 | Great Blue Herons are quite common in North America and I see them often on my morning walk. I like them because they are large, not too shy, and spend a lot of time standing very still - the photographer's ideal bird. However, even after a successful morning's fishing they always wear an expression of deep gloom, despair and desolation. Mallard Ducks, on the other hand, always seem to be smiling and calm. This has set me to thinking about how we interpret the expressions on the faces of birds and about human faces also. I have a particular empathy with the Great Blue Herons pictured here because I am often surprised by the expression on the face that looks back at me from the mirror every morning. With age my face seems to have settled into an expression of gloomy bad temper, a mood that I rarely feel. Yet I suspect that people seeing me often assume I am angry and dissatisfied when I am actually quite content, even merry from time to time. I am hoping that this is the case with Great Blue Herons. |  |
3 comments:
Marvelous captures of such a magnificent bird.
There's a genetic trait in my mother's side of the family that I have, and a number of my cousins have. Our faces tend to set into the expression of an angry scowl from time to time. I find it happens when I'm lost in thought.
They are such strange looking birds. When it's slightly foggy in the morning and one flies overhead, barely seen as a silhouette, I always imagine that them as modern day pterodactyls.
Fabulous images. I love the Blue Heron as well.
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