Heron's future in focus

Young White-necked Heron faces an uncertain future. Saw this bird standing quietly in stand of trees. Somewhat unusual spot for a heron. On my approach the bird tried to fly off, but could not, possibly because of a broken wing. There may be a sign of the damage in the differences visible in the leading-edge wing white on show. Fearing doing more harm than good by attempting to capture the bird, I backed off. Since Bush Stone Curlews - large, ground-walking night-feeding birds - abound in the same area, the heron may well survive even if the wing does not heal.

The picture is a great plug for image stabilising. It was taken at 1/30th sec with a Panasonic FZ30 hand-held and zoomed to 420mm=, from an old 4WD van idling and with visible body vibration. Sadly it's not super pin-sharp - because even on a tripod the lens can't match the output of costlier and weightier lenses. Not bad though.