There’s a section of freeway near my house that goes through the wetlands on the edge of a lake. There’s a lot of wildlife there that you can see as you’re passing; turtles and ducks, and sometimes huge herons. It feels really magical to see the herons – they’re so majestic and I’m always amazed they can live right next to all that traffic. Gerry Wykes writes one of my favorite nature blogs, Naturespeak. He recently posted this incredible video of a heron stalking carp in Lake Erie. If you look at the heron’s legs, you’ll see they barely disturb the water.
The final “carpe” is achieved with a lightening speed extension of the long neck. The moment is so fast that it is hard to see – you see the before and the immediately after, but not the in-between. My shot freezes one of these plunges at the moment the water blanket was lifted and the heron’s head sliced under the surface. It is difficult to appreciate the shear patience and stalking skill that led up to this point.
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