On my travels, I met a heron. It was on the tow path by the Black Boy marina. I put my bag down and I heard a noise. I looked around and I found a heron looking at me. He was only 2 metres away and did not seem to be particularly worried about me. I suspect he mistook me for a fisherman who would normally be around the tow path and the heron was on the look out for some morsels of food. It gave me a great opportunity to take pictures of the bird.
![A heron with beak open](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_10-1024x683.jpg)
![A close up of the heron](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_08-1024x683.jpg)
![A heron staring at the viewer](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_06-1024x682.jpg)
![Another one of those Heron looks](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_04-1024x682.jpg)
![The heron with its neck fully extended](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_18-1024x683.jpg)
I was not so successful photographing his flight across the canal to the boats on the other side as I needed my general purpose lens. However the telephoto lens I had did allow me to get great closeups of the heron and I got some fun expressions from the bird.
![The heron decides to fly away](https://damienwalmsley.com.dream.website.dream.website/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lockdown3-walk-on-first-day-2021_LR_11-1024x682.jpg)
PhotoTip – always be ready for the unexpected. The heron just turned up and was there. I had some time to think and my 400mm lens came in useful. I did not get the settings right for the flight of the bird or have the right lens on but the close ups were the highlight of the day.
[…] This was the first day of Lockdown #3, here are my other first days of the previous lockdowns.Lockdown #1 – Lockdown beginsLockdown #2 – Birmingham Lockdown #2 – a photographic journey of the first morningFollow my encounter with a Heron during this Lockdown #3 walk […]