BCNH

Excellent detail and exposure, Sharon. I really like the drop of water at the tip of the beak.

Really good image.
Very nice details on the bird.

The color and exposure on this bird is always a challenge and this is excellent.
A minor suggestion that a little more at bottom for the feet and reflection would improve the comp.

Is this a recent image? I know Brig was seriously damaged by Sandy and that it will take a lot of time for repairs to be completed.I'm also impressed that you could get this low of a view - the dike roads are high enough above tghe water to make this difficult.

I like the image as presented - very natural and sufficient room on the bottom for me.

Hi Richard! Thanks for your comments, everyone! Richard....my heron image was taken on May 18th, same day as my last 3 images, and the day they "officially" re-opened the "wildlife drive". It was open the week previous, but the official ceremonies and associated hoopla was on the 18th. You are correct about Sandy causing much damage...totally wiped out the drive and almost all of the surrounding vegetation. I saw it by boat afterwards, and there were boats and all kinds of debris strewn all across the refuge. Staff and volunteers worked very hard at completing the drive and it is very nice. I cannot believe they did so much, in such a short time. Newly planted vegetation is starting to emerge and it won't be long until you'll hardly notice a difference. The hardest hit area, and the spots that will take a long time to come back to the way you probably remember it, are the Songbird and Jen's Trail areas. All of the trees that were once covering that small hidden pond are totally gone. There is also a new visitor center completed last year that was present before Sandy, that you probably don't know of. Fortunately, it survived.
Right now, it is relatively easy to get a lower pov without all of the vegetation. Shorebirds were there in huge numbers....fortunate for us photographers that they didn't seem to mind what mother nature did.
Here are a couple of links for those interested in the refuge:

http://friendsofforsythe.org/about-the-refuge/edwin-b-forsythe-wildlife-refuge

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/

The included image of the warden standing on a damaged wildlife drive is not mine...I do not know who took it.

Wonderful species and excellent on the techs, this image ! Love it ! Cheers, Hans

Sharon:

Thanks for the details on the repairs - I'm glad to see they have made so much progress so quickly.

Excellent details of the bird, Sharon, and sweet soft light. Nice use of aperture to get the bird sharp and retain some detail of the environment. That distinctive red eye of the black crown is always a treat for me (rarely see these in my neck of the woods). Nice work.