The Hunter

Day 267: Tanwax Lake already had a toxic blue-green algae alert posted for it by the time I purchased my kayak last August, so it went on my list of potential early-season paddles for this year. It's a fairly small lake (approximately 172 acres) and feeds Tanwax Creek at the west end. Much of the shoreline is developed, but a section of the north side is brushy and wild. That's where I found Mr. Heron doing his part to control the invasive bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) which populate so many of our western Washington water resources. Sidebar here: those water lilies in the photo (Nymphaea odorata) are also an invasive species. They can be white or pink with green or reddish-green leaves.

I admit it: I like taking pictures of Herons, common though they may be. Their ability to camouflage themselves against a background of cattails simply by standing straight and tall is uncanny. You'd think they'd stick out like a sore thumb...big grey spot surrounded by green...but I was almost on top of this fellow before I saw him. He'd seen me, though, and had that bright yellow eye firmly fixed on the invader in his territory. With the blades barely rippling the water, I paddled past him until I was occluded from his sight by a tussock of foliage. Then slowly and carefully, I tucked the paddle into the 'yak and let the wind carry the boat, a silently floating (if brightly colored) "log" as far as Mr. Heron was concerned. By then, he'd gone back to looking for lunch, and was having a high degree of success at the project. Of all the photos I got, this was my favourite. It shows Mr. Heron's supreme concentration on the task at hand: survival. Kinda puts our human complaints of lousy cell phone service and mean bosses into a whole 'nother perspective, if you think about it.