Dry Tortugas Great Blue Heron

A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) seen on the beach in Dry Tortugas National Park on this trip.  There were several great blue herons on the island, one of which gave me quite a start at 2am.  I had always thought that birds slept at night, but given the calls from above me in the night sky as well as bumping into a great blue heron walking on the beach towards me in the moonlight corrected my beliefs.  I suppose their retinas have rods as well as cones and it sure would be fun to examine such a retina in the future…

Camera: Canon 1D MkIV
Exposure: 1/8000
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 200mm
ISO: 800

 

Heron footprints always looked so alien to me…

 

Camera: Canon 1D MkIV
Exposure: 1/4000
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO: 800

 

 

 

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