Gandalf The Grey: Heron on Gonzales Rock

Photographer Name
Geoff Archer

Instagram handle
@GeoffArcherPhD

Date/Year of Photo
June 7, 2022

Location of Photo: (BC photos only)
Gonzales Beach in Fairfield, Victoria, BC

This description may appear alongside winning photos featured in prize items.
I tend to kayak at the end of the day. If I need exercise, I start in Gonzales Bay and head out around the Chinese Cemetery to McNeill Bay. Depending on the winds, waves and currents I might go the other direction, west, through the kelp forest to Ross Bay. Many nights I just bob around listening to country music...maybe nursing a Blue Buck. Kayaks have cupholders for a reason, right?

Sometimes you get a good sunset. One thing's for sure, you're never alone out there. Otters scurry under a boathouse. A young eagle swoops low, evading a growing murder of boldly annoying crows. Nervous ducks flit about; no surprise that their Latin name is literally, histrionicus-histrionicus. Saying it once wouldn't quite describe this level of paranoid skittishness. A harbour seal surfaces silently over your shoulder...and then startles you with a loud exhalation.

Sometimes you see one of these hairy looking herons. Typically, they are standing in the shallow water at dusk, looking very intently at the fish. It was fun to catch this particular bird taking a breather up on the rock. Pardon the anthropomorphism, but I'm really reminded of Tolkien's Gandalf the Grey. Shot with iPhone 8 Plus while trying not to drop it...