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Tempted by Friday's sighting of coyotes, I was drawn back to Great Meadows early Saturday morning ahead of the pending storm.  This time I was brought my 50-500 lens.

Unfortunately, the title of this post, isn't referring to the great coyote photos I took, but instead the Great Blue Heron photos I finally got.  During the summer there are usually a few Great Blue Herons around, and though skittish, often one will cooperate photographically.  This winter there is one Great Blue that has decided not to head to warmer climes, but to hang around and feed at the two bits of open water at the refuge.  This one has frustrated me.  It is even more skittish than your typical Great Blue Heron.  It often has hid out in a place obstructed by reeds or trees, or just decided to be somewhere other than where I was looking for it at the moment.

Today that all changed.  I managed to catch it feeding by the dike bridge.  Due to the weather there were only a couple of other people walking the paths.  When they crossed the bridge they would scared it away, but it soon returned.









When I first arrived at GMNWR, I could see one of the coyotes near the dike, but it was moving quickly away.  Afraid that it would disappear before I could get setup, I wandered up the tower and tried to get a few shots, hand held.  Unfortunately, someone else arrived & started walking onto the dike, which scared the coyotes into the woods by the river.

One wandered back couple times over the course of the morning, but it was very skittish.  The closest it got was in the reeds next to the under bush near the tower.  But as soon at it saw me, it boogied away, later showing up on the fas side of the lower impoundment.  So even though I had my longer lens, the coyote photos are not as good as Friday's.









While waiting for the coyotes to come back, I entertained myself by shooting a group of squirrels near the road that were busily running around, retrieving nuts from their caches.  That resulted in a couple of cute images with snow on their noses.  There must have been 6 to 8 squirrels in this one area.





I assume it's only a matter of time before the red tail hawk decides that this would be a wonderful place to visit.  Hope I'm there then to get the shot.