Elk in the early morning yesterday after a night of rain showers in a Staunton Park prescribed burn area. The burned area is turning green with new growth, but the tall grass in the unburned area is still brown. 

 

Some minutes later at upper lake, a heron, startled when I opened the ranch gate, flew across and stood on the other side.

Captured with 100-400 mm zoom at 400, handheld at the gate, the photo above is a crop of the original. I chose an ISO of 1000 for the weak early light.

The bird didn’t allow me too close. It did stay while I drove in, closed the gate, and parked.  The image above was taken across the small lake, also at 400mm and cropped to perhaps 1/2 of the original image.

My regret is that I didn’t change batteries after capturing the elk images earlier. I suppose, at 36 degrees F, it was cold enough to weaken the battery. I’d forgotten about the cold’s effect on battery life because these spring days seem warm to me. An early morning above freezing is a wonderful thing this time of year.

As I changed battery, the heron stretched its neck, then its wings, walked a few steps and took off. I got the battery in and was able to capture a few images as it flew over middle lake toward lower lake where it stayed until I left the area.

 

I’ll go back in a day or two and try again. After the heron left, I walked around upper and middle lakes and was able to capture images of a sparrow and a red wing blackbird. 

 

I was surprised to see how far the sparrow could turn its head. I wish I could do that.

The redwing called again and again while I photographed.

 

When I got home, wild buttercups (aka pasque flowers) with raindrops were waiting for the camera.

It was a good day for photography.