We spent the weekend with Eric's parents at their home in Midway, AR. Eric's dad (but not really his mom) is into fishing, and I (but not Eric) am into fishing. It was unreasonably hot - up to 104 F (40 C) in the afternoons. But the water was cold, and VERY high from heavy spring rains. It was my first time fishing in waders.

Dick offers advice as I net the big catch of the day... the tree. If you look carefully you can see my line going up to it.

You can see a bit of the rock cliff in the background. You can also see that I've given up the hip waders for chest waders. Not that I went in up to my chest, but I did want to be in just a bit further than was comfortable in the hip waders.

Say hi!

The best thing about this spot were that several blue herons were fishing the same area. Here's one flying in classic heron pose.

The heron visiting Dick's fishing spot.

Not bad for a free-hand shot.

Of course most of the time I was watching him, he seemed to be taking a bath.

Finally he took off for a quick circle over the water before landing again. The Auto mode overexposed the photo a bit, but this was mostly fixed in the Gimp.

Back to fishing.

Bunnies!

After a while the buzzards starting circling overhead, so I figured it was time to get out of the water again. It also gave me a chance to grab this shot of the rising moon with one of the buzzards. I got a few more good shots with the telephoto:

As the day finally cooled a slow fog wafted in off the water. The sunlight sparkled off of the end of Dick's line... but no, it's just a clump of moss.

We could just barely see these little ducks on the other side of the water. I think they are juvenile wood ducks. We got one close look:

On the way home we got a brief tour of the countryside, including this reconstructed concrete bridge. It is actually rather pretty, and definitely unlike modern construction. The concrete was starting to crumble, so much of it has been replaced. We arrived just in time to see it light up for the night.

The next day we stopped by a different spot, where there's a deep channel which is closer to this bank.

It was beginning to look like the great streamers of moss were going to be the catch of the day, but finally someone downstream caught a fish, and then we each caught one too. We brought home three for lunch - one for each person who eats them.

Eric, who doesn't eat fish and so doesn't much enjoy catching them, was busy trying to catch the local herons on film. Occasionally one would fly low over the water, its neck curved in the classic flying-heron pose. Eric kept the camera ready, waiting for one to take off.

Finally, one flew... but in the thick fog where you can't really see it.

More heron pictures, this time with the tripod.

Well, it's getting about dark, perhaps I should take a quick fly around...

Nah, never mind.

Of course, once it started to get really dark and the fog rose up above our heads, the herons began swooping close over our heads, calling in their Pterasaur voices through the fog.

Easier wildlife to photograph.

The fog beginning to rise on the water.

Ace disappearing into the water, weeds, and fog.