A Great blue heron was in the same location at the edge of Amos Pond in the Rouge as it was yesterday. I watched it for awhile. There are low-hanging branches over the edge of the pond so that they cross the heron's vision at eye height. It would grab a branch with its bill and wiggle it around a bit and then let it go thereby letting the branch oscillate back and forth until once again at rest. Then the heron would do it again, or choose another thin branch and grab it, wiggle it, and then watch it swing back and forth. Too early for collecting nesting material, even though herons do nest on the north side of the upper pond. Was it bored and therefore playing? Was it breaking a veneer of ice from the branch? It was too far away to video with my lens. Besides, I didn't have a tripod with me, nor was there room to set one up because of the road and piles of roadside snow. My basic "IS" isn't good enough for handheld video with a telephoto lens attached.
