Photog’s lens captures feathery flights

As I was hoofing it around at last Saturday’s sculpture walk in Rock Falls, a lady tipped me off to a bird down near the river.

“It caught a fish, but the fish itself is caught in a fishing line,” she said.

Have camera, will travel, so I made my way to the bank and, sure enough, a tug-of-war between some kind of water fowl and its fish dish was unfolding before me.

Now, I don’t know what higher power that fish torqued off to be stuck between the proverbial “Rock River and a hard place,” but it was obvious that the avian had no interest in leaving that meal on the table.

So I watched a bit, snapped a few frames and went about my business. Later, while editing the day’s take, I remembered how earlier in the day I had grabbed a few photos of another bird while waiting on a round of golfers. It swooped by and landed in a nearby tree. It had a beautiful profile, with a sleek neck and a raised crest of feathers atop its head.

As I compared these two birds, I thought they looked pretty similar. Then, I became concerned that I was somehow being followed by this bird. I became even more concerned that I actually had that thought for a second.

I reached out to a friend with a picture of the fisher to see if I could get a name, as my vast searching efforts (i.e., two minutes on Google) had come up inconclusive. He texted back and said, “Oh, yeah, that’s Bob.”

Real funny, Jim.

What was eventually concluded is that it was an immature blue heron, probably not named Bob, while the other remains a mystery, although I’m sure someone knows something.

I’ll be looking over my shoulder in case I see it again.

Alex T. Paschal is a photographer with Shaw Local. He can be reached at apaschal@shawmedia.com.