Green Heron (Butorides virescens) ~ Borrowed Gifts
Only the mist is moving over the waters in the early morning hours. Far away, bugs hum lazily. The sun is melting away the evening chill. Shards of silver play along the water surface, the dim sunlight glinting off their scales. The school of fish moves slowly, deliberately, but twitchingly. They are a pause-and-play video, ever watching. Suddenly a flurry of feathers cut through the water. The fish scatter, all but one, twitching in the beak of the gently bobbing bird. Among all the hunting techniques observed in avians, surely the Green Heron ranks as one of the most fascinating. These herons are the smallest of their family. Yet what they lack in size they make up for in intelligence. The Green Heron is a master fisherman. He scours the landscape for a delicious morsel, a bit of bread or a seed pod, and carries it to the nearest lake. There the heron stands upon a rock. He tip-toes down to t...