Quick Shot: For Nora

Last week I saw my friend Nora (quick plug, Nora is an amazing hair stylist and I've loyally visited her for several years) and we had a conversation about a recent photograph I posted.  The photograph was of a blue heron that I saw at Mason Neck State Park.

When she first saw the photograph, Nora mentioned that the blue heron was significant to her, but I only recently understood why. 

While talking to Nora, I discovered that the blue heron isn't just a bird - for her, it's a symbol of her father. Seeing a blue heron floods her with emotions and memories of her father, and I was honored that my photograph had triggered those emotions. 

I was recently out at a wetland marsh with the goal of photographing an osprey fishing, but I wasn't getting very lucky with those subjects. As I scanned the horizon for osprey, I heard the very distinct screech of a blue heron.

Side note: I am not fluent in bird calls, but a blue heron is very distinctive. If you've never head it, there is a quick exercise to know the call. Close your eyes and imagine a  dinosaur flying over your head screeching. There, you've heard a blue heron call!

I turned towards the sound of the screech and saw a large blue heron flying right toward me. My first thought was to Nora and the story she told me just a few days prior. With Nora's father on my mind, I took aim with the camera and fired a series of shots. I selected this one for the pose - he paused for a minute before flying away to clean his front feathers. This shot caught the grace of the bird as he perched on this log preening his feathers. 

Today's Quick Shot is dedicated to Nora.