Hieronymus takes flight

Wild Wednesday: Grey Heron

After finally finishing all the gloss work this morning I was left with an afternoon to go and play with the camera, although the weather wasn't that promising.  Fortunately the rain held off for a couple of hours which gave me time to drive up to the Mendips in search of something new. 

While playing around with long exposure shots and a wide angled lens I happened across a grey heron fishing in a pool.  I managed to change lens and sneak to a suitable vantage point, but hadn't dialled in the settings to the camera when a walker with a 17 week old puppy put the heron to flight.  I just managed to grab this shot with my default "taking photos of birds in poor light" setting though.  Its not perfect but it's not bad given the circumstances.  I met owner and puppy shortly afterwards, the owner realising from the camera and lens that I might have been trying to take a shot of the heron being suitably apologetic and the puppy being absolutely delightful.