Knocked my shoes off!

Walking in the North Chagrin Reservation after taking Gulliver to the vet, Bob and I both looked up when we heard a loud squawk to see this green heron land on a nearby tree. Serendipity! Although we were near the tree, it was a tall one and he landed on a limb that was almost out of the reach of my 70-300mm lens. Wasn't sure until I saw it on my computer (in Lightroom) if I would have a good shot or not. It took a little work to bring out the colors with that bald grey sky glaring down on him, but I am pretty pleased with the result. I took a bunch of pictures of him and posted the others on SmugMug, along with a few other birds. Honestly I didn't know which one to make the blipstar for today, but when a handsome bird lands in front of me and squawks to get my attention, he automatically gets Blipstar status, despite some stiff competition.

Three other favorites from today were the (uncommon) catbird, Mrs. Mallard, and a Northern flicker that Bob spotted in a tree. I truly think this was my most successful photo walk in many moons, and we were only there for a half hour or so.

P.S. Yesterday's downy woodpecker said to tell you thank you for all your kind comments and stars. He and I were both thrilled.