Autumn Road Trip – Great Smoky Mountain National Park

On my way to Patti Digh’s Life is a Verb Camp, I took a long cut–as opposed to a short cut–and spent a day in the glory of autumn’s yellow deep within the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

My traveling friend and I first stopped at Sugarland Visitor Center just inside the park entrance near Gatlinburg. I spoke to a park ranger who said the autumn color was two weeks behind schedule. Lucky for me, because the lower elevations were at peak color. If the colors had been right on time, we would’ve missed them all, but we were smack dab in the glory of a hardwood forest autumn.

Elkmont River flowing with ferocity through the Elkmont Campground in the southern Smokies. The golden reflection of the trees in the swirling water was quite mesmerizing.

As we stood here, on the river shore, my friend recieved a much hoped for message that a relative was cancer free. Here, in this space and time, we felt an abundance of blessings.

And then a heron appeared at the river’s edge.

According to Ted Andrews:

“The Heron is a symbol of balance, able to be sure-footed upon the ground and fly gracefully through the sky. They explore quietly and slowly along shorelines, waiting for opportunities. But once they have spotted what they want their swiftness in attack shows no hesitation…

There is a sense of security in the Heron energy. They have the ability to evolve and become more adept at their talents so they may always be taken care of…

Self determination, self-reliance and guidance are the trademarks of the ever popular “lady” of the lake and spiritual guardian of the nature lover’s soul, the Great Blue Heron.”

Seeing the Great Blue Heron, Unexpectedly

Blue Heron at Stricker's Pond

Great Blue Heron at Stricker’s Pond ©2012 Bo Mackison

. . . when I am out searching, I never have a set idea of what it is I’m looking for. I simply seek, and occasionally I find  exactly what it is I wasn’t searching for. ~ Jeff T. Alu

I’ve never considered myself much of a birdwatcher, and I had little interest in taking photos of birds in the first years I explored with a camera. I always enjoyed watched a shorebird circle the pond, the rhythm of its wing stroke powerful yet graceful. I enjoyed the sandhill cranes, especially when they were quite a novelty. The resurgence of their numbers makes the sandhills a more common occurrence, but still provides a moment of joy, seeing them healthy and often with their chicks by their sides. And I have always loved listening to the sounds of the forest and prairie song birds, their music varied and always a surprise because I seldom can make a strong connection between song and specific bird.

And now on my morning walks I see a variety of birds from the heron family —  great blue herons, white egrets, and the little green heron. I returned on a late afternoon, alone, just me and my camera, to see what I might see. The lake was eerily quiet — only a few wood ducks and their babies were swimming along one shore. It had been a hot day and so I speculated the birds were keeping themselves cool in a shady spot.

While walking through the oak forest, I chanced to look up into the trees in an open space in the woods. The outlined branches of a dead tree against the deep blue sky caught my eye, and I was evaluating the textures and shapes, the lighting. Suddenly my eye caught a movement in the branches. This great blue heron stretched her s – shaped neck, twisted it, and then snuggled back into her roosting position. I was mesmerized.

I didn’t have the lens I would have preferred, but I made do with my 50 mm prime. Many shots later, after I had amassed a healthy number of bird-roosting-on-branch shots, I watched as the heron stretched its neck again, made a slight dip with her body, similar to the movement of a human diver on a spring-board, and then she flung herself into the air in an explosion of feathers and flapping wings. What a marvelous sight.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is falling in love with the beautiful herons she sees as she walks in her neighborhood!