Great Blue Heron at Carol Woods

The story behind the photograph: “This picture was taken in late fall, 2016. I've always loved photographing animals of all kinds, because they're beautiful and pose so naturally. Now 84, I don't venture out very far for my wildlife pictures.  But, our Chapel Hill, NC retirement community, whose nature-loving residents foster the stay or passage of squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, deer, and your occasional opossum (not to mention numerous birds, from chickadees to red-shouldered hawks), stocks its small pond. So this GBH—even a resident ornithologist can't swear it's always the same one—has been coming to fish there every few weeks for some time. Since we're notoriously harmless folks, the GBH pays us no attention and goes on searching the water for fish even when an elderly, ungainly gentleman sneaks up close by."  --Carol Woods resident David Sices