Friday, December 14, 2012

Bored?

Bored: Feeling weary because one is unoccupied
or lacks interest in one's current activity.

Nature seems determined that I shall never be bored.

I went for a walk around my favourite park yesterday, you can see how the surface of the water is frozen except where an underwater mechanism keeps the current moving.

It looks like a frozen desert.


I thought the ducks had left for the winter, but I was wrong.


And here is my big surprise - a heron!
I don't know if I would have seen it because I didn't have my glasses on (I'm near-sighted.)  Luckily I was walking with my son (with his young, sharp eyes) and he spotted it right away.

I didn't have my camera with me (darn it) but did the best I could,
taking these pictures with my iPhone.


It stretched out its neck when it heard our voices
and after a while, flew into the reeds nearby.

I couldn't decide whether it was trying to hide or coming closer to see us.


My son and I stayed for a while to watch it and talk to it.


This was the view waiting for us in the parking lot.


Wow!
All this in a simple, thirty-minute walk around a park.
Bored?
Not a chance!

28 comments:

  1. Love the scenery. I've seen very few herons in my time but they give me a thrill each time. Have a wonderful Merry Christmas ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Herons are a rare sighting and a treat for me as well!

      Delete
  2. Beautiful winter!
    Have a great weekend, Rosemary!

    xoxo, Juliana | PJ’ Happies :) | PJ’ Ecoproject

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are having amazing winter temperatures here, thanks Juliana :)

      Delete
  3. Lovely post Rosemary. So often we find the unexpected on a walk - and beauty. The sky is wonderful too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many beautiful, unexpected moments on that day, I felt completely spoiled :)

      Delete
  4. I marvel at nature every day, and just love being able to look back at my photos and see how quickly things change, the colour of the leaves, the different skies, it is a never ending interest.
    Do you know what kind of Heron it was that you saw. You did very well to capture it on your phone. A Heron swoops regularly over our garden with his beady eye on our pond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knew that one of the many birders I follow would help me out, identifying the heron as a Great Blue Heron (thanks Irma!) I suspected this heron should have migrated and contacted a bird rescue group to check. I am now on heron-duty, keeping an eye on it whenever I go to the park. It's funny you mention your pond Rosemary, the heron that's here will not die from the cold as I had thought, but from starvation because it cannot access the fish under the ice.

      Delete
  5. All that in 30 minutes?! Spectacular, I would say :)
    Love the lake shot! Excellent, with just iPhone.
    Not a bad winter after all yeah?
    Ducks still a happy family, and the heron, first time I'm seeing it.
    And those cirrus clouds is breathtaking!!
    Thanks for the beautiful pictures Rosemary.
    Have a beautiful weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Ash, we are having a wonderfully mild winter, so far. Great weather, great beauty, what more can I ask for - nothing! I found out the ducks are hanging around because people feed them :( and the heron should have left as well. Silly birds.

      Delete
  6. Marvelous post! Your outlook is refreshing. And I love that first photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda, the weather makes things look surreal here sometimes.

      Delete
  7. Beautiful winter photos Rosemary, the heron is a blue heron, who come here very much, the real robbers.
    Have a nice day, Irma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Irma for mentioning what kind of heron it is :) This one made a mistake not to leave because now it can't catch the fish under the ice and may end up in trouble.

      Delete
  8. Very nice walk!
    I bet nature keeps one interested, I feel the same!
    Never bored, even watching the same bird species!
    I especially love your first photo, the colours are beautiful!
    You sure have a good eye for landscape!
    Cheers Rosemary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Noushka, sometimes nature is so beautiful I can't believe it!

      Delete
  9. A beautiful walk! Herons are such huge, majestic, and goofy birds. It's always a thrill to see one. If anyone out there should find him or herself bored, feel free to stop by my garden and I'll give you all kinds of tasks to do, you know just to help you with that boredom thing. Just trying to be of assistance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let me know if you find any takers for weeding and other garden tasks :) Right now I'm enjoying a snowy rest from all that stuff!

      Delete
  10. I love the spectacular clouds that awaited you in the parking. The sky never ceases to amaze me with the incredible things it can do! That is the first Heron I've seen on ice; that is wonderful that your son has such a keen eye for birds:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every time I turned a corner there was one magnificent thing after another! Hmm, heron on ice, sounds like a Disney ice skating show :) Actually that heron might be in trouble because it didn't migrate. With its food supply under the ice, it might weaken from lack of food. I'm keeping an eye on it for a bird rescue group.

      Delete
  11. Replies
    1. You're exactly right Sharon, it was supposed to leave but didn't and now it's wondering how to go ice fishing :)

      Delete
  12. Hello Rosemary!
    Wonderful views. Fantastic photos.
    Very nice to watch the wildlife and nature.
    Great post.
    I send greetings
    Lucia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lucia, for now the pictures are going to be all about snow!

      Delete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Rosemary,

    how nice that you can be so happy when seeing the heron :-)
    You have some nice pictures of it. The frozen water seems indeed a desert lol ...

    Greetings, Helma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Helma, we don't see too many herons where I live and this one forgot to migrate, so it is a real treat to watch it.

      Delete
  15. It's always amazing to me that nature provides a wonderful show....all we have to do is walk. It's never guaranteed what we'll see but it's always exciting:) Those are great shots with the phone! Nice work.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for your kind words :)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Pages

Blog Archive