I made it out to Spring Canyon this morning a little after sunrise and was rewarded with these pictures of a Green Heron. The water reflects the background in the early light, green around the cattails, golden from dry grass, copper from the red clay bluffs, and silver from the concrete of the spillway. The heron was on a little mud flat in the shadow of a small rise. When he extended his neck his head was lit by the rising sun. T’was a beautiful morning in the Texas Panhandle-cool, no wind, quiet. Definitely worth getting up early for. I think this is one of a pair that I’ve been photographing since May, but I’m not sure. I read that these birds are tool users and will drop objects like feathers and grass in the water to attract fish.

See higher resolution photos in the galleries.