the last time we were visiting my parents we were blessed with a visit from the resident great blue heron Ardea herodias. it posed very nicely on the other side of the long, narrow pond. the pond was formed many years ago by damming Quesset Brook to provide power to a couple of factories, one making shoe soles and another making gears and metal machine parts. there have been herons living by this pond since the 1960s, shortly after the factories closed down. the pond and brook are rich with fish, amphibeans, crayfish, snakes and insects that the herons feed on. with a wingspan of up to 2 meters it definitely qualifies as a big bird. it is so much larger than any of the other resident birds that is a sight to behold when flying over the water
this first shot is my contest entry
