Great Blue Heron, Reservoir, Lexington

As is customary, I made my annual winter pilgrimage to the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky today. After I left the horse farms I drove over to the Reservoir in Lexington. I read on ebird.org that there were waterfowl on the lake. As luck would have it there were several Great Blue Herons fishing for a meal on the lake. And I got to add Ruddy Duck and Bufflehead Duck to my Bird Life List. I just didn't get great images of these Ducks which shouldn't be a big surprise as they are usually out in the water too far away to get a good shot. The Ruddy Duck, which I didn't realize was a diving duck, would dive into the water, disappear for 30-45 seconds and then resurface. I had no idea they stayed under water that long, but yes, they do.

It's not often I can get a really close up image of a Heron as they are very finicky birds, but this Heron stayed put and was close enough to the road that cuts through the lake for me to get a good shot. I made a mental note to visit the Reservoir in Spring to check out what birds stop by on their northern migration. On a different note, Kentucky has a winter storm watch tomorrow. Snow and wintry mix is predicted. Then the temps take a deep nose dive and Monday and Tuesday it is forecasted to be -7. OMG! That will set a thirty year record if it happens. ENJOY!