Great Blue Heron

When I came home today, the heron was standing quietly in the middle of the pond, seemingly in a state of meditation, taking an enlightened break from hunting perhaps, contemplating the mysteries of its greatness or blueness. This one has been visiting nearly every day, and today I decided to creep down to the shore and get a closer look. I was surprised that my clumsy and stealthless approach did not scare it off, but I soon realized why. Just as I had peeked out behind the nearest tree at the pond's edge, I saw the bird thrust its long beak into the water and attempt to extract something very large, so large that it was struggling to free it from the weeds in the pond! I took several pictures, but was too far away to determine anything other than the fact that it was something big, perhaps a fat bullfrog or a water snake. It had detected me at this point, and it quickly carried its plump prize behind the little cove where it could devour in peace. The pond is very low right now, so the shoreline is quite open and easy to navigate, so I was able tomake my way around the pond's edge, looking for tracks in the mud along the way, hoping to sneak around that corner to get a close-up view of the heron. But, just as I was nearing the bend, I was distracted by some tracks, took a step out to look at them, and heard a great swoosh to my left - the heron was departing. They are very slow yet graceful flyers, so I had plenty of time to get a picture as it circled the pond victoriously before flying up and over the trees to some other creature-filled marsh. There were no remains of whatever it had eaten.

Side note: Identified pickerel frog today, making the pond home to 6 of the 7 species of frog in Massachusetts. Also, suspected presence of muskrat (see the conspicuous "trails" in first picture?).