Snow In November

"Time sometimes flies like a bird, sometimes crawls like a snail; but a man is happiest when he does not even notice whether it passes swiftly or slowly."

-Ivan Turgenev

When I heard on the news that the Sierra had gotten it's first snows of the year, this past weekend, I thought I might have missed out on the chance to photograph my favorite bird... the Snowy Egret. I was beginning to think that it simply wouldn't be my year, as every time I went to a spot specifically to photograph them, they were nowhere to be found. I tried all along the coast, from Santa Barbara to Bodega Bay, and even slightly inland along the wetlands. No luck. I didn't see a single Egret. I was kinda blue about it, then while on my way to Nevada last month, I saw one, in of all places, the freeway median, just south of Sacramento. Go figure! That is the strangest place to see a water bird. LOL. And naturally I didn't have the camera ready, so I assumed that there had went my last chance for the season... until yesterday.

I went to the AT&T Business park, in San Ramon, to photograph the geese and the awesome autumn scenery. It is a lovely place, with a small manmade pond and every kind of tree you could think of and a nice assortment of ducks and geese. Lots and lots of color. To my delight, there was one Snowy Egret among them. What a beautiful bird. I was able to get pretty close without spooking it. I have never seen an Egret at that park before, so I think it might have just been a case of being at the right place at the right time, but I may go back next weekend to see if it might still be visiting. :) Of course seeing one that far inland, also makes me want to venture up to Marin County, along the coastline, in hopes that the population might have decided to stay a little longer. :)

Yellow Slippers

-OndineMonet
Snowy Egret
San Ramon, California
November 12, 2006
Late Afternoon