I love the warm golden colors that the setting sun has painted across this landscape. This magnificent great blue heron was photographed in Zion National Park in Utah. I have seen many herons since moving to America, and even though we have herons in Australia I never really noticed them before. I am always amazed that for such a large bird, herons are incredibly shy and skittish. No matter how slow I try to creep up they never let me get very close at all, but I have seen these birds get courageously close to some pretty massive alligators! The photo below is the original before cropping which has a very beautiful arch created by tree branches. A dry looking landscape hiding a trickling stream just behind the tree line, and a dusty red path occasionally dotted with a green firework – sometimes nature creates its very own artworks.
Laura Lecce's art and photography 
Dear noble Laura,
still I´m remembering you, aware of the fact as I can see now, that I did not desire you at any time.
This way, it is a great honour for me going to wish you a merry merry Christmas, you and your husband.
Show him my email (given the condition it won´t hurt him and given the condition I won´t be killed by the Camorra [*laugh]–I still want to be alive a little bit *chuckle).
I, to God, have been talking – experiencing a deep peace and it seems to be a Christmas miracle.
May God bless you and your family standing at the side of Christ´s manger.
Franz
PS In the att. my & my wife´s foto at the 25th anniversary of our wedding.
2016-12-21 14:26 GMT+01:00 Laura Lecce’s art and photography :
> laura lecce posted: ” I love the warm golden colors that the setting > sun has painted across this landscape. This magnificent great blue > heron was photographed in Zion National Park in Utah. I have seen many > herons since moving to America, and even though we have herons in ” >
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Laura, I had no clue how shy Blue Herons are until I read that they are shy. I always seem to be spotting them as they are flying, usually going. I have been at the river when one had flown right by me and that was thrilling but I didn’t realize that they were so shy. I thought it was just my bad luck. I didn’t realize that you moved to the US, all this time I thought that you were visiting or on extended visits….silly me! Do you ever miss Australia? Beautiful photo by the way, I have been wanting to get a photo of one like….forever! Maybe one of these days. 🙂
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Hi Margaret,
I have also been trying to get a good photo of one for a while now, and without a telescopic lens, it’s quite difficult. Hope you manage to sneak a photo too!
I moved to the US nearly 3 years ago (not permanently) so will one day move on to somewhere new (maybe back to Australia). I do miss Australia very much, especially this time of year… when the weather is getting uglier and everyone is leaving to spend Christmas with their families. I do have a “New York family” of friends which I will celebrate Christmas with, but it is never the same as back home.
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One of my favorite birds! Merry Christmas Laura!
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Merry Christmas to you too! I can see why these graceful and elegant birds are your favorite, they really are very beautiful!
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We actually have herons in New York! They must be used to people up here, because I was canoeing around the lake by my university and we floated right by one. It was standing right next to the water and barely moved as we glided past. They really are magnificent looking things.
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Hi Jess,
Thanks for your visit. I haven’t ever seen one in New York, although we do get a lot of geese in the lakes in Central Park (which are quite big and territorial). I’d love to see one up close, they are indeed magnificent.
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Happy heron to you. The distribution map at
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id
shows the great blue heron found year-round in most of the 48 states. I’ve photographed the species in Austin (Texas). I don’t recall seeing any in Zion two months ago, but I managed to get the closest ever to one at Muir Beach in California nine days later.
Happy Christmas and forthcoming New Year.
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Thanks for the link Steve. Must have been a great moment to get a close up of these lovely birds, it’s not an easy thing to do. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and a wonderful New Year to come!
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You’re welcome, Laura. I never figured out why the heron at Muir Beach was so docile. At some point I’ll post a picture of it but I’m so backlogged with photographs from the trip that I don’t know when that will be.
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