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Great Blue Heron On Assateague

When Looking For "Wild" Ponies, Keep Your Eyes Open For Truly Wild Birds

By Michael Hanson-MetayerPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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Picture of Great Blue Heron; Shot on Chincoteague Island Virgina

A Quick Aside

A Brief Aside

Assateague Island, which is divided in two by the Maryland/ Virginia state line, is home to two very famous herds of "wild" ponies. These ponies have been featured in books, movies, and famous photography for decades. On the Virginia side of the border, these ponies are occasionally supplemented in nutrition and given wormer and vaccinations as well as having their hooves trimmed. Once a year, the Chincoteague ponies (the ones on the Virginia side of the Island) are rounded up and many of the foals are auctioned off in the famous Chincoteague Island Pony Auction to benefit the Chincoteague Fire Department. On the Maryland side of the island, the ponies are typically referred to as Assateague Horses (but are largely the same as the Chincoteague Pony) and considered to wild and therefore have even less intervention/ interaction/ care given to them than the ponies on the Virginia side. On both sides of the island, the opportunity to see those ponies brings people from throughout the United States and around the world. The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is one of the more accessible wildlife refuges in the country which helps make it one of the most visited, but there is incredible access to wildlife afforded to those that visit in most any time of year.

The Photo

The heron pictured was a pleasant surprise on a barrier island more famous for herds of ponies and large flocks of migratory birds that show up and fill the coves and estuaries at different times of the year on migrations both north and south. The photograph was captured with a Sony DSC- H400, hand-held, with a high degree of optical zoom (probably in the vicinity of 50X zoom), with no alterations in post other than a little bit of cropping. At that level of zoom, the auto focus and image stabilization was definitely helpful in getting the shot without a tripod, but also required a bit of focus, a little setup, and some luck.

Natural Light Is A Beautiful Thing, As Is The Lifting Of Mist

Assateague and Chincoteague Island are well known for the fog/ mist that blanket them throughout much of the year, and at many times of day, on account on being a barrier island where warm moist air is often coming in contact with colder air masses(a la the book (and later film based on the book) Misty Of Chincoteague). During my day on Assateague Island, I had to keep a lens cloth handy to wipe moisture from my lens every few minutes as the constant suspended mist clung to everything that dared to be outside of a climate controlled building. Photographing wildlife from a distance on Assateague Island, as is observable in many photos of Chincoteague Ponies, often comes with a lot of mist between you and the wildlife. I was lucky to have the mist lift in the area I was for a few minutes (it was misty before and misty after the shot) so that I could take this shot without it coming out entirely milky.

The Cooperation of Wildlife

There would be no photograph without a Great Blue Heron to stand there to be photographed. In my case, this particular Heron was very cooperative. I had driven by it on my way out of refuge for the day, with it being close enough to the road to see and hear me drive by, and knew I had to try to get a picture or two of it. I think because of the shear amount of visitors to the refuge, some of the wildlife are accustomed to nearby human activity. My car was parked less than a hundred feet down the road from where I had seen the heron and I was able to walk back to where I had seen it, with little effort, without it deciding to fly off. In the photo, the heron was most definitely looking at me but likely felt I was at a great enough distance that it did not need to immediately fly off. Though I was careful with my movements, did not use a flash, used the zoom instead of trying to get closer to the heron, it was humoring me by staying where it was long enough for me to get the picture almost like it was paid to do so.

Cold, Wet, But Happy

Having spent an extended period of time in the mist in March in northern Virginia, many hours, I was quite wet by the end of my day. My lens cloths, which I had to use to wipe off the lens quite often to keep photos from appearing to have been taken through a thin layer of milk, where also all soaked. I remember vividly having to dry my lens out after and fearing for it to fog up on the inside, but was very glad for the chance to get some great shots of incredible wildlife that I did not have to spend 8 hours in the blind to get a glimpse of. More than the photos, I think that getting the chance to see such an incredible variety of wild birds in one place will always be my defining memory of Assateague and Chincoteague, sorry ponies.

wild animals
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About the Creator

Michael Hanson-Metayer

A restless soul, typically caught in between 2 divergent things. Sometimes freelance writer, occasional photographer, wide eyed observer of humanity, often a chronicler of recent and contemporary events, and frequent storyteller.

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