Out of the many herons observed in the nesting colony, this one stood out as having exceptional character. He liked to pick up very large sticks, presumably to the pleasure of his mate. However, large sticks presented a technical challenge to the act of the bird becoming airborne. This heron figured it out by lifting (like a rocket) in stages. First stage was ground zero, with second stage a rotted stump. The third stage was another rotted tree, somewhat higher, and then a third one higher yet, with the fourth stage higher again, leading to full wing and airborne. Each stage necessitated a pause and the meticulous re-balancing of the stick, somewhat like a high wire walker would do. I predicted that this amazing display would be repeated and set up my equipment accordingly. Sure enough, I managed to record two full sequences, with dozen successful shots per sequence. This is not the place to post the full story, so I chose 4 shots from arrival at stage 3, progress to stage 4 and the final leap to airborne.
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