Darkroom: A great blue heron goes fishing in Davidsonville

I was assigned a feature photo last March in the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown. Photos of people were hard to come by due to pandemic restrictions. I had seen other photographers’ images of eagles in a marshy area along Defense Highway in Davidsonville. I thought I’d try my luck. Well, there were no eagles.

There was, however, a great blue heron. It was standing in shallow water looking for food.

I parked and got out my camera with a long lens. I slowly moved toward the bird. I was shooting pictures most of the time because I never knew when it would spook and fly away.

This heron didn’t spook easily. I photographed it flying around in different areas of the marsh. As it spread its wings and moved around, I thought it was posing for me.

After about 30 minutes of me watching the heron, it finally found a fish. The bird stabbed its pointed beak into the water, came up with a fish, flipped it into the air and caught it in its mouth. I captured the hunt with my camera.

It was a remarkable moment to witness. So, while I didn’t get my eagle pictures, I did come back with a few great blue heron photographs.