique check out my post about photographing a green frog where I show images shot from different perspectives. As with that photo, I think I could have stopped down the aperture a bit more to capture just a little more depth of field, putting more of the turtle in focus. I often gravitate to the wider apertures, which limit depth of field and create nice blurry backgrounds. But sometimes more depth of field can also be a good thing, even when shooting these animal portraits.

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