Another Big Bird-Classic Ernie

OK, I promised some Classic Ernie pictures to break up the doodle monotony, so here's a close-up for you of a Great Blue Heron. This big fellows stand over three feet tall, and only marginally tolerate people in their territory. If you get too close they fly off with a loud squawk. Unlike the sandhill cranes I showed you earlier, these guys will fly off rather than attack. The sandhill cranes will actually come at you on occasion. This shot above is from South Lido Beach on the same day as this sunrise I previously shared. The picture below (a page from my August 2004 wall calendar) was taken at the Anna Maria City Pier. This gives you a pretty good idea of how large these guys are.