A Two Heron Day!

The weather was in the high 40sF which encouraged us to head out for a walk in the nearby natural County park. I happened to glance out the window of our kitchen as I pulled on my hiking coat and saw this regal fellow in my back yard as he sat watch down by the river. Hubby thinks it is a young blue heron because it is sort of fuzzy!?

We must have watched him for half an hour as he groomed his plumes and bits of feathery down floated into the air. 

After some time we decided we had to pull ourselves away to get some exercise and get out of the house.  We took the path that went around the beaver pond at the nearby natural park.  It starts with a mile or so on well-packed dirt and gravel and then melds into the newly repaired boardwalk that skirts the edge around the larger part of the marsh and pond.  The beavers do love to flood the boardwalk path!  They also sometimes store piles of mud on top for future dam repairs.

We found the ice had started to form as a thin layer on the top but did not close off the water.

And we were thrilled to be able to see another heron here at the end of the afternoon saunter.  It does not take much to thrill us old folks.

The time spent enjoying the mild winter day lent itself to other photos that I will share in the next post.